Table of Contents

  1. Chapter 100 - Battle
  2. Chapter 101 - Believe in Science
  3. Chapter 102 - The Serum
  4. Chapter 103 - Ahead of Us
  5. Chapter 104 - Strengthened Life
  6. Chapter 105 - Rothschild
  7. Chapter 106 - Second-Generation Rover Robot
  8. Chapter 107 - A Strange Protection Assignment
  9. Chapter 108 - Round Three
  10. Chapter 109 - Turning the Tide
  11. Chapter 110 - The Main Character of Planet Aquamarine
  12. Chapter 111 - [Flaming Will]
  13. Chapter 112 - LV 60 Character
  14. Chapter 113 - The Unexpected Appearance of Division 13
  15. Chapter 114 - The Surprising Hidden Request
  16. Chapter 115 - The Prize-Pool Mission
  17. Chapter 116 - Head Full of Crazy Methods
  18. Chapter 117 - The Invisible Demon Strikes
  19. Chapter 118 - Electromagnetic Weapon
  20. Chapter 119 - Raging Bolt!
  21. Chapter 120 - Three Shots!
  22. Chapter 121 - Did Too Much Work, So I Couldn't Think of a Title
  23. Chapter 122 - Let's Create Some Trouble!
  24. Chapter 123 - Germinal, There Is Something I Have to Say!
  25. Chapter 124 - Open Beta
  26. Chapter 125 - What Have We Missed!
  27. Chapter 126 - What a Scam
  28. Chapter 127 - The Fangs of Capitalism
  29. Chapter 128 - All Linked
  30. Chapter 129 - Uproar in the Esports Circle
  31. Chapter 130 - The First Step in Building a Large Network
  32. Chapter 131 - Bloodshed
  33. Chapter 132 - A Death God
  34. Chapter 133 - Mechanics Are So Powerful
  35. Chapter 134 - Finally Found You
  36. Chapter 135 - Ah, What A Familiar Taste
  37. Chapter 136 - On the Verge of a Battle
  38. Chapter 137 - A Wild Black Phantom (1)
  39. Chapter 138 - A Wild Black Phantom (2)
  40. Chapter 139 - A Wild Black Phantom (3)
  41. Chapter 140 - Backup
  42. Chapter 141 - Duel
  43. Chapter 142 - Teleportation Is a Double-edged Sword
  44. Chapter 143 - I Will Recognize You Even If You Turn into Ash
  45. Chapter 144 - Reward and Impact
  46. Chapter 145 - The Road to BOSS
  47. Chapter 146 - Skyrocketed!
  48. Chapter 147 - Inspiration for Lightweight Mecha
  49. Chapter 148 - The Wind Rises
  50. Chapter 149 - Galaxy Times (1)
  51. Chapter 150 - <Galaxy Times> (2)
  52. Chapter 151 - A Small-scale Beast Attack
  53. Chapter 152 - A Melee Mechanic Is the Best
  54. Chapter 153 - Controlling Behind the Scenes
  55. Chapter 154 - Alumera's Searcher
  56. Chapter 155 - Fruit of Face
  57. Chapter 156 - One More in the Support Team
  58. Chapter 157 - Nemesis!
  59. Chapter 158 - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
  60. Chapter 159 - Family
  61. Chapter 160 - Xiao Jin
  62. Chapter 161 - Order Born of Violence
  63. Chapter 162 - Grouper Plague and the Grinding
  64. Chapter 163 - Exchange
  65. Chapter 164 - Endoskeleton materials
  66. Chapter 165 - As Unlucky as Usual
  67. Chapter 166 - Alien (1)
  68. Chapter 167 - Alien (2)
  69. Chapter 168 - Novice Guides?
  70. Chapter 169 - First Episode of Galaxy's Exploration Journal
  71. Chapter 170 - Trading Storm (1)
  72. Chapter 171 - Trading Storm (2)
  73. Chapter 172 - One of My Men
  74. Chapter 173 - You Can't See Me
  75. Chapter 174 - Viper
  76. Chapter 175 - Beast King
  77. Chapter 176 - Actual Combat with Mechanical Suit
  78. Chapter 177 - The Start of the 'Inhuman' Incident
  79. Chapter 178 - Fermentation
  80. Chapter 179 - The Research Institution
  81. Chapter 180 - Robbery
  82. Chapter 181 - The Wicked Will Be Dealt With By The Wicked
  83. Chapter 182 - Shaken
  84. Chapter 183 - Drugs
  85. Chapter 184 - It's More Torturous to Think of a Title Than to Write a Chapter
  86. Chapter 185 - But Not Having a Title Is More Torturous
  87. Chapter 186 - Accident (1)
  88. Chapter 187 - Accident (2)
  89. Chapter 188 - Enemies everywhere
  90. Chapter 189 - Fearsome Assassination
  91. Chapter 190 - Hidden Main Storyline (1)
  92. Chapter 191 - Hidden Main Storyline (2)
  93. Chapter 192 - Hidden Main Storyline (3)
  94. Chapter 193 - Tease
  95. Chapter 194 - If You Are Going to Scam People, Scam Them for as Much as You Can.
  96. Chapter 195 - Bundled Sales Are So Damn Great. I Should Always Use Them.
  97. Chapter 196 - It's the Tanabata Festival Tomorrow. I'm upset.
  98. Chapter 197 - Responses from All Sides (1)
  99. Chapter 198 - Responses from All Sides (2)
  100. Chapter 199 - Aurora
  101. Chapter 200 - More Than 100,000,000!
  102. Chapter 201 - Northern Continent
  103. Chapter 202 - Alumera (1)
  104. Chapter 203 - Alumera (2)
  105. Chapter 204 - Alumera (3)
  106. Chapter 205 - Assassination!
  107. Chapter 206 - The Real Killer (One)
  108. Chapter 207 - The Real Killer (Two)
  109. Chapter 208 - The Real Killer (Three)
  110. Chapter 209 - The Real Killer (4)
  111. Chapter 210 - The Real Killer (5)
  112. Chapter 211 - The Real Killer (6)
  113. Chapter 212 - The New Successor
  114. Chapter 213 - The Fight Between the Sandpiper and the Clam
  115. Chapter 214 - Leaving
  116. Chapter 215 - Flow of the Main Storyline
  117. Chapter 216 - Dark Net Director, Third Sanctuary
  118. Chapter 217 - Class Advancement of the Players
  119. Chapter 218 - Didn't Know You Are This Kind of Black Phantom
  120. Chapter 219 - The Brutal Force of Mechanic!
  121. Chapter 220 - Arrival
  122. Chapter 221 - Gathered Players
  123. Chapter 222 - Arrival of People from Everywhere! (1)
  124. Chapter 223 - Arrival of People From Everywhere! (Two)
  125. Chapter 224 - Shadow Stalker Viper
  126. Chapter 225 - Radiation Crystals
  127. Chapter 226 - Demolition‽
  128. Chapter 227 - Profit from the Nest
  129. Chapter 228 - The Exchange
  130. Chapter 229 - The First Time Is Always Hardest
  131. Chapter 230 - Pharmacist Emerald Grass
  132. Chapter 231 - Expedition of the Six Nations!
  133. Chapter 232 - Planet Aquamarine War!
  134. Chapter 233 - Level 60!
  135. Chapter 234 - Hiring Path
  136. Chapter 235 - Infiltration (1)
  137. Chapter 236 - Infiltration (2)
  138. Chapter 237 - Infiltration (3)
  139. Chapter 238 - Nerve Connection (1)
  140. Chapter 239 - Nerve Connection (2)
  141. Chapter 240 - Shock
  142. Chapter 241 - Accident?
  143. Chapter 242 - The Unmatched Assassin (1)
  144. Chapter 243 - The Unmatched Assassin (2)
  145. Chapter 244 - The Other Hidden Card
  146. Chapter 245 - Predicament
  147. Chapter 246 - I Am Black Phantom!
  148. Chapter 247 - The Real Deal
  149. Chapter 248 - Shocking the World (1)
  150. Chapter 249 - Shocking the World (2)
  151. Chapter 250 - Eye of the Storm
  152. Chapter 251 - Eye of the Storm (2)
  153. Chapter 252 - Eye of the Storm (3)
  154. Chapter 253 - A Love Story
  155. Chapter 254 - Separation
  156. Chapter 255 - The Hidden Tactic
  157. Chapter 256 - Breaking Out (1)
  158. Chapter 257 - Breaking Out (2)
  159. Chapter 258 - Breaking out (3)
  160. Chapter 259 - Reinforcements and Traps
  161. Chapter 260 - Unexpected Helpers
  162. Chapter 261 - Evolution
  163. Chapter 262 - The Sound of Hammering
  164. Chapter 263 - An Unfamiliar Face
  165. Chapter 264 - The Historical Moment
  166. Chapter 265 - The Next Class Change Requirement
  167. Chapter 266 - The Origins of the Germinal Organization
  168. Chapter 267 - Exposed Intel, Turning Point of The War
  169. Chapter 268 - Will You Love Me If I Am the Title...
  170. Chapter 269 - The Players Here Are Super Welcoming
  171. Chapter 270 - Main City Action Plan
  172. Chapter 271 - New Mechanical Suit—Amphiptere!
  173. Chapter 272 - Unknown Potential
  174. Chapter 273 - Our Belief Is... Create Trouble!
  175. Chapter 274 - The Battle
  176. Chapter 275 - Society
  177. Chapter 276 - Black Phantom's Machinery Box (1)
  178. Chapter 277 - : Black Phantom's Machinery Box (2)
  179. Chapter 278 - Black Phantom's Machinery Box (3)
  180. Chapter 279 - Luck Is the Ultimate Path
  181. Chapter 280 - Galaxy Times: Other Possibilities of the Main Storyline
  182. Chapter 281 - The Limitations of Being a Main Character
  183. Chapter 282 - The Fall of the Germinal Organization
  184. Chapter 283 - Disagreement
  185. Chapter 284 - The Finale (1)
  186. Chapter 285 - The Finale (2)
  187. Chapter 286 - Dungeon Creation
  188. Chapter 287 - Stable Period in Planet Aquamarine
  189. Chapter 288 - The New Round of Business (1)
  190. Chapter 289 - The New Round of Business (2)
  191. Chapter 290 - Sucker
  192. Chapter 291 - Four Blueprints
  193. Chapter 292 - Sonic Sphere
  194. Chapter 293 - Galaxy Pro League Season One, Commence!
  195. Chapter 294 - Competition Festival (1)
  196. Chapter 295 - Competition Festival (2)
  197. Chapter 296 - Sensation!
  198. Chapter 297 - Hao Tian’s First Battle!
  199. Chapter 298 - The Battle
  200. Chapter 299 - A Simpleton
  201. Chapter 300 - Frenzied Sword's First Fight
  202. Chapter 301 - Regular Season, The Group of Death
  203. Chapter 302 - The Hidden Main Storyline
  204. Chapter 303 - List of Finalists, Advancement of Plans
  205. Chapter 304 - The Visitor from Above
  206. Chapter 305 - The Crash
  207. Chapter 306 - Explosion!
  208. Chapter 307 - Alien Captive
  209. Chapter 308 - Deal
  210. Chapter 309 - All Ready
  211. Chapter 310 - Raylen's Message
  212. Chapter 311 - Could It Be That I'm Not Charming?
  213. Chapter 312 - Inhuman and The Space Wonder
  214. Chapter 313 - The Selection
  215. Chapter 314 - As Expected of the Great Mechanic Han!
  216. Chapter 315 - Prelude to an Age of Strife (1)
  217. Chapter 316 - Prelude to an Age of Strife (2)
  218. Chapter 317 - Lift Off
  219. Chapter 318 - The Clueless Six Nations
  220. Chapter 319 - The Short Horn Star
  221. Chapter 320 - Development Plan and Scavengers
  222. Chapter 321 - The Green Knight, Boneless Bird
  223. Chapter 322 - Attack!
  224. Chapter 323 - Danger and Splitting Up
  225. Chapter 324 - Expanding Profit, Initiatives
  226. Chapter 325 - This Was Completely on Purpose
  227. Chapter 326 - The Secret Buyer
  228. Chapter 327 - Enemy Slain
  229. Chapter 328 - The First Job and the Reputation System
  230. Chapter 329 - The Juberly Hub!
  231. Chapter 330 - Happiness of the Poor
  232. Chapter 331 - Black Star: The Beginning (1)
  233. Chapter 332 - Black Star: The Beginning (2)
  234. Chapter 333 - Black Star: The Beginning (3)
  235. Chapter 334 - Black Star: The Beginning (4)
  236. Chapter 335 - Cheap Bait
  237. Chapter 336: A Mechanic’s Paradise
  238. Chapter 337 - Green Knight, the Warrior who Had Returned Home
  239. Chapter 338 - The Ordnance Engineer
  240. Chapter 339 - The Rush Strat
  241. Chapter 340 - The Catastrophe Has Arrived
  242. Chapter 341 - Battlefield Repairs, Target Blueprint
  243. Chapter 342 - Hidden Thoughts
  244. Chapter 343 - The Split in the Dark
  245. Chapter 344 - Meeting the Liar Again (1)
  246. Chapter 345 - Meeting the Liar Again (2)
  247. Chapter 346 - Contradictions and Splitting Up, Last Stage of the Catastrophe
  248. Chapter 347 - Raising Reward
  249. Chapter 348 - Must Be In Love
  250. Chapter 349 - Shocking the Entire Race! (1)
  251. Chapter 350: Shocking the Entire Race! (2)
  252. Chapter 350 - Settlement
  253. Chapter 351 - The Black Star Will Bless You
  254. Chapter 352 - Dropping a Chess Piece in the Galaxy
  255. Chapter 353 - Abducting a Man
  256. Chapter 354 - Speeding! (1)
  257. Chapter 355 - Speeding! (2)
  258. Chapter 356 - Breaking News, Universe Royalty’s Reward
  259. Chapter 357 - New Gear, New Objectives
  260. Chapter 358 - Sky Ring's Invitation
  261. Chapter 359 - I’m a Professional at Planting Flags
  262. Chapter 361 - Spar
  263. Chapter 362 - Invisible Corner (1)
  264. Chapter 363 - Invisible Corner (2)
  265. Chapter 364 - Floating Dragon Island
  266. Chapter 365 - Don’t Wimp, Just Do It
  267. Chapter 366 - Slave Market
  268. Chapter 367 - Aroshia
  269. Chapter 368 - Scrimmage
  270. Chapter 369 - Dropped Bead
  271. Chapter 370 - Sudden Change
  272. Chapter 371 - Differential Treatment
  273. Chapter 372 - Getting Employed (1)
  274. Chapter 373 - Getting Employed (2)
  275. Chapter 374 - Your Friend DarkStar Is Now Online
  276. Chapter 375 - Customers First
  277. Chapter 376 - Steel Body!
  278. Chapter 377 - Seize the Opportunity!
  279. Chapter 378 - Confidentiality Failure, DarkStar Exposed
  280. Chapter 379 - Slaves? I Don’t See It
  281. Chapter 380 - Released
  282. Chapter 381 - One Step Ahead (1)
  283. Chapter 382 - One Step Ahead (2)
  284. Chapter 383 - Excellent as Always, But Don’t Touch the Trophy
  285. Chapter 384 - DarkStar Mother Ship
  286. Chapter 385 - Murder and Turn Point
  287. Chapter 386 - Talent Upgrade, Raid
  288. Chapter 387 - Familiar, Witness!
  289. Chapter 388 - Amphiptere, Shattered!
  290. Chapter 389 - What Monster Are You‽
  291. Chapter 390 - Aroshia, Grade A Chain Mission (1)
  292. Chapter 391 - Aroshia, Grade A Chain Mission (2)
  293. Chapter 392 - The Sudden Arrival of a Fleet
  294. Chapter 393 - Power of the Experienced
  295. Chapter 394 - Speed and Motion Sickness
  296. Chapter 395 - The Battle of Pursuit (1)
  297. Chapter 396 - The Battle of Pursuit (2)
  298. Chapter 397 - Arrival of the Fleet
  299. Chapter 398 - Conflict and Attention
  300. Chapter 399 - Broken Arm and Awakening

Chapter 99 - Felonia

The vehicle tracks left behind on the vast desert by Luo and her gang were like creases on a piece of white paper—they were as conspicuous as could be. Han Xiao followed the tracks without stopping.

His position was continuously shown on the radar coordinates in order for him remain on course in the boundless desert. He was now heading toward the outer edge of the Somar Desert. It was indicated on the weather calendar data that a sandstorm had just occurred in this place.

The plain and unchanging sight of the desert was making Han Xiao feel mentally tired. After half an hour of pursuit, a roving jeep suddenly appeared in the distance.

I am finally catching up! Han Xiao’s psyche was rejuvenated instantly.

Just as Han Xiao spotted the jeep, the members of the Rose Militant on the jeep also caught sight of Han Xiao.

“It’s Thorns!” Su Li cried out.

Luo’s face tensed up before she anxiously surveyed the surrounding and realized that the pursuing force consisted of only a single vehicle. She was immediately incensed.

How dare you pursue us alone? Do you really think we are this easy to defeat‽

“Make a u-turn…”

Hooommm…

Thorns was firing at its maximum firepower—grenades and missiles were chasing and bombing after Luo’s vehicle.

Luo was intimidated. “Cough. Cough. Let’s run until he finishes his ammunition!”

She was slightly embarrassed.

The two vehicles were in a high-speed pursuit as they drove past sand dune after sand dune, scorched sand marking the course of their chase.

…

Raggedly-dressed pilgrims were seen gruelingly trekking through the desert. The leader of the group, an elderly pilgrim, was panting intensively, and his clothes were drenched in his sweat. He unloaded a water bottle from the packhorse and gulped one sip with his trembling hand, but somehow, he could not relieve his exhaustion and thirst.

The elderly pilgrim turned around and glanced at the group—everyone else was in low spirits. He then thought back to the times when he was younger. There had once been tens of thousands of compatriots who escaped from the same conquered country and embarked on this journey together. However, after years of hardships, there were only two dozen people left. Some people had died on the journey, and some had given up half way through. This small group of people were the last pilgrims.

At times, the elderly pilgrim could not help but become skeptical about the existence of Felonia. However, if he gave up, it would render his years of perseverance meaningless.

An engine sound was heard from a distance—Han Xiao and Rose Militant’s cars appeared in their view, and mounds of sands thrown into the air by the vehicles.

The pilgrims were not at all shocked as such a scene was commonplace on this desert. As soon as they confirmed that the violent vehicles were not moving toward them, they released their worry. They stood at their position and waited for the two vehicles to leave.

At this point in time, a small-scale missile flew in the sky and landed on then sand.

Suddenly, something unexpected happened!

The ground vibrated abruptly, and sand fell downwards at the position where the missile exploded. As more sand fell downward, a pitch-black hole appeared in front of everyone. The hole expanded continuously, like a gigantic mouth being opened!

The appearance of the running sand implied that there was a huge, empty space beneath this desert!

…

_____________________

You discovered a hidden location [Felonia – 08]. You received 1,000 Exploration Experience.

Bounty Hunter (Rose Militant)] Hidden requirement completed.

——————————————————————

Eh? Han Xiao was so surprised that he almost overturned his car.

What the hell?

I completed the mission by accident. Am I that lucky‽

But how can I use my luck on this kind place? This is such a waste!

The sand hole was still expanding. Han Xiao reasoned that the sandstorm that had happened a few days ago must have changed the structure of the sand layers in this area. Following which, his explosions triggered a chain reaction that resulted in this opening.

Although he was very curious about what Felonia was exactly, his hunt for Rose Militant was more important at this juncture.

After he left the coordinates of this place on his radar, he continued to chase after Rose Militant.

The two vehicles soon drove into the distance.

The elderly pilgrim’s hands were trembling relentlessly. With a look of exhilaration, he called out to his peers who were stunned behind him.

“This… this must be Felonia. We have to go there quickly!”

The pilgrims were enlivened. They rushed toward the hole in the ground anxiously.

“Felonia’s treasures… Felonia’s treasures…” the elderly pilgrim could not stop mumbling to himself. Tears trailed down his cheeks as he believed that he was finally getting rewarded for all those years of determination and perseverance.

…

After a few kilometers of pursuit, Thorns eventually ran out of ammunition, an inevitability no matter how strong its firepower was. Yet, Han Xiao sighed in relief. He was glad that this straining pursuit battle was finally coming to an end.

This bunch of sissies should stop any minute now. If they don’t even stop running and strike back, they must be really cowardly.

“This guy finally finished his rounds!”

Su Li was the first person who spotted Thorns’ abnormal situation. She was the creator of Thorns.

Luo was immediately relieved. She then said ruthlessly, “Turn around!”

The two vehicles were four hundred meters apart. Han Xiao already stopped his vehicle. When he saw the jeep turn around decisively, he gave a sly smiled and started point firing with his sniper rifle.

A distance of four hundred meters allowed him eight to ten shots.

It took him four spindle bullets to shatter the bullet-proof window. The fifth shot flew directly at the driver.

Luo, sitting on the front passenger seat, suddenly raised her hand and shielded the driver. The bullet, as if it had hit an invincible wall, generated a wave of reflective white light before it was squashed into a metal cake by the deflecting force and was left levitating in the air.

An Esper with forcefield type ability. Han Xiao narrowed his eyes as he felt that the situation had become more difficult to handle.

Espers had all kinds of abilities, but some of them would awaken with similar or even the same abilities. Forcefield was a major type of ability for Espers. Other common types included molecular control, strengthened body, and transfiguration.

The forcefield-related abilities included remote manipulation of objects, invincible walls, and invincible strikes. It was the natural counter to gun-fighting abilities.

As he finished his thought, Han Xiao quickly stuffed Hayme bullets into his gun and fired again. Luo deflected the bullet again with her forcefield. However, as the bullet was being compressed, it released a light green poisonous gas. Everyone in the vehicle was instantly poisoned. They started feeling dizzy, their chests tightened, and their HP dropped continually.

From the battle data, Han Xiao knew that Luo was the same level as him—level 30—so she had not mastered the skill to manipulate gases.

Han Xiao then fired a high-explosive bullet, which ignited the interior of the jeep. However, the fire was quickly put out by fire extinguishers. The vehicle was chiefly used for evacuation, so it was equipped with fire extinguishers to prevent fires from breaking out.

Han Xiao had no choice but to discard his initial plan to force his enemy to abandon their vehicle. Yet, he showed no signs of being discouraged. He fired two Hayme bullets again, and now, the jeep was engulfed by concentrated green poisonous gas as if the vehicle was consumed by a plague.

After these few rounds of fire, the distance from the enemy was only hundred meters.

Han Xiao put aside his sniper rifle and stomped hard on the accelerator. He was fearlessly trying to collide with the jeep head-on!

Su Li expression changed, and she anxiously instructed the driver, “Quickly dodge. The armored exterior on Thorns is extremely thick. We cannot best it.”

The driver quickly turned the steering wheel upon hearing the instruction and wanted to brush past Thorns. Upon seeing this, Han Xiao turned his vehicle in the same direction, but he was too slow; he only brushed past the rear of the jeep. He wanted to ruin the enemy’s jeep by smashing into it. If he had succeeded, he could then have used Thorns to hit the enemy and run. However, Rose Militant reacted too quickly and dodged the attack.

Luo just realized that even when Thorns ran out of ammunition, it was not a vehicle to be reckoned with easily. She had no choice but to suppress the anger in her heart. “Never mind. Let’s not be badgered by him.”

The jeep turned around and drove for tens of meters before Luo realized that Thorns did not chase them. As she believed, for a moment, that Han Xiao had given up, she heaved a sigh of relief. She then gnashed his teeth in anger.

I will let you go for now. Your time will come once our backup is here!

Just as she finished this thought, an invisible wave travelled from Thorns in a circular motion. Their jeep suddenly lost all its power, and the vehicle skidded a few dozen meters due to the remaining momentum before ground to a halt, paralyzed. The people in the vehicle were all thrown out of their seats.

In the backseat of Thorns, Han Xiao had started his EMP Disruptor, meaning that Thorns had also lost its power.

Han Xiao sighed. That was the last resort to prevent the enemy from running away, which he did not intend to use, but he realized that Luo did not have the guts to stay and battle it out. Thus, he had been forced to resort to such a mutually-destructive method. Even if he attempted to fix Thorns, it would take him more than ten minutes.

Next, it would be human versus human!

“EMP Wave! The car is wrecked!” Luo was dumbfounded. After being repeatedly plotted against, she could no longer contain her rage. She walked out of jeep and started the forcefield under her feet, which allowed her to move a few meters with a single step. She charged toward Han Xiao rapidly like an incoming missile, and the forcefield around her was rather erratic.

“Are you so eager to die‽”

Before Luo even reached Han Xiao, her ravings thundered in Han Xiao’s ears.

Chapter 100 - Battle

Han Xiao turned around and started to fall back. He repeatedly fired Hayme bullets at Luo in an attempt to lure her closer.

Luo raised her hands and started pushing to release an energy shield in front of her body. The bullets were blocked by the shield, and as they collided with the shield, there were beams of white light.

Superhumans of the ‘Fortified Type’ possessed the innate ability to counter the powers of a sniper. However, the poisonous gases emitted by the Hayme bullets were depleting Luo’s HP. Furthermore, the impact from the collisions onto the energy shield also impacted Luo’s body and decreased her health. However, the impact was relatively low after a reduction of 95%.

Luo could sense the fury building up in her body. The killer in her was overflowing like water from a fountain.

After Han Xiao fired the thirteenth shot, Luo moved closer toward him. The shots fired along the way managed to reduce Luo’s HP by 100 points.

If the superhumans did not possess the special defensive powers, they would have been very brittle to the attacks. The force that Luo possessed granted her the ability to both attack and defend. However, when challenging hardy magnetically-controlled retractable armor, Luo’s body would be wrecked from the battle.

Once they started fighting, Luo realized the weakness of her physical body.

Han Xiao suddenly drew out his retractable machete. He held the blade in his right hand and wielded the mechanical arm in his left hand. He was unafraid of fighting Luo head-on. Luo focused on using all her strength to smash Han Xiao’s head; however, she realized that Han Xiao was clad in a think metallic armor.

At that instant, Han Xiao’s retractable armor extended to up to his head, protecting his face and skull. Han Xiao moved his head back slightly, and with the help of the armor, he managed to withstand the shock from Luo’s strike. Han Xiao used his machete and mechanical arm to continuously penetrate the energy shield of Luo. The battle was fierce, and white sparks were emitted with each contact made.

Pan Kuang, who was Level 40, had problems defeating Han Xiao in close-range combat; therefore, Luo’s close combat powers were not much of a concern for Han Xiao.

Instead, the abilities she possessed as a ‘Fortified Type’ superhuman were greater threats to Han Xiao. Luo was able strike suddenly at the target from almost all angles, and therefore, her attacks often disrupted the flow of Han Xiao’s attack.

“Force push!”

Han Xiao could feel an invisible impact to his knees.

Luo made use of the opportunity to pull backward and created more space. She could feel tightness in her chest, as if her lungs were being scorched. The high-intensity combat had taken its toll on her body. Her stamina was running low. Superhuman abilities often required the use of huge amounts of energy. In order to replenish her energy, Luo exhausted her stamina. She was deeply fatigued and looked at Han Xiao in disbelief and shock.

How on earth is this sniper so powerful? He can fight better than pugilists!

Tu tu tu!

The last few remnants of Rose Militant finally were finally approaching Han Xiao. They immediately concentrated all their firepower on him. To retaliate, Han Xiao fired his Berserk Eagles wildly, and the militants bled uncontrollably as they collapsed to the ground.

Su Li was the only one that managed to dodge Han Xiao’s attacks. She was nimble and swift. She had the swag of a pugilist. She was wearing a pair of special gloves. There were a couple of circuits on the gloves, and the gloves emitted blue light. Han Xiao sensed impending danger.

Mechanical pugilist!

Su Li was approaching at high speed. Her hand pushed toward Han Xiao. It seemed like her push was weak and flimsy, but Han Xiao focused his attention and managed to recognize the gloves Su Li was wearing. The level of threat of Su Li increased, and Han Xiao quickly rotated his body to dodge Su Li’s attack. It was unwise to fight Su Li head-on. Han Xiao decided to use the firepower of his pistols to suppress Su Li. However, Luo came toward and managed to repel the bullets with her energy shield.

The three were engaged in an intense battle. The pair of gloves that Su Li was wearing managed to suppress Han Xiao’s power. Han Xiao was at a loss how to counter them. The two ladies realized that and made use of the opportunity to gain the upper hand in the battle. The situation gradually turned disadvantageous for Han Xiao.

If I don’t make some sacrifices, it will be almost impossible for me to kill both of them.

With a look of determination of his face, Han Xiao approached Su Li suddenly and pressed his body had on her gloves. The sudden collision shocked Su Li. The gloves were touching Han Xiao’s armor. An uncontrollable current was flowing through the scorching hot armor!

The endurance of the armor depleted exponentially. It reduced by almost 100 points. In fact, it was the first time the endurance of the armor had faced such a huge reduction!

Han Xiao felt a burn to his chest. The high temperature exceeded the threshold of the armor, and the heat scorched his body. Han Xiao had no time to look at the new messages that were flashing on the interface. He employed the wind-slicing slash and stabbed the machete hard into Su Li chest. An eye for an eye!

Su Li’s eyes expanded in astonishment. Han Xiao pressed the Berserk Eagles to her forehead and started firing hysterically. A Mechanic without any form of armor was very vulnerable.

Boom boom boom!

“Kill the enemy!” Luo yelled in anger and attacked Han Xiao back while he was busy taking of Su Li.

There was a sharp pain in Han Xiao’s spine. He could feel his back shattering. Han Xiao endured the pain and glided forward. He turned around and fired the last of the remaining bullets. Han Xiao focused his attention on Luo’s legs.

Luo used too much of her stamina in her ambush on Han Xiao. She forced her last bit of energy, but she no longer had the energy maintain the energy shield that protected her from the bullets. A bullet penetrated her knee.

There was a change in the Luo’s expressions. She understood the fact that she was facing a sniper, and the reduction in her mobility would lead to fatal consequences. In her state of panic, she wanted to use all her energy and deliver one final blow to Han Xiao.

She was attempting to paralyze Han Xiao’s movement by blowing up his legs!

Once Han Xiao succeeded in his attacks, he quickly pulled away from the two of them. As the energy shield collapsed, it created an explosion that resulted in a huge crater at his original position!

Luo’s heart sank. Her legs went limp, and now she really was reduced to sitting duck for Han Xiao’s attacks. Han Xiao fired his shots from afar, and all she could to was forcefully repel the bullets. Her energy was on the verge of depleting completely, and desperation filled her heart.

Sh*t! I’m done!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Han Xiao, who had retreated quite some distance, fired his rifle on a stable platform and expended all of Luo’s energy. Finally, a bullet pierced through her head. She collapsed with fury and unwillingness in her eyes.

_____________________

You killed Luo (Level 30).

You gained 12,000 Experience.

̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄̄

Han Xiao heaved a sigh of relief. He could finally relax his senses. He did not have time whine about the pain from his burns. He immediately moved toward Su Li’s body and retrieved the pair of black gloves form her hands.

_____________________

You have gained two [Thermo-electrical Incisor Gloves].

——————————————————————

The functioning of the gloves was based the theory of [Basic Thermodynamics], which Han Xiao had not yet mastered. There was a ‘micro electricity to heat transformer’ embedded within the gloves. The power source of the gloves was a high voltage battery since the gloves needed a huge amount of electricity to be powered. The gloves had immense power and was able to deal multiplied damage to metals.

Han Xiao held onto the gloves for his own use in the future. Speaking of that, Su Li was his first enemy from the mechanic class. It was also the first time he had revealed his gear to his mechanic counterparts.

Mechanical Pugilists made use of one type or a few types of close-combat machinery. They were able to add special effects and abilities to their machines. From the fighting style of Su Li, Han Xiao could infer that she was a mechanical pugilist of a lower level that relied solely on the performance of her equipment.

Some mechanical pugilists also possessed weapons that had special abilities themselves. Once they met the prerequisites, they were able to activate the use of such weapons. Out of the four machine blueprints that Old Man Lu had created, one of the blueprints created a machine that had innate abilities.

With the mission finally complete, it was time to return and collect his rewards.

The image of Felonia suddenly flashed in Han Xiao’s mind, and he decided to take a closer look at Felonia before returning. Han Xiao switched off the EMP interference machine. He did a rough check of the broken components of his vehicle and estimated that the repairs would take him fifteen minutes. He started the repair job immediately.

There was a bunch of wanderers near Felonia just now. I wonder how they’re doing,Han Xiao thought to himself.

…

Half an hour ago…

The entrance to Felonia was a crack in the cliff. The pilgrims scaled the cliff and managed to reach the crack. It was pitch dark in the crack, but it seemed like the crack had a passageway that lead somewhere.

A young pilgrim switched on his torch and shined the light into the alley. The scene before their eyes shocked all of them. Their mouths collapsed in disbelief, and all of them were dumbfounded.

“This… this is…”

Chapter 101 - Believe in Science

As Han Xiao was repairing his vehicle, he was reflecting on the weaknesses that he had revealed in his previous battle.

His current fighting style heavily relied on his sniping abilities. The best tactic he employed was to use his shots to lure his opponents in. However, the speed of his movements was not yet up to standard; thus, he wanted to manufacture some small gadgets to increase his speed.

A mechanical leg seemed like a pretty good idea. However, Han Xiao felt that it was too bulky. Also, Han Xiao had gained new knowledge and experience to create gadgets that were more mobile.

Han Xiao was still trying to improve his fighting abilities. He wanted to create a robot army to provide him sufficient cover fire so that they could help mitigate his weakness, allowing him to fire at a relatively lower rate.

Since mechanical parts could be easily obtained by members of the mechanic class, Han Xiao could find the raw material and replace the missing parts easily.

Upon completing his repairs, Han Xiao drove the vehicle along the path, as directed by the radar coordinates, up to the entrance of Felonia. Instantly, he saw the trail of footsteps that disappeared along the edges of the cave. After a short moment of contemplation, he predicted that a group of wanderers had entered the cave.

If Han Xiao was an ordinary individual, he probably would have been worried that the valuables housed in the cave had been taken away by others. However, Han Xiao was also unique in his thinking. He felt that having others to explore the unknown territory first was in fact beneficial to him.

Han Xiao stood at the edge of the cave. He looked down and could see the distinct layers of rocks and cliffs. At the boundary between sunlight and darkness, Han Xiao could see a rusty metallic chain extending downward.

There are signs of mining on the rocks of the cliffs. There’s a smell in the air… the smell of rust. I haven’t explored this place before, so I should head down now.

Han Xiao grabbed all his gear, holding his torch in his mouth.

As he scaled down the rocky cliff, he shone his torch downward.

Nearer to the bottom, the sunlight gradually disappeared, and he could feel the curved edges of the rocks.

The sunlight disappeared quickly, and darkness enveloped the surroundings. The only source of light was the torchlight. The eerie atmosphere alarmed Han Xiao. He could feel a chill in his bones that was creeping toward his heart. He wanted to slow down his heart, which was thumping so quickly, so that he could ease the sense of nervousness within him.

After descending for about three minutes, the light from his torch finally hit the ground. At the bottom of the ravine was a dusty metallic floor. There were thick cobwebs in the tracks, and the place seemed like it had not been explored for a long time.

Han Xiao landed on the ground with a ‘thud’. The pitch-black environment made the sound especially eerie and creepy.

The surroundings were specious and empty, and the light from the torch seemed like a lonely island in a sea of darkness. There was a mixture of sounds in the darkness, similar to the sound of his landing. That caught Han Xiao’s attention.

After sweeping the area with his torchlight, Han Xiao found himself in a metallic corridor that had a design similar to a military base. There were reinforced concrete structures everywhere, and the walls were also caked in rust. There also seemed to be some weird bugs moving about on the walls.

The metallic flooring on the ground was covered with dust. A trail of fresh footsteps could be seen extending into the darkness. The footsteps probably belonged to the pilgrims who had arrived at the spot shortly before him

There probably some more compartments and spaces beneath the metallic floor.

Han Xiao pointed his torchlight in another direction and shone at his foot. He saw what was beneath him.

Below the hollow metallic flooring, there were countless dense red lights that seemed like they were emitted by the eyes of insects.

Holy shit!

Han Xiao could feel the tension in his head. He immediately dimmed the torchlight and marked out the bottom layer as a prohibited sector.

With that in mind, Han Xiao carefully followed the footsteps of the pilgrims forward. It was dead silent apart from the occasional faint sounds of crawling insects. However, if one tried to pick out these sounds individually, they would just disappear. It was very creepy and made Han Xiao uncontrollably nervous.

After walking for long while, a junction appeared in front of him. The footprints of the pilgrims led toward the path on the right.

While Han Xiao was in a dilemma over which path to take, he heard footsteps from the path on the right. He could see many people running toward him hysterically.

Han Xiao immediately moved to the other side of the junction. He switched off his torch and put on the night vision visor that Fabian Company had provided.

“Run, quickly run!”

“A monster!”

The frantic pilgrims ran out of the junction as if they were escaping from some creature. Their clothing had many blood stains. Also, the size of the group was much smaller.

What are these guys hiding from? Han Xiao was puzzled.

Suddenly, from the nearby path, there was a deep growl that originated from a beast. The growl was raspy and deep, like the sigh of a giant. The instant he heard the sound, Han Xiao felt his pulse running wild, and an uncomfortable sensation began to build up in his heart.

This is a threat from a high-level beast. It is definitely above LV 40!

The pilgrims looked fearful. It was as if they had seen something unimaginable. Using their hands and leg, they were crawling hysterically backward.

However, the beast never walked out of the dark. The pilgrims fell to the ground. They were relieved that they had managed to escape from the clutches of the beast.

There were no sounds of footsteps made by the beast.

“Joel was eaten by the beast…”

“This place is too scary.”

The pilgrims were shivering, and shock was clearly written on their faces. It was as if all their energy was being drained away. They said, “This place is not Felonia. We will not find the things we want here. Let’s leave and continue the hunt for the real ruins.”

According to legend, the magical ruins were supposed to be mysterious and archaic. There were supposed to be countless incomprehensible carving. The ruins were also a city made from rocks and boulders. However, they were in a man-made metallic base. On the walls, there were symbols that looked like the coat of arms of the ancient kingdom. The place was probably the secret military facility of the ancient kingdom.

The pilgrims calmed down. A young pilgrim said, “Maybe this place is indeed the Felonia we have been searching for. Our former country found the ruins of Felonia and decided to build a facility to study the treasure of the ruins.”

The treasure of the desert was the treasure mentioned in the legend of Felonia. As long as one possessed the treasure, one would be able to control the Somar desert.

The old pilgrims shook their heads and said with a bitter laugh, “Impossible. If the ancient kingdom had the treasure, why would the regime be destroyed?”

“This is not the place we are looking for. The real ruins of Felonia must be hidden in some other corner of the desert!”

The old pilgrims sounded assertive and firm.

The pilgrims helped on another up and left the place.

After Han Xiao heard their conversations, he was also confused. Based on his knowledge, there were no magical elements present on Planet Aquamarine. The so-called treasure of the desert was probably some advanced technological weaponry.

However, people would often overthink scenarios or incidents they did not understand. They would therefore create unrealistic stories. Furthermore, they would be very firm and confident that their unrealistic imagination was in fact the reality. Han Xiao thought of the story of a man who did not escape when his home was flooded. Instead, he waited atop the roof of his house for God to send him an ark.

He could not understand why the pilgrims were so adamant about linking Felonia with magic. However, that seemed to be none of his concern… unless it was the hint for another hidden mission?

Han Xiao regained his senses, and he revealed himself after the pilgrims left. He was also unsure which path to take at the junction.

The pilgrims said that there was a monster on the route at the right. However, the path on the left was unknown territory, and it could very well be more dangerous. How should he decide?

Based on my experience, these pilgrims are bait to lure me into the Instance Dungeon. They hinted that there was a monster on the right. There are two interpretations of their words. The first is that they are right. The second is that they are leading me to the path on the left on purpose.

Han Xiao ground his teeth firmly and chose to walk the path on the right. The unknown was definitely scarier than the monster. He then remembered the bugs he had seen during his descent and their dense red eyes. If he was to run into those creepy crawlies, his skin was bound to shed from all their bites.

Han Xiao wore the thermo-electrical incisor gloves. He was not using any torchlight; he only had his night-vision visors on. After entering the path on the right, there was dark green filled his vision. He could barely see the road ahead.

There were abnormally large footprints on the ground. The footprints were the work of the monster. Like humans, the monster had two legs and five toes on each foot. The monster was estimated to be three meters tall.

Han Xiao walked for a while, and he came across a room its door wide opened. The footprints of the monster stopped there.

Han Xiao nudged closer to the door, and he could smell a disgusting stench that seemed like rotting meat. There was also a faint odor of blood.

He raised his head and looked inside of the room.

A pair of eyes, which were as large as bronze bells, was staring at him. He was only half a meter away from the monster!

Han Xiao was both shocked and frightened.

Chapter 102 - The Serum

The magnetically controlled retractable armor was ready to be activated. Han Xiao was either going to fight or escape.

However, the monster was merely staring in the direction of the door. It was as if the monster had not noticed the existence of Han Xiao. It was standing there without moving.

Night-blindness?

Han Xiao felt a tinge of elation in his heart. Luckily, he did not switch on his torch, else he would have suffered the fate of the pilgrims before him.

Standing three meters tall, the monster had a human shape, and layers of muscles could be seen on his body. The muscles stacked together like little hills. However, the muscular body did not look aesthetically pleasing. Instead, the elongated muscles turned people off. The muscles were also rotting. There were even holes at certain areas, and plump maggots could be seen crawling around the rotting meat.

Compared its massive body, the head and neck of the creature were especially small. The skin of the monster was stretched tight by the muscles. The face of the creature also looked disproportionate. Looking at his face, one would automatically think of other abnormal individuals, like the Deformed Devil and the Sun Knight.

Han Xiao scanned the layout of the room. There was a bunch of medical equipment and four pods that were probably used for experiments. Two of the pods had been crushed. One of them was closed. There was only one free pod available for use.

There were liquid-delivery tubes on the pods. They were attached to a transparent container that only had stains of the neon-like liquid left.

Han Xiao moved backwards carefully. When he realized that the monster was still not moving, he heaved a sigh of relief. He walked down the corridor and quickly reached the second and third metal gates. The rusty gates were all locked up tight by another metallic barrier. The card-reader was so rusty that it could no longer be used.

Han Xiao did not give up because of that. He took the card-reader apart to check out its model.

Hmmm… I can’t tell.

That’s not important!

This place was a secret military facility decades ago. However, the facility was abandoned a couple of years back, and it was probably a site used for biochemical experiments. The experiments probably failed… or could they have succeeded? The muscular creature really doesn’t look like a normal biological organism. Wait, the corridor can’t be so long. How big is this base exactly?

There was silence throughout the dark corridor. The deeper one ventured into the corridor, the darker it got. Even the night-vision visor only had a visibility radius of five meters. The surrounding environment beyond that was a mystery to Han Xiao. Fortunately, he was lucky to not have claustrophobia or a phobia of darkness.

Han Xiao felt like he was walking on the edge of a knife; danger seemed imminent. Although Han Xiao was no chicken, he could feel cold sweat breaking out from all areas of his body. That was the innate reaction of any living being that was going to face an upcoming, unknown danger. Han Xiao knew that being too nervous would affect his ability to make good decisions quickly at stressful moments. He started chanting something under his breath to keep his nerves at bay.

“Stay calm even when the sky collapses. The breeze is so soothing. The waves are not choppy. The height of the mountain does not matter. There will be a fairy. A horse may be old, but it is still ambitious…”

In actual fact, Han Xiao was also unsure of what he was mumbling. However, after his chants, he no longer felt so nervous.

Along the way, he saw more than ten gates, but only the one leading to the room housing the beast was opened. The rest of the gates were all shut tightly. Eventually, he reached the end of the corridor, and a larger gate stood before his eyes. That was probably the main room. The metallic barrier was lower by a third of the distance, and he was able to enter the room.

That was the second room that one could enter. Based on the logic behind the Instance Dungeon, there was probably some useful information there.

The room seemed to be a gigantic lab. There were rusty machines everywhere, and experiment pods were sitting in the center of the room.

It seems like there is no danger.

The dust in the room choked him, and the pungent rotting smell filled his nose. There was a corpse on the table, and it was shriveled up. There were torn fragments of fabric on the body, and Han Xiao could faintly tell that the pieces of cloth belonged to a white lab coat.

Han Xiao found a book at the table near the body. He wiped the dust from the cover of the book in an attempt to find out some useful information. After taking a closer look at it, he realized it was a diary.

“13 July. The professor modified the Felonia serum for the 67th time and injected it into the lab rat. The effects are amazing and have exceeded our expectations. It there are no negative reactions, we can proceed with human trials.”

“17 July. The lab rat is dead. It is a failure. The cause of death is organ failure. The professor is disappointed. He locked himself up in his room. I could hear him smashing things in his office. The lab report for the experiment was missing.”

“20 July. The professor insisted on carrying out human trials. The higher ups approved the professor’s request. This is insane! Have they all forgotten about Experiment 000? The lab report for the experiment was torn and missing.”

“26 July. The base released a new set of regulations. All researchers are supposed to submit their electronic devices. We are not allowed to connect to any external networks. Are we going to be defeated?”

“5 August. This is the 7th day of experiment 008. The human subject is in a stable condition. There are no special changes in the subject. The professor is dejected.”

“11 August. The higher-ups sent out orders for us to retreat. The battle is not going well for our side, and we have to preserve whatever resources are left. Everyone is feeling scared. As usual, the professor is unwilling to face the reality that we have been defeated. I have prepared myself mentally for this outcome. I noticed that the guards protecting the base have become sparser over the past few months. That is probably due to the fact that most of them were being deployed to the frontline as reinforcements. Damn it, if I did not leave my post as a military doctor, I will not be stuck in this depressing facility. Everyone looks so gloomy here. There is no life! I hate his place!”

“14 August. We will be retreating tomorrow. We are heading to Base 03 to seek shelter. There is not much time. We backed up all data related to the Felonia Serum. The guards are so rough. They want to blow the entire facility up. The professor took some serums with him. The rest of the serums were all destroyed.”

The entries in the diary stopped there. Han Xiao flipped back to the front, but he could not find any more valuable information. Many pages were torn away from the diary.

The corpses at the side evidently showed that the people in the facility did not manage to escape. An accident must have happened between August 14th and August 15th that resulted in the deaths of the researchers and guards in the facility. Also, most of them had died in the basement. That explained the countless red-eyed Necro-worms active in the basement that Han Xiao had seen—the worms fed on the dead bodies!

What’s a Felonia Serum? Han Xiao was intrigued by the serum. He suddenly remembered the dried-up liquid in the previous lab’s experimental pod. That must have been what was left of the serum. The diary also noted that the “professor has the serum”. The body of the professor was most likely in the basement. Han Xiao had no interest in entering the restricted area. Therefore, it was probably impossible for him to obtain the serum.

Seems like there will be no interesting discoveries this time round. Han Xiao shook his head in disappointment. He then looked up and took a deep breath.

He saw a block box in the center of the table. He walked toward it hastily and opened the cover of the box. There were three tubes of a fluorescent serum in the box.

At that instant, an ancient saying flashed in his mind— In times of desperation, there will eventually be light. What you search so hard for can actually be obtained so easily. In fact, it is just right before your eyes if turn back and take a closer look.

Han Xiao looked at the body on the table. He bit his lip and wondered to himself, Could the dead body be the professor?

Han Xiao grabbed the three serums and scanned through liquid in the tubes.

Where on earth do you find a serum of such a weird color?

_____________________

You gained [Felonia Serum (Incomplete)] x 3.

Felonia Serum (Incomplete): It is a serum with the medicinal ability to improve one’s physical capability. The formula has yet to be perfected. After the usage of the serum, mutation is a distinct possibility.

Note, these are the last three remaining Felonia Serums.

——————————————————————

Ah a biochemical serum. A serum without a tested and proven formula is highly dangerous. The serums I possess are incomplete products. It is highly likely for mutations to occur if I injected the serum into my body. I will probably become the muscular beast I just saw…

Han Xiao felt a cold shiver up his spine.

There is probably nothing else left here. I am going to leave this place as soon as possible. This place is very creepy.

Han Xiao turned around and met the gaze of the muscular monster standing there silently.

Chapter 103 - Ahead of Us

The monster raised it muscular arm and slammed his hand down at Han Xiao as if he were a fly. There was a change in the air pressure from the immense force exerted by the hand, suffocating Han Xiao.

As the rotting stench filled his nostrils, Han Xiao quickly slid to dodge the attack like a mudskipper. The monster’s strike missed him by a few millimeters, the strong wind blowing his hair into a mess.

When the monster’s palm hit the ground, there was a huge boom. A dent was created in the ground, and dust could also be seen rising into the air. Han Xiao immediately held his breath and squinted to prevent the dust from entering his body.

He fired the Berserk Eagles violently at the rotting flesh of the monster, sending smelly puss spurting into the air.

_____________________

You dealt 57 points of damage to Subject 002!

You have entered combat mode. Based on your current level, you will have access to the following information:

Subject 002:

Level: 42

Main Class: Low-level mutated organism (Endurance to HP conversion ratio is at 1:100)

Attributes: 65 S trength, 20 Dexterity, 60 (90) Endurance, 1 Intelligence, ? Mystery, ? Charisma, ? Luck

Energy: 0

Energy Rank: 0

Health: 1854/7800 (Constant decomposition)

Status: Intense decomposition—Defense -25, Endurance -30—All traits are in serious decline.

Specialties:

– Physical Improvement: Strength +5, Endurance +10

– Mid-level HP Boost: Additional increase in HP from the conversion of endurance. The ration is 1:30.

– ???

Skills:

– Silent Movement LV 12

– Heavy Smash LV 8

– Collide LV 5

– ???

——————————————————————

Although for normal players, the professional level was usually capped at LV 10, there were some professions that allowed for higher levels. Low-level mutated organism was one of such special cases.

As Han Xiao fired both his pistols continuously at the target, the large diameter bullets slammed into the body of Subject 002, forming holes in the monster’s body.

With every shot, a bang resounded through the base.

The commotion is too much for me to handle. I need to end the battle fast. Han Xiao had a heavy heart. Luckily, Subject 002 was in a rather poor physical state. If the monster had full HP, it would have been tough for him to escape.

Subject 002 seemed to be unable to feel pain. It lowered its head and barged toward the target. Han Xiao felt like a steam train was barging at him!

Swiftly stowing his pistols, he took out his blade. He slashed the retractable machete hard at the skull of the monster. With a ‘Dang’, the blade pierced hard into the skull. Puss spilled out from the monster’s head. Han Xiao was also hit by the monster’s charge. He only had the time to put his hands before him, and it felt like he was facing a wild rhinoceros. He was unable to keep his balance and moved backward. While moving back, he crashed into two experiment platforms and could feel a sharp pain in his hip bone. There was also an acute pain in his chest that made him short of breath.

Multiple injuries suffered by Han Xiao flashed on the screen of the interface.

Han Xiao’s blade was still stuck in the bones and flesh of Subject 002. The yellowish puss was flowing out of the wound seamlessly. The monster attempted to growl in anger, but it could only make shrieks since its vocal chords were also decomposing. The monster’s fists fired out rapidly, creating strong gusts of wind that brought the dust along. However, the motion of the punches thrown by the monster was easily discernable for Han Xiao.

The collision he had experienced previously was definitely a skill of the monster that could not be used repeatedly. Han Xiao also wanted to observe if the enemy had any specific weaknesses. The conclusion was clear. The monster really did not have a brain and could move its body even when its brain was being hacked.

Han Xiao dodged the fists of the monster. He quickly moved to the back of Subject 002 and activated the thermo-electrical incisor gloves. He pressed the gloves hard on the enemy, and a glaring pale-blue light was released in the darkness. The gloves were scorching, and the heat burnt through the rotten muscle tissues of the monster. There was an intense charred smell in the air.

Han Xiao managed to grab a sticky internal organ of the monster. He tried to rip it hard with his hands, and white smoke emerged in the air. Subject 002 was constantly trying to wave its hands and attack Han Xiao, but Han Xiao managed to evade the attacks.

The thermo-electrical incisor gloves were able to cause high damage to the enemy continuously. In less than ten seconds, it inflicted a total damage of around 800 HP. The heat from the gloves managed to scorch the body of the monster.

After flashing for a few times, the light from the gloves disappeared, indicating that the battery providing power to the gloves had been depleted. The battery powering the gloves could only sustain the gloves’ activities for a few minutes. Su Li had used the gloves before Han Xiao snatched them from her, and Han Xiao had managed to deplete the last bit of energy left in the gloves’ battery.

Han Xiao retreated quickly, and by utilizing his nimbleness and agility, he managed to evade the attacks of the monster. The monster was like a low-level creature with almost zero intelligence. Although it was physically strong, it was no match of Han Xiao’s quickness and intelligence. Only the monster’s charges were considered threatening.

Han Xiao made good use of the terrain and obstacles around to evade the monster’s attacks and finally defeated the monster with his never-ending gunshots.

The monster swirled unsteadily on the spot like it was drunk before collapsing to the ground. The monster stopped breathing, and the puss flowed out of the monster’s gunshot wounds.

_____________________

You killed Subject 002 (LV 42).

You gained 32,000 Experience.

_____________________

As you killed an enemy that is ten levels higher, there will be an addition gain of experience by 280%. The total experience gained will be 89,600. Your rate of contribution: 23.7%

You gained an additional 21,235 (23.7%) experience points.

——————————————————————

A shuffling sound could be heard. It grew louder. The sound surrounded the entire area. Limbs started to protrude out of the cracks in the metallic flooring.

Han Xiao realized that something was wrong. His expression changed drastically, and he started fleeing toward where he had come from.

There was a huge boom from afar that sounded like the collision between metallic objects. There were also roars from a beast, and they sounded as if they were heading in Han Xiao’s direction.

All signs indicated that although he had successfully wiped out Subject 002, he had triggered the activity of something else.

Han Xiao had managed to kill Subject 002. However, as recorded by the diary, the last subject of the series of experiments was Subject 008, and that meant that there were a couple more monsters like Subject 002. Perhaps, these monsters were even stronger and wandering about the various corners of the base. Since Han Xiao had already obtained what he wanted, it was time for him to flee.

Ignoring all sorts of creepy sounds, Han Xiao fled the base at the speed of light. He managed to leave the area safely and started crawling back up the cliff. The light from the sun hit his body, and he could finally relax his senses. The abandoned facility had an atmosphere that was too creepy. It was as if danger was everywhere. He had felt like he was walking along a tightrope in midair.

Fortunately, he had managed to obtain the three tubes of Felonia Serum, and Han Xiao could not imagine the value of these serums. However, he had no time to check out his loot. The different military groups in the Somar desert would quickly arrive after discovering the events that had occurred in the area.

With that thought in mind, Han Xiao left the area on his jeep.

About an hour after Han Xiao left the scene, the fleets of vehicles arrived at the entrance to Felonia. They all looked at the entrance of the cave in shock. They subsequently informed their wealthy sponsors about their discovery. The different military groups were all eyeing the hidden treasure of Felonia, and they were willing to fight it out to achieve their goal.

The leaders of these militias sent out orders for their troops to explore the facility.

The militants eventually put their battles on hold and sent reconnaissance groups into the facility. The huge amount of people entering the facility made it seem less creepy and frightening.

“There are Desert Necro-worms in the basement.”

“Tell someone up top to bring the flame-throwers down.”

The flamethrowers started spitting fire through the metallic flooring into the basement compartment where the worms were active. The worms squealed as they were engulfed in the flames. The mixture of the smell of the burnt worms and the rotting stench of the facility was nauseating.

The Desert Necro-worms were relatively short, less than ten centimeters, and they looked like centipedes with beetle-like shells. There were antennae on the worms’ heads, and their red eyes could also be seen. They had pincers that could slice one’s bones and could also be used for the ingestion of their prey.

There were tens of thousands of such worms in the facility, and the waves of worms started to retaliate. The worms crawled up and approached the militants from two directions. The various militias decided to team up in a defense against these worms. They used their flame-throwers and bullets to push back the waves of worms.

Just as the situation stabilized, the worms suddenly dispersed, and a few rotting creatures barged out. They did not care about the bullets or flames and penetrated the formation set up by the troops.

The militants were all astonished.

“What’s that? They look so fucking disgusting!”

“Maintain formation.”

“Fuck, the worms are invading our positions!”

“Kill the monster first… wait, there are three monsters!”

“We need back up. I repeat, we need back up!”

The gunshots went on for a while before the scene fell silent.

There were burnt worms and their shells everywhere. The monsters had been battered to death by the bullets and embers. The militants had also suffered substantial losses. The only consolation was that they had won the battle.

Couton kicked the corpse of the dead monster and muttered, “They look like experimental subjects of a series of biochemical experiments.”

The troops started clearing the battlefield. They ventured up and down the base to explore the area. They blew up the gates to check out the locked rooms but unfortunately did not find anything. There was only rusty equipment and a couple of documents in the facility that the troops found valuable and kept.

The most valuable discovery were the last dregs of the dried-up neon-colored serum left in the experimental pod and the dead body of the experiment subject. These items led to the secret that the leaders of these militant groups were looking for. Perhaps they could test the effects of the serum in their own labs. However, looking at the monsters that the experimental subjects had turned into, it seemed that the serum was not yet complete.

The militants went into the lab that Han Xiao had discovered no long ago, and they found another dead experimental subject—Subject 002—with fresh wounds.

“Someone came ahead of us!”

Couton looked into the case that housed the three tubes of serum, and it was empty. There were signs that someone had tampered with the case.

His eyes instantly lit up.

Chapter 104 - Strengthened Life

The trip to Somar Desert was concluded.

The allocated time for the quest was fifteen days, but Han Xiao took only six days to complete it.

As Fabian Company’s carrier aircraft landed in Morning Wind City’s airport, Han Xiao rushed to Hotel Victoria without a break to complete his quest at the Blood Pact Society’s floor.

The server quickly reported it to the higher management level. Soon, the person in-charge came to receive Han Xiao.

In a private VIP lounge, Han Xiao was leaning comfortable on the sofa as he waited for the person in-charge to confirm his quest details.

On an unknown floor, a Dark Net recorder opened the bounty page for the Rose Militant and updated the activity log.

“688.4.1, Code Name – Mr. Black (Scorpion)

“Date: 688.4.7

“Assignment completed.”

This report was sent to the database, so at the same time, all assassins of the Blood Pact Society received a text message about the removal of the Rose Militant assignment.

…

“Mr. Black, your bounty assignment has been verified. We will immediately transfer the funds into your account.”

Ding!

Han Xiao looked at the computer—his Dark Net account had just received three million dollars, which amounted to five million dollars in his account. He realized that the rate of profit from doing bounty hunter assignments was way faster than making machinery.

It was a killing.

In the old days, this assignment was completed by a fifteen-member team, so the profit was divided equally between everyone. This time, Han Xiao took the profit alone, making it a colossal windfall.

_____________________

You have completed the quest [Bounty Hunter (Rose Militant)].

You gained 15,000 Experience.

Hidden Quest Requirement: ‘Discover the Felonia Plan’ completed. You gained 25,000 additional Experience; you gained a special reward [Mid-grade gene-blending potion (4.37% Low Concentration) x 1

Reputation with the Blood Pack Society increased by 550 points. Currently Neutral (550/1000) – [Scorpion-level Assassin]

——————————————————————

Han Xiao’s eyes shimmered. Gene-blending potion was a very powerful game item—it was chiefly used to reduce the failure and mutation rate of biochemicals!

Biochemicals were a common type of drug for increasing character stats, but any use of biochemicals came with inherently risks, which included the possibility of a decrease in stat points and malignant mutations. Additionally, different biochemicals would have conflicts that resulted in further side effects. Gene-blending potion could remove these inherent risks of biochemicals to a certain degree.

No wonder. If I did not risk going into the abandoned base and discover the Felonia Serum, this special reward would not have been useful.

Han Xiao suddenly understood the crux of the matter. The rewards of this quest were linked closely to his actions. This potion was the extra reward for exploring the place, and Subject 002 was akin to a mini-boss that guarded the blood serum.

His cautiousness during the exploration helped him avoid many more difficult barriers. The footsteps of the pilgrims were secretly hinting the player in the correct direction. If he had ignored the hint and walked in the opposite direction, he would have been surrounded and attacked by a bunch of test subjects and Desert Necro-worms.

If he feared the monster and moved to the left side, he would have missed discovering the blood serum.

And if he had moved to the right side while using a torch, he would have triggered the battle with Subject 002 at the first gate. The small passageway would not have allowed him to evade and move forward properly. He was highly likely to have retreated.

Lastly, if he had continued exploring greedily after getting the blood serum, he would have suffered the same consequences as the first scenario.

The reward was really a pleasant surprise; Han Xiao could not wait to research it. After submitting the assignment, he got up and was about to leave. However, the person in-charge suddenly said, “Mir. Black. May I ask you to stay in the Morning Wing City for two days? An important guest wants to meet with you.”

“Important guest?” Han Xiao was puzzled.

“An emissary from the Rothschild family, the client for the Rose Militant assignment. He hopes to meet up with you.”

Could it be to do with Felonia? Han Xiao’s eyes flashed before he said, “Please inform him that I will be glad to meet up with him.”

The person in-charge was delighted. “Alright then.”

Han Xiao left Hotel Victoria and went back to Antonio’s base. He immediately entered his temporary workshop and took out the Felonia serum and the gene-blending Potion.

The Felonia serum had a yellow fluorescence. It was sealed nicely and thus did not go bad after so many years.

The gene-blending potion was as dense as mercury, and it had little shiny star-like sparkles that made it glitter.

To use or not to use? That was the question.

The Felonia serum was a secret game item that he had never seen before this. The gene-blending potion would greatly reduce the risk of using it, so it was rather safe.

After Han Xiao calculated his chance of success, he decided to roll the dice. With the help of the gene-blending potion, even if the serum failed, he would not become like the muscular and ugly-looking test subjects.

He took out a syringe and a catheter. He then poked the syringe into the vein on his arm, injecting the gene-blending potion first.

A cool and refreshing sensation was carried by his blood circulation and distributed throughout his body. He felt as if he had just taken a refreshing bite of ice-cream in the blazing summer heat. His mind was simultaneously calmed. The gene-blending potion was not harmful to the body, and if it was not activated by a biochemical, its effect would gradually disappear.

Han Xiao took a deep breadth before he started injecting the blood serum. The fluorescent serum passed through the catheter and entered his bloodstream.

The feeling of his body swelling was instantly felt!

“Hiss…” Han Xiao gritted his teeth. He was spasming due to the overwhelming pain he felt throughout his entire body. He felt as if the interior of his body had been blown up into a paste—bones smashed into ashes, blood vessels broken apart, and muscles melted. The insufferable pain hit his brain without a stop, and he almost fainted!

‘Real’ players had only needed to rely on progress bars for using in-game items and making machinery. Therefore, the maximum pain they could feel was limited.

But Han Xiao had to experience the pain in reality!

Of course, being able to experience the reality was more advantageous to him. He had already gained a lot of benefits from it. True pain was just the required cost of the deal.

After some unknown amount of time, the overwhelming pain gradually subsided. Han Xiao’s eyes were filled with blood vessels, and he exhaled a heavy heap of murky air. He felt his nerves had suffered a horrifying torture.

He took a look at his body and was glad to find that it did not change. He did not become a muscular monster. It was still the same old handsome-looking body.

He did not have the energy to read his interface during the process, but now that it was over, he realized that it was flooded with lines and lines of information.

_____________________

You used a Felonia Blood Serum (Incomplete).

Mutation Progress: 12%.

Mutation succeeded! (Failure rate was reduced by Gene-blending Potion)

_____________________

You used a Felonia Blood Serum (Incomplete).

Mutation Progress: 46%; Mutation succeeded!

_____________________

You used a Felonia Blood Serum (Incomplete).

Mutation Progress: 73%; Mutation succeeded!

_____________________

You used a Felonia Blood Serum (Incomplete).

Mutation Progress: 100%.

Mutation Completed! Compatibility: Good

You gained 3 Strength and 5 Endurance!

You gained the ability [Basic Strengthen Life]!

_____________________

Han Xiao was dumbfounded. He glanced at his stat board with a look of disbelief as the new ability [Basic Strengthen Life] appeared.

I possess a Molding ability! Han Xiao was utterly shocked.

There was a special type of ability called a Molding ability. As far as he knew, he had not heard about any ‘real’ player obtaining this type of ability as it belonged exclusively to NPCs and Bosses, and it had very powerful effects. It was even rare for NPCs to have it.

Just by looking at its effects, one would immediately realize how powerful this type of ability was. [Basic Strengthen Life] would turn Endurance into extra Health Points with a conversion ratio of 1 to 15. This meant that with the 60 Endurance Points that Han Xiao had right now, he instantly gained 990 more Health Points to reach more than 2000 Health Points, almost doubling his existing HP.

Furthermore, the effect of this ability would increase as his Endurance increased further, providing him even more HP.

Han Xiao was only LV 30, and his HP had broken the 2,000 mark. The LV 38 Pugilist Pan Kuang did not even have as much HP as him.

If a ‘real’ player used the Felonia serum, they would probably only gain stat points, without the Molding ability.

This ability, my magnetic armor, and all the future mechanical armors will together make my tank ability so powerful that my enemies will vomit from trying to kill me.

Han Xiao was pleasantly surprised; he was very satisfied with the new ability as it gave him additional insurance.

He had benefited greatly from this quest.

From quest rewards, rewards from killing the enemies, and rewards from producing machinery during his free time, he had accumulated over 700,000 Experience on his interface!

He then counted the number of blueprints he had—19—just one more away from finishing the job advancement quest. Han Xiao contemplated for a moment and decided to produce some equipment that would boost his movement speed.

_____________________

Do you wish to proceed with talent fusion?

(Level 4 Basic Electromagnetism + Level 4 Basic Energy Theory + Level 4 Basic Mechanical Engineering + Level 2 Basic Bio-engineering)

This fusion will cost you 20,000 Experience!

——————————————————————

The range of blueprints he would get from this fusion was quite large. Han Xiao was uncertain whether he would get the equipment he wanted or not. He prepared himself to fuse three times, and if he did not succeed after three attempts, he would try to invent it by himself.

On his third try, Han Xiao obtained the blueprint for the item that he needed—the Skating Shoes.

Han Xiao scratched his head. He had saved the time needed to invent the shoes by himself by successfully obtaining the desired blueprint on the third try, but one of the two other blueprints was a totally useless blueprint. He was not sure whether he should consider himself lucky or unlucky.

The Skating Shoes, also known as the Electromagnetic Hover-boots, could be worn by an individual or armed on a small robot, and they could greatly enhance movement speed without hindering evading capability.

The other two blueprints were named Swarm and Heart, respectively.

_____________________

You have completed your Job Advancement Quest.

Job advancement successful!

You gained a new job [Mechanic (Trainee)]

+50 Energy, +1 Dexterity, +4 Intelligence; +1 Endurance, + 3 Unassign Stats, +1 Talent Point

You learned [Meticulous Repairs]!

You learned [Medium Enhancement]!

——————————————————————

Repair and Enhancement, the two core skills of a Mechanic, had finally evolved.

Mechanic (Trainee) was the third stage of a Mechanic’s job, but the Experience required to reach Level1 was not much since the job had a maximum level of 15.

Han Xiao gained three stat points at once.

His total level was at 34, and as usual, he threw all the stat points gained into Intelligence.

Han Xiao still had some leftover Experience. He thought for a moment before he decided to upgrade [Continuous Gliding Shots]. This skill had helped him numerous times, and Mechanics lacked battle skills, so every single active skill was important to them. Additionally, he was not in a rush to upgrade [Overload] as its Level1 effect was powerful enough for now.

[Continuous Gliding Shots] was raised to Level4, and its effect was strengthened. However, at the same time, it would consume 8 Energy. Han Xiao now had close to 900 Energy, more than enough to spend on this skill.

He had once again spent all his Experience.

He had spent a large sum of Experience in exchange for an improvement in his fighting capability. His character’s bare Energy Rank exceeded the 500 mark, and when he coordinated with his machinery, it would reach up to 700. He could now beat Pan Kuang easily if they were to fight again without the help of Norsa’s Character Summoning Card.

Chapter 105 - Rothschild

With a huge sum of money in his wallet, Han Xiao could spend extravagantly. He purchased a new batch of mechanical parts from Fabian Company.

In one day, using the skills from his job advancement, Han Xiao upgraded all his equipment and made blueprints for new items.

The Electromagnetic Hover-boots looked like a pair of metal boots. The heels and soles had a special device that could utilize the electromagnetic field to reduce surface friction. The power for which was generated by the high-energy battery inside the boots. The user could glide and coast on any type of surface, as if ice-skating, at an extremely high speed that was comparable to that of a car. The battery could supply enough energy for the boots to run at maximum power output for twenty minutes.

Han Xiao then painted the boots in silver and black stripes, and they looked stylish. Also, he conveniently added breathable knitting, a spongy cushion, and leather exterior for the boots. The boots were now comfortable for every day wear. One did not need to change into them only during battles.

Soon, the Rothschilds’ representative visited him.

In Hotel Victoria, Alphonsus was seated in the VIP lounge. He rested his hands on his knees while he waited for his guest to arrive.

As the door opened and Han Xiao walked in, Alphonsus got up and held out his hand elegantly as he said with a deep and magnetic voice, “I am Alphonsus from the Rothschild Family. I want to discuss some matters with you.”

Han Xiao went on to shake his hand. He felt Alphonsus’ thumb pressing firmly on the area between his thumb and index finger while he steadily shook for a moment. It was the type of handshake that was habitual for a person of authority, mostly used to exert dominance over the other person. This kind of handshake was easy to recognize for Han Xiao as his grandfather used to do it.

The principle was rather simple: just like how perverts would lightly scratch a girl’s hand when they shook her hand, a person of different status, job, or identity would have different habits. Handshakes would differ greatly depending on the people executing and receiving it, such as a subordinate seeking a favor from his boss, a male trying to seduce a lady, a person meeting a stranger, or two people of high-status fighting against each other.

Alphonsus was clearly not just a simple envoy. Han Xiao could already guess at the Rothschild Family’s purpose for meeting him.

As both were seated, Alphonsus said, “The assignment for Rose Militant has been on the list for nearly three years, and many assassins failed miserably. You, Mr. Black, actually completed it alone, much to my surprise.”

“You flatter me. This was just a standard operation, nothing to praise.”

Yet, your tone does not sound at all humble, Alphonsus quietly thought.

The two made some small talk before Han Xiao cut straight to the point. “Our relationship is only limited to that between a client and an assassin. Since the assignment is completed, we have no need for any further association. You clearly came to visit me for something else.”

“You are right. I am here to ask you some questions.” Alphonsus nodded. His body suddenly leaned forward, creating a hint of tension. He stared right at Han Xiao and said solemnly, “Did you visit an abandoned base in the Somar Desert?”

Alphonsus continuously observed Han Xiao’s expression and eyes whilst he spoke. He would immediately know that Han Xiao was lying if he showed any hint of hesitation. The Rothschild Family knew about the research project from the experiment diary taken from the base, and they highly valued it. If they could obtain the Felonia serum, they might be able to produce unique items from it.

Much to his surprise, Han Xiao actually took out a tube of yellow-fluorescent blood serum and place directly on the table.

“Name your price,” he said nonchalantly.

Alphonsus was startled—he did not expect Han Xiao to be so frank.

“This item is useless to me. Since you want it, you can pay to buy it.”

Alphonsus glanced at the serum. He did not worry that Han Xiao was lying to him—those who dared to scam the Rothschild Family had all died.

“How much do you want?”

“It depends on your sincerity.” Han Xiao grinned and looked unfathomable.

This attitude gave Alphonsus a headache. He had been hoping that Han Xiao did not know the value of the blood serum, but based on his behavior, it was unlikely. He hesitated for a long while before he made an honest offer, but it was not a high price considering the item’s rarity.

“One million.”

Every negotiator would always start low. Since they were all civilized gentleman, there was no such thing as killing and robbing; therefore, Alphonsus was ready to spend a fortune on it.

Han Xiao stared at Alphonsus for a moment before he slowly moved his lips. “This price… you didn’t show any sincerity at all.”

Alphonsus was just about to prepare his negotiation speech.

“I accept.”

“This blood serum has been kept for a few dozen years, and I don’t even know if it still works. So, the value is greatly reduced, I…”

“Hold on. You agree with this price‽” Alphonsus looked shocked.

Han Xiao pushed the blood serum toward Alphonsus and smiled. “This is for making a friend.”

Alphonsus started to take a liking for Han Xiao as he had originally planned to spend a fortune on this.

He tucked away the serum and recollected himself. “The funds will be transferred to your account as soon as possible. Also, you will gain the friendship with Rothschild and myself personally.”

_____________________

You unlocked a new camp reputation!

Reputation with the Rothschild Family increased by 1,800 points

The Rothschild Family: Friendly (1,800/3,000)

——————————————————————

Han Xiao smiled lightly; earning reputation points with the Rothschild Family by giving up some money was a very good deal for him. He could always earn money from other places, but the opportunity to unlock a new camp would be fleeting.

Some family conglomerates and corporations existed since the Old Age. After the baptism of war, some families died out while some became even more deep-rooted, for their influence could reach every aspect of their country, including the military, politics, economics, and mafias. Rothschild was one of such families, and Han Xiao knew that he could reap many benefits. To players, this was a support-type camp. They could buy rare items and services from such camps.

The Rothschilds were one of the Dark Net Organization’s allies, and he could use their backing in the organization, which would yield him more advantages.

Without the gene-blending potion, the Felonia serum would not yield him benefits. So, he would rather sell it for some profits. Anyway, he held onto one last tube of the serum.

With another million dollars in his account, his current stash reached six million dollars. They might just be digits in his account, but to put them in context, LV 30 players in Version 1.0 were considered wealthy if they had more than twenty thousand dollars. Anything above a million dollar would be considered astronomical; only major guilds had that kind of money.

After the deal, the atmosphere became more harmonious.

“What exactly is Felonia?” Han Xiao was curious.

He was puzzled by the fact that a simple serum like this was eyed by so many different factions.

Alphonsus was in a happy mood, so he explained, “There was a country in the Somar Desert that was entangled in the wars of the Old Age. They initiated a large-scale research project called the Felonia Project. The name was taken from a legendary tale of the country, and the project involved building many military bases to conduct research in a dozen different branches of technological development. The serum was one of their research directions. ”

“It turned out to be this. I really thought there was some sort of magical ruins.” Han Xiao finally understood the whole thing.

Alphonsus chuckled. “There is no magic in this world. You thought too much.”

Han Xiao laughed and touched his chin. Planet Aquamarine should not have any magic, but why do I have a weird feeling about this?

…

In a pitch-black cavern deep underneath the earth, fine sand dropped through the gaps of the rocks occasionally.

A gush of wind that came from nowhere echoed in the cavern, as if someone was exhaling it. Faint sounds of thunder-like thumps were heard in the background.

Suddenly, six large oval-shaped lamps lit up in the dark. They were golden in color and were divided into two neat and symmetrical rows. From the look of it, each lamp’s radius was more than ten meters.

‘Large lamps’ started flashing rapidly, like eyes blinking.

Eyes.

Chapter 106 - Second-Generation Rover Robot

Alphonsus passed his phone number to Han Xiao. “This is my number. If you need something, just give me a call.”

Han Xiao knocked on the table for a few times before he said, “It just so happen that I have a question. I want to quickly raise my rank and authorization level in the Blood Pact Society. Do you have any good suggestions for me?”

Alphonsus pondered for a moment and decided to do Han Xiao a favor. He asked a sever to bring in the Blood Pact Society’s laptop, and he opened a document to show to Han Xiao. The top of the document was clearly stamped with ‘No Unauthorized Access’.

Han Xiao’s brows furrowed as he read on.

“Internal Call-up (Not Public)

“Call-up Objective: Blood Pact Society Assassins (Dark-level and above), Contract Mercenaries (Two-star and above)

“Current Participants: 18 Assassins, 245 Mercenaries

“Assignment Location: East Stardragon, 20km North of Seagull City, River Valley Manor

“Assignment Details: Defend River Valley Manor, Protect (Redacted)”

“Internal call-up?” Han Xiao questioned.

“Only assassins of dark-level and above will receive this call-up. You are not supposed to participate in this assignment since you are only a scorpion-level assassin. However, I could give you backdoor access to this assignment, and upon completion of this assignment, you can immediately rise to dark-level. Once you arrive at the location, someone will brief you in more detail.”

With so many participants, this assignment is definitely not a small-scale battle,Han Xiao thought silently to himself.

He remembered a reward-pool quest he could do in the Seagull city that was easy and yet could yield him high rewards. It was conveniently on the way.

I will go there and take a look first, Han Xiao decided. Can’t believe I am going back to Stardragon so soon. Luckily, I will not be identified.

Han Xiao’s brows knitted together. Although he left Division 13, the relationship status between Division 13 and him did not change on his Interface. This meant that Division 13 still did not treat him as an enemy.

There was still some time before heading off. He went back to the Fabian Company base and made some machinery that he had been planning to make for some time.

_____________________

Second-Generation Rover (Combat)

Type: Robot

Grade: Dark Green

Basic Stats: 2,200/2,200, 37 Defense, 168 Power Output, 83 Max Speed, 640/640 Energy

Height: 2.1m

Weight: 300kg

Mode of Control: Low-Level Smart Chip (Programmed for automatic enemy identification)

Energy source: High-power energy pack (x4)

Energy Usage: 6/min (low output), 15/min (full output)

Power Capacity: 310/320 Ona

Brain Module: Intelligent Enemy-Seeking Firepower System (occupies 30 capacity units)

Eye Module: Electromagnetic Scanner-Scope, Obstacle-Penetrating Enemy Seeking-Vision (occupies 15 capacity units)

Arm Modules: Large-Caliber Triple-Barrel Machine Gun—70-85 Damage, 3.5 Fire Rate, 30 Magazine Capacity (+60 Belt Capacity), 75 Power Output (occupies 80 capacity units)

Skeleton Module: K600-type Mechanical Skeletal System—30 Strength (occupies 40 capacity units)

Legs Module: Triangular Wheel System and Shock-proof Suspension Frame—reduce impact of treacherous terrain, increase movement speed (occupies 15 capacity units)

Chest Module: Small-Scale Honeycomb Rocket Launcher—equipped with small-scale rockets (180-230 Damage, induces additional explosion damage), 6-round capacity (occupies 110 capacity units)

Abdomen Module: Magazine Storage—small-scale rockets x 12, additional magazine belt x 200 rounds (occupies 20 capacity units)

Skills:

– Furious Fusillade

– Titanium Armor: Reduces physical damage taken by 11%

– Self-destruct: Self-destruct to inflict 340-510 explosion damage in a 40m radius.

Note: A human-shaped tank.

——————————————————————

This Rover was made with much better technology; it was equipped with a smart chip, titanium armor, a high-power battery, and a firepower that was much more fearsome. Han Xiao was a lot richer compared to when he first entered the Western Capital, so he no longer needed to budget carefully. The cost of the second-generation Rover Robot was more than 20,000 dollar—already a discounted price with his more specialized skills in making machinery. It was a price that players of the same level could never afford. The second-generation Rover could be used as a mobile fort. However, it could not be used to work on an independent task as the processing chip did not possess the ability to make independent judgment and tactical analysis.

With such strong firepower, the combat Rover could provide firepower support and area strike. Even after the ammunitions were entirely consumed, the K600-type Mechanical Skeletal System would allow the Rover to have ample close-combat capability. It could charge at full speed to knock down enemies and had the ability to self-destruct.

I can now scale up the production of the Rover, but I cannot carry them around, so I should find a secret base to hide them. Although this type of Rover has great firepower, it does not allow for a quick and rapid change of battlegrounds. I can only use it for stationary battles, so its function is rather singular. The problems lie in areas of movement, core power capacity, and chip processing. I need more advance knowledge, which I have no opportunity to obtain as of now. Hmm, I still have to fight as a sniper for now. I should perfect my sniping capabilities.

As Han Xiao lacked money and the necessary technology, the idea of a robot army could not be realized yet.

Han Xiao stored all his larger equipment in Fabian Company’s warehouse to be transported by air. This time, he paid 50,000 dollars to use Fabian Company’s aero-transport service again. He reckoned no one would spend money as extravagantly as him.

…

The Western Capital was the capital city of Stardragon, and Seagull City was an important city in East Stardragon. It had a large area, and historically, it encountered a beast tide and suffered a great loss as a result. However, it had the aid of the entire nation, which allowed it to rebuild into an important city in the East today.

A monument tens of meters high stood tall in the city center. It was engraved with the names of all those sacrificed in the battle against the beast tide.

In the battle of the Old Age, when Seagull City was met with numerous large-scale terrorist assaults by the Germinal Organization, it received assistance from everywhere again, which made it into an even more prosperous city. The phenomenon was rather peculiar; numerous misfortunes actually allowed the city to develop more rapidly. People in Stardragon believed it was a good omen because it meant that even if Stardragon faced setbacks, it would only bounce back stronger. ‘The Seagull Spirit’ was repeatedly mentioned in every year’s national meetings and nationwide news.

The plane soon landed at the city’s airport. Anyone going in and out of each city in Stardragon had to go through the respective checkpoint. Similarly, landing from air required a permission from the air-control tower in advance. Fabian Company’s planes had private parking spots in the airports of the various cities in Stardragon, and thus, they were authorized to land in these airports. Players could also purchase such spots when their camp reputation was high enough.

“So, why did you follow me this time?” Han Xiao turned around and looked at Antonio at his side.

Antonio inhaled a puff of his cigar and chuckled. “Unfortunately, Fabian Company does not have any assets in Seagull City. We have no choice but to provide the cargo plane as your temporary workshop and warehouse.”

“I see.” Han Xiao understood. Suddenly, he became frustrated because he realized it meant that Fabian Company had no cars for him to borrow. He was tens of kilometers away from the River Valley Manor. Unless I should resort to some old tricks… Puh, do I really have to do the immoral and forbidden act of stealing cars?

He still had his Thorns, but if he drove the car on the streets, a few dozen police cars and special-ops vehicles would follow him in less than ten minutes.

As the old saying goes, when you have a problem, look to the public for a solution.

Han Xiao soon ‘borrowed’ a car from a benevolent member of the public. After he passed through the checkpoint and left the city, he headed straight toward the manor.

It was a small forest with a river twenty kilometers north of Seagull City. Only mid to small size gentle wild animals resided in this forest, so it was not particularly dangerous. Han Xiao located the manor on his map. River Valley Manor was situated in the forest by a river.

It was afternoon when the car drove into the forest. The lazy afternoon sun shone its light through the gaps between the trees, painting the forest with a peaceful ambience. The engine sound scared away a few spotted deer that were asleep.

Han Xiao suddenly snorted through his nose. He detected a light pungent smell. After quickly filtering away the scents of decomposition and bird droppings in his memory, he arrived at his memory of a similar scent.

A light flashed in Han Xiao’s eyes. This is the scent of gun powders. A battle occurred here not long ago.

To avoid a misunderstanding, Han Xiao parked his car and got out his equipment before he started walking toward the manor.

He appeared to be a depressed musician who was carrying a guitar case and wandering around, but in reality, his guitar case was storing his folded sniper rifle and lightweight mechanical arm. His Berserk Eagles and magazines were hidden inside his clothes, his magnetic-controlled armor around his body, his foldable machete under his shirt, the inactive thermo-electrical incisor gloves on his hands, and the silver Electromagnetic Hover-boots on his feet.

The boots looked like an ordinary pair of boots with its leather exterior—one would not discover the metal parts inside without pressing it with one’s hand.

Although he was seemed armed to the teeth, he did not bring along his Wind-slicing blade, Thorns, or the second-generation Rover.

After walking for a while, obvious signs of battle appeared in Han Xiao’s surroundings. There were explosion marks, empty cartridges, tire tracks, and even ashes of more than one burnt vehicle on the ground. It had been a devastating battle. Han Xiao could already see the manor.

Just as Han Xiao was ready to walk over, he suddenly halted.

At the next moment, a bullet hole appeared on the ground in front of him—it was made by a sniper rifle. If he had stepped forward before this, it would have shot his legs.

It was a warning shot.

The shot had come from the direction of the manor.

Chapter 107 - A Strange Protection Assignment

Han Xiao bent down to dig out the bullet shell from the ground. It was an armor-piercing round.

The people in River Valley Manor were probably all friendlies, so this was just a warning shot. Otherwise, the sniper would have aimed for his vitals. As Han Xiao finished this thought, he took out an old brown coin, raised it, and waved it in the air. The sniper in the manor could definitely see it through their scope.

The coin had been passed to him by Antonio before he departed. He had said that it could be used to vouch for his identity.

After waiting for a minute or so, Han Xiao stepped forward again. Indeed, no one was firing at him this time around. He then successfully arrived at the gate of the manor and realized that the manor’s outer defense had been greatly reinforced. The outer wall had many metal plates, which tightly shielded the inside of the manor. There were marks of previous explosions on those metal plates.

Han Xiao walked in after the gate opened. The layout of the manor was presented before his eyes—it occupied a very large space and was divided into inner and outer layers. The outer layer consisted of all sorts of defense structures, and armed mercenaries were busy patrolling around the area. They talked and gossiped loudly and fervently, unlike regular soldiers who were mostly silent. They were clearly lacking in discipline.

The inner layer was just the center of the manor—a mansion with a garden and a fountain. Black railings surrounded the mansion, clearly demarcating the areas between the inner and outer layers. One could see, through the railings, that no one was in the mansion or garden; it was as if no one lived there.

“Newcomer? You are an assassin, right?”

A buff black man yelled over to Han Xiao from the side. It was the person who had opened the door for him.

Without waiting for Han Xiao to reply, the black man shouted into his walkie talkie, “Chen Li, there is a new assassin here. Quickly come and pick him up.”

“Wait for me. I’ll be there in a minute.” A person was swearing on the other side of the walkie talkie.

The mercenary named Chen Li soon arrived before the gate. He gave the black man a finger before he looked at Han Xiao to size him up. “Come, follow me.”

Han Xiao followed Chen Li to the south-east side of the manor. He got a brief explanation of the manor’s defense structure from Chen Li during this walk. The manor had three sides facing land, and the west side faced the river. Assailants could potentially attack using speedboats, but they would become easy targets if they appeared on the river. So, the river front was the easiest side to defend.

The other two sides of defense were at the South-east and North-east sides. The whole defense structure was triangular. Chen Li oversaw all the mercenaries stationed in the south-east side.

“What kind of assassin are you?” Chen Li asked.

“Sniper.”

“That’s good. We need a long-range attacker. Previously, an assassin who only knew how to sneak attack from close-range was sent here. He could not be more useless.”

Han Xiao turned around and glanced at the mansion in the center before he asked three key questions in his mind. “Who exactly are we protecting? How long will we defend here? Who are our enemies?”

Perhaps every newcomer asked the same questions; Chen Li answered quickly and smoothly. “Our boss did not say how long more we have to defend. In any case, if we cannot defend anymore, I will be the first to evacuate. I don’t care how much they pay me, I will not be cannon-fodder. I am not sure who the enemies are. Sometimes, we will get attacked in the day, other times, at night; we get attacked every few days. There will always be new enemies attacking us.

“And as for who we are protecting, heheheh…”

Chen Li suddenly laughed coldly before he continued.

“I heard that the target hides in the mansion, but they have never appeared before. The assignment forbids us from entering the mansion. It could very well be that the mansion is just an empty shell, and we are protecting no one. Humph! Whatever the motives of the employer, as long as he pays me, I’m fine.”

An empty mansion, protecting someone who had never appeared before, an ambiguous group call-up, enemies from unknown sources. All these factors, linked together, gave Han Xiao a strange feeling that could not be expressed in words. He felt a dense fog covering this whole situation.

“By the way, which level of assassin are you? Dark or Ghost?” Chen Li asked thoughtlessly.

“Mr. Black. Scorpion-level.”

Chen Li jolted his head around and looked rather surprised. “Scorpion? Why would you be here? Only Dark-level assassins and above would receive the call-up. You are not qualified, right?”

“I’m already here. My level is not important anymore.” Han Xiao had no interest in explaining himself to some mercenary. I can do whatever I want and need not explain myself to you. Basically, act like you own it.

“Although you are only scorpion-level, you are a sniper that we can make do with. As long as you can hit enemies with your sniper rifle, we are fine.”

Chen Li then frowned as he pointed to an area in the distance and said, “Can you see three fortresses there? You will go to the middle one. The Hornet Brothers will make arrangements for you.”

Han Xiao looked at the area. The three fortresses were at the intersection point of the south-east and north-east defense lines, and they were at the top point of the triangle defense structure. This position helped snipers maximize their field of vision and, therefore, sniping range. But the disadvantage was that the position was too conspicuous. When the enemy attacked, they would try to take down the sniper first. Fortunately, the walls of the fortresses were armed with numerous machine guns and rocket launchers; they were the most well-defended place.

Han Xiao did not object to the arrangement. Before he triggered any quest on his interface, he was quite indifferent to the whole thing.

Han Xiao walked to the middle fortress and climbed to the top floor. He then spotted two men who were carrying sniper rifles in their hands and snoozing by the wall. As they heard Han Xiao’s footsteps, they quickly open their eyes and looked over. One could tell that they were assassins from their ice-cold disposition.

One of them was tall while the other was short, and their faces looked similar. They seemed to be the Hornet Brothers as mentioned by Chen Li.

“Newcomer?” The tall one spoke nonchalantly. “Code Name, level, ability.”

Han Xiao’s brow furrowed. “Mr. Black, Scorpion, Sniper.”

“What is a Scorpion-level newbie doing here?” The tall guy frowned, and he became impatient. “Go to the left fortress and be the assistant sniper—you will be responsible for taking down all the small fries that escape our shots. Can you handle a simple task like this?”

“Sure.” Han Xiao nodded.

The short guy only gave him a glance before he went back to snooze. It seemed that he was prideful and not interested in talking to him.

It was only a dozen minutes in the manor, and Han Xiao had moved to three different locations. He had no choice but to walk toward the left fortress. This was the area he was in charge of, which meant that his job was to assist the Hornet Brothers.

There was already a person in the left fortress—an assassin with a large beard. He looked Han Xiao up and down, and after Han Xiao introduced himself, he cut to the chase. “Scorpion-level? You will take the left side while I take the right side.”

The left side had the most limited field of vision, and therefore, it was the easiest job. The bearded assassin did not trust his ability, which was normal. Han Xiao did not give it a second thought. He was fine with taking care of his own area.

_____________________

You triggered a chain quest, [Call-up (Protection)].

Quest Summary: “First, do not probe for the identity of the protection target; second, do not leave your post; third, do not let enemies infiltrate the manor; forth, try your best to become useful.”

Hint: This is a chain quest—please act according to instructions.

First Round: Beat off the first wave of enemies.

First Round Reward: 20,000 Experience

Other Causes for Quest Failure: 1. Unauthorized entry to the mansion; 2. Leaving the manor for more than two hours.

——————————————————————

Chain quest? Interesting, Han Xiao thought to himself.

A chain quest was the type of quest where the player had to complete the previous quest requirement before they would receive the next requirement. The difficulty and reward would get higher and higher with each round. Upon completing all the rounds in the chain, the player would receive an extra reward. Chain quests were usually a lot more tedious than normal quests.

I will see the reward for the next round of the quest before I decide to continue or not. If it isn’t great, I will just retreat from here, Han Xiao thought. He did not feel that he had to complete the quest no matter what; he would only continue if the rewards were substantially high.

After wandering around the manor for a few hours, he deciphered the manpower allocation in the place. The mercenaries were armed with heavy firearms and vehicles. There were also Superhumans around. Mechanics were in charge of repairing the equipment, providing ammunition, and rectify defense structures; assassins were the more elite force.

By casually chatting with the people there, Han Xiao learned that they had been stationed there for more than ten days. More capable personnel, such as the Hornet Bothers, Chen Li, Volcano, and Moonlight, had already made their reputation known in the place.

…

The sky slowly darkened. Leaves were gently swept by the night wind in the evening forest, making shushing sounds. Perennial water streams flowed in the river. The whole scene was rather peaceful.

An imminently-approaching engine sound broke the serenity in the forest.

Ohmmm!

Stationed at the fortress’s sniper position, Han Xiao looked through his scope. There were many headlights in the distant forest quickly approaching the manor. The mercenaries started to shout, prompting each other to quickly go back to their posts to get ready for the upcoming battle. The concentrated footsteps sounded like peas being fried.

Han Xiao stretched out his arm, and a crisp cocking sound was heard on his rifle. He was preparing himself, too.

“Here comes the first wave.”

Chapter 108 - Round Three

Just by looking at the headlights, Han Xiao figured out the enemies’ military composition—all armored vehicles, and they were fast-approaching. Troops armed with heavy firepower were running close behind.

The next moment, the mercenaries in the manor began firing. Heavy machine guns were blasting and roaring continuously. Flashes of flames on muzzles became an attention-grabbing source of light among the darkness of the night. Han Xiao glanced over for a moment, and soon, his mind was put at ease. The enemy had limited numbers and average firepower, so they would not be able to penetrate the curtain of machine gun rounds made by the mercenaries.

Pong!

Sniper shots were heard from the central fortress; they came from the Hornet Brothers. The two shots were extremely accurate, hitting right on the targets.

Han Xiao looked over at his area and realized that it had a limited range of vision and tough angles. Most likely, only those enemies who slipped through the net would accidentally barge into this area. However, it just so happened that a small team of enemies had infiltrated this place. He raised his Red-Falcon before he aimed through the scope and fired. The shot pierced through multiple enemies’ necks at once, pumping out masses of blood fog.

Big beard guy was initially skeptical of Han Xiao’s ability, but after taking a few looks at him when he was not occupied, he was secretly shocked and knew that he no longer had to worry about this Mr. Black… because Han Xiao had made every single shot. Therefore, he stopped turning around to supervise Han Xiao and left that area entirely to him in comfort.

The battle only lasted for half an hour, and the enemies suffered great losses. They did not even manage to get within two hundred meters of the manor. Han Xiao managed to take down nine enemies in total.

_____________________

First round completed. You gained 20,000 Experience.

Change in Quest Requirement

Second Round Requirement: Defend the River Valley Manor.

Duration: 3 Days

Reward: 80,000 Experience

——————————————————————

The first wave was too simple, and the Experience rewarded seems to be very little. But the increase for the second round is not too bad.

Han Xiao rubbed his chin. The first round gives 20,000 Experience; the second round rewards 80,000 Experience. Based on this increment, the third round may yield me 320,000 Experience, and the fourth round would be more than a million Experience. Stop, I am just dreaming here.”

But honestly, the third round would at least reward him more than 150,000 Experience.

Han Xiao felt it was a waste of time to do the second round, which would last for three entire days, but he quickly changed his thought. He could stay there and earn some Experience by borrowing the facilities and workshops from the Mechanics there to repair the mercenaries’ equipment for free.

Han Xiao had always been a doer. Once he made up his mind, he immediately went to the logistics area to find the local mechanics. They were mostly pseudo-mechanics who had learned some repair skills for their secondary job. There were only two proper Superhuman Mechanics there.

“You want to help us repair equipment?” One repairman was startled. “You are a Mechanic?”

Han Xiao began proving himself directly through actions. He took a pistol on the worktable and disassembled in just a few movements before he assembled it rapidly, like he was performing magic. The whole process flowed smoothly, lasting less than two seconds. He was no longer the newbie in the Germinal Organization who took forty seconds to assemble a pistol. With the add-on effect of his various skills, his ability in making and assembling machinery had reached a level beyond that of an ordinary person.

The group of repairmen agreed to Han Xiao’s request without hesitation—they were even slightly eager to welcome him.

The repair jobs were dreary and tiring, and they did not even get extra pay for it. When someone unexpectedly wanted to take on this tough job, they were all too eager to throw all the work to this legitimate Mechanic that appeared out of nowhere.

…

Before dawn, Chen Li walked into the logistics area while carrying a spoilt machine gun. He was looking for a Mechanic that he was familiar with to repair his gun.

“Wang Xi, help me repair this machine gun.”

Wang Xi was a skinny middle-aged male. He wore a vest and was napping at the side. As he heard the voice, he opened his eyes and gave Chen Li a glance.

“Leave the gun there. I will repair it when I am free,” he said in a rather laid-back manner.

“Would you please hurry up with this? I may need to use it in the day.”

Wang Xi was getting impatient. “Alright. Alright. I will repair it for you later.”

Chen Li had no choice but to leave it to him. Although Wang Xi was ill-tempered, he was a legitimate Mechanic Superhuman with excellent skills. Only he could help him since he did not want the machine gun to malfunction again at a critical moment during the next battle.

After Chen Li left, Wang Xi shut his eyes again and returned to napping.

After five minutes, he heard footsteps approaching once more. He opened his eyes impatiently before he realized it was Chen Li again.

“What are you so anxious for? Once I have time, I will repair it for you, so stop bothering me.” Wang Xi was clearly irritated.

Surprisingly, Chen Li shook his head and said, “Return the machine gun to me. I will get someone else to repair it.”

Wang Xi frowned. Although he was annoyed by Chen Li’s repeated disturbances, he did not wish for the weapon to malfunction again. After all, he was also housed inside the manor.

“Other people’s skills are not good enough. Once the sun rises, I will repair it for you, okay?” he replied.

However, Chen Li was adamant in wanting to have his machine gun back. “It’s fine. The other guy’s skill is better than yours.”

Wang Xi was instantly infuriated by the comment. Everyone knew everyone else in a small logistics area like this. The other legitimate Mechanic was not even as good as him, let alone the bunch of repairmen.

Who are you trying to bluff?

But Chen Li was very insistent. Wang Xi had no choice but to return his gun. When he saw that Chen Li was walking to the other side of the logistics area, he deliberated for a moment before he decided to follow behind. He wanted to see who this Mechanic, who was supposedly better than him, was.

As he arrived at the scene, Wang Xi was shocked by what he saw—the bunch of low-class repairmen were crowding around a man in black, and they stared at him attentively with looks of amazement, jealousy, and curiosity.

Wang Xi was dumbfounded after he took a proper look at the man.

The man in black moved his hands at lightning speed, like a phantom, to operate all sorts of equipment rapidly. By doing so, he was repairing several weapons simultaneously in a natural and flowing style. It was so smooth that he did not even need to pause and think. Wang Xi had never seen any technique like this—he was definitely a higher-class Mechanic!

Originally, the repairmen had only the mindset of pushing their repair jobs to Han Xiao so that they could relax. But when Han Xiao started his repairing process, his technique, which was extremely speedy, quickly grabbed all their attention. They were intoxicated just by looking at it and wanted to note down his every single step. Many details of the technique were massively inspirational for them.

If they possessed an interface, the follow message would have appeared.

_____________________

You gained insights from observing Han Xiao (LV 34) repair machinery. Repair skill proficiency increased.

——————————————————————

The other Mechanic, who was of a similar standard as Wang Xi, was also observing Han Xiao with a look of obsession.

To Wang Xi, Han Xiao’s technique was flawless; to be exact, his standard was not high enough to perceive any flaws in Han Xiao’s technique. He felt somewhat dispirited and wanted to walk away, but he could not make himself do it. He could not resist the desire to stay there and continue watch Han Xiao’s repair work. He was deeply conflicted.

Han Xiao was engrossed in his repair work and did not care about what others around him thought. As a result, his Experience increased speedily. The effect of [Meticulous Repairs Level1] was considerably better than ordinary repair skills—they were not skills from the same class. The more basic weapons and machinery could be repaired quickly and easily. Han Xiao could even have been more efficient if not for the lack of better equipment.

For the next three days, other than taking some rests in between, Han Xiao was continuously involved in battles and repairs. Four waves of enemies attacked the manor in this period of time through variety of methods, including a speed boat attack, an armored vehicle attack, and a stealth raid. One group of enemies wore frog-suits and attempted to infiltrate the place by diving through the river on the west side. They were spotted and killed by the snipers.

The enemy’s attacks were gradually increasing in intensity. Han Xiao could sense, with his perspicacity, that the guards in the manor seemed to be getting too weak at defending against the enemy’s attacks. Numerous days of continuous high-intensity battle were taking a toll on their psyche, and the effect of their accumulated exhaustion was erupting. As a result, errors and casualties started appearing on the battlefield.

The mercenaries’ struggle did not have much of an impact on Han Xiao. He was feeling at ease with handling his small area by shooting down all the enemies that went into it. At the same time, he realized that there were more and more ‘fishes that escaped the net’ and entered his area. It seemed that the Hornet Brothers were slowly showing their incapability in handling attacks with such intensity.

Three days passed without any problems. When the first light appeared in the sky, a message was sent immediately to the Interface.

_____________________

Round 2 Complete. You received 80,000 Experience.

——————————————————————

Not bad, but the third round is probably going to get really tough.

Han Xiao was awakened from his nap.

He had received a grand total of 180,000Experience from completing the quest, working on machinery, and killing enemies. He was rather satisfied with the efficiency.

_____________________

Change in Quest Requirement.

Third Round: Defend against the next wave of attack

Reward: 150,000 Experience

——————————————————————

Han Xiao cursed; he had a bad feeling about this round of the quest.

The next wave of enemy was most likely very powerful, and there was a ninety percent chance that the mercenaries would not be able to defend against them.

Chapter 109 - Turning the Tide

Booooom!

It was a thundery shower. The dark sky was repeatedly torn apart by streaks and streaks of glaring lightning. Rain was pouring down in torrents.

The curtain of rain was limiting everyone’s field of vision, which in turn reduced their shooting accuracy. The mercenaries had to cover the weapons and equipment with waterproof covers against the violent storm as they were not waterproof, and they also sent their ammunition reserves to sheltered areas.

Heavy rain flooded the entire world, and its sound filled everyone’s ears. The fortresses were saturated with moisture. Han Xiao placed himself far away from the window to avoid getting soaked. He looked at the weather outside and frowned. Terrible weather like that is clearly generated by the system purposefully. I bet the next wave of heavy attack will come at this time, otherwise…

Han Xiao was only half way through his sentence before stopped that thought. How could he joke around like that and risk jinxing himself?

Ohmm!

A series of engine sounds were heard in the rain. The enemy was coming at them viciously this time. Hordes of armored vehicles were driving toward the manor in the storm. Countless rain droplets smashed onto the ice-cold metal armor.

“Fire!” The mercenaries in the manor yelled furiously, and the sounds of machine guns and grenade launchers followed.

The next moment, even greater firepower erupted from the enemy’s motorcade. More than a few small-scale missiles landed on the outer wall of the manor, which blew up the two machine guns and the gunner there.

Whilst Han Xiao was shooting his rifle, he heard Chen Li and the black dude yelling over the walkie-talkie.

“The enemy has rocket launchers; we must evade! Go and hit them hard with our machine guns and grenades!”

“Snipers hurry up and fire. Don’t make me prompt you! Hurry up and do something!”

“More than twenty speedboats just appeared on the river. Those stationed on the west side, quickly go and intercept them. Don’t let them get near the shore!”

“Shit. Helicopters!”

The sound of rotating wings was heard in the sky. Two Y5-Snake helicopter gunships were attacking from above. Flashing lightning in the dark sky highlighted the ferocious features of the helicopters. The gunner, wearing wind-shielding glasses, controlled a large-caliber six-barreled machine canon on the side of the helicopter and unleashed astonishing firepower.

The size of the canon rounds was almost like that of a small-scale missile. Their penetration capability and damage power were unmatched by the rounds of ordinary machine guns. They were even fired at a very high rate.

Da da da da da da.

The continuous canon rounds connected to form an orange line and swept the manor from above. The outer defensive walls of the manor were less than useless against enemies from the sky.

The mercenaries’ casualty number surged!

The sounds of swearing, yelling, crying, raining, guns firing, and engines roaring formed a symphony of battle—as grand as it was horrifying and as messy as it was fevered.

The helicopters were their biggest threat. Some machine gunners quickly aimed their guns at them.

However, by simply flying higher, Y5-Snake helicopters easily got out of the range of the machine guns. Those stray rounds that managed to touch the helicopters could not penetrate their armored exterior.

“Snipers! Kill the pilots!” Chen Li was yelling in exasperation.

“We will handle the helicopters. Other snipers, go and stop the ground troops from coming in!” The Hornet Brothers gave an order in the communication net from the central fortress. Thereafter, they started shooting at the helicopters.

Even with the dense curtains of rain, Han Xiao could see the sparks generated when the sniper rounds landed on the exterior armor of the helicopters. The pilot’s window was made high-grade bullet-proof glasses. It would require at least seven to eight rounds to penetrate.

Han Xiao suddenly felt something was wrong. He swiftly shouldered his gun and moved away from the sniping window.

“How dare you leave your post without authorization…” Big beard guy was infuriated by what he saw. However, he was only half way through his words when the sound of a violent explosion stopped him. The fortress wall exploded violently, and big beard guy was instantly struck flying by the shockwave and landed on the other wall. His arms were completely broken, and he cried in pain.

The two Y5-Snake helicopters were equipped with four airstrike missiles, which were used to directly blow up the three fortresses. The central fortress was hit the heaviest—it exploded into complete ruins, and as a result, the Hornet Brothers were killed instantly. Their flesh, together with dust and shattered bricks, was tossed out of the place by the shockwave.

The three fortresses had been blown up!

Without the threat of snipers, the helicopters became much more aggressive, like a horny wild dog. The massive firepower had the mercenaries hiding under cover, and they dared not even expose their heads.

Although Han Xiao successfully dodged the explosion, he was hit by the shockwave. He did not suffer much damage. However, the roof over his head was completely blown up, and the heavy rain poured directly into his area. As a result, he was directly exposed in the enemies’ field of vision. He was in a terrible situation.

The enemy had land, air, and sea superiority. The manor was being attacked in three different ways!

He turned around and glanced at the horrifying scene of the battle.

The mercenaries cannot hold on anymore.

His eyes were looking worried.

…

“The people outside cannot withstand the attack anymore.”

Two men were looking out the window at the battle from the living room of the mansion in the center of River Valley Manor. One of them had both of his hands pressing on the windowsill; he was a bald old man. He wore black-frame glasses, and his eyebrows and beard were complete white.

The other person stood behind the old man at an angle with folded arms. He appeared to be a middle age man. His short jet-black hair was slicked-back, and there was only a slight graying on the hair near his temples. The only unordinary thing about him was probably his disposition. He wore a gentle smile on his face, which made him look rather friendly.

The man with the gentle disposition chuckled. “Seems like it’s time for me to act.”

The bald old man nodded. “We have defended for so long. Xena should have eradicated all the traitors in the organization. My life depends on you now, my old friend.”

The gentle man nodded and prepared to walk out. Suddenly, he stopped his footsteps and noticed a sudden change in the battle situation.

“Seems like there is an interesting guy who just appeared. They don’t need me anymore.”

“Hmm?” The bald old man was startled and looked out the window.

…

Hiding inside the defense structure, Chen Li shouted loudly into his walkie talkie, “Is there any sniper who is still alive? Without taking down the two helicopters, we are all going to die here!”

Suddenly, a crimson bullet penetrated through the rain curtain and shot the ammunition belt on one of the helicopters’ machine canons with extreme accuracy. The crimson round then cracked, and a flame erupted from within it in the heavy downpour.

High-explosive round!

Homm!

The orange high-explosive gas filled every single gap it touched, and it travelled through the split between the armored exterior and ignited the ammunition belt. The helicopter, which had been acting all triumphant a moment ago, exploded in that instant as all the canon rounds exploded at once. The high-explosive round was not powerful by itself, but it ignited the fatal large-caliber canon rounds, which were as powerful as land mines. Those in the helicopter were all killed. The flying ball-bearings pierced through the pilot’s neck, and the blood splashed onto the side window.

The helicopter span out of control before it dropped from the sky onto the ground. Both parties could feel the violent vibration on the ground.

In the half ruins of the left fortress, Han Xiao, who fired that shot, cocked his sniper rifle to unload the cartridge that was still smoking hot. His eyes were serious and calm. In that critical juncture, he had pumped a large amount of Experience into [Sniping] such that it rose to Level9! This was the reason he had managed to shoot a round with such accuracy. He had hit the canon rounds on the helicopter’s ammunition belt from an extremely obscure angle!

However, this shot had also caused several bad consequences. The other Y5-Snake helicopter aimed all its firepower at the left fortress. In addition, the enemy ground troops knew that the helicopters were their trump card; therefore, they all cooperated and fired at the fortress together. A terrifying number of rounds smashed the rain curtain and exploded on the left fortress!

Big beard guy’s face turned ghostly pale as he thought he was going to be blown up in pieces. How could he run faster than the canon rounds with his two short legs? Right in his moment of desperation, he suddenly felt a large hand picking him up by the scruff of his neck and a great force that dragged him along to run away at lightning speed. The next instant, the entire left fortress blew up into ruins.

If it had been a second earlier, big beard guy would have been blown to smithereens.

After escaping from danger, big beard guy felt his collar being released. His butt landed right on the ground. He quickly turned around and looked at the person who saved him. The sight of Han Xiao, who was dressed in black, standing in the heavy rain appeared in his eyes.

Big beard guy did not bother with thanking Han Xiao for saving his life before he asked in shock, “How did you run so fast‽”

“Because I am as free as the wind.”

Big beard guy was completely dumbfounded. What kind of crap are you talking about‽

As soon as Han Xiao finished quipping, his both feet landed on the ground. His Electromagnetic Hover-boots then lit up with a dark blue glow, and electromagnetic force blasted out of them, causing Han Xiao to slide out swiftly as he was skating on ice. He was moving faster than a car, and so, with two to three slides, he reached the top of the raft of the outside wall. Much to the mercenaries’ astonishment, Han Xiao was dashing left and right rapidly like dark-colored lightning on the wall raft—no enemy could accurately lock onto him. He dodged all enemy fire.

“See my majestic skill!”

Han Xiao started sniping whilst he was moving around at high-speed. The field of vision for sniping was a few times greater there than that in the left fortress. His Snipe skill, which had just reached Level9, could control the entire battlefield. The movement provided by the hover boots was smooth and steady, so Han Xiao did not spend much of his effort controlling the boots. The difficulty in controlling the boots was only as high as those commercial electronic skating shoes; therefore, the high-speed movement did not affect the accuracy of Han Xiao’s shots significantly.

Rounds after rounds were fired at the enemies. High-explosive, Hayme, Flash, and Penetration rounds took turns to be fired from the sniper rifle. The most useful bullet was always used at the most appropriate time and place. For instance, when a vehicle was attempting to fire a grenade at one of the manor’s machine guns, a Flash bullet appeared at the most opportune time and made the enemy fire at the wrong angle.

_____________________

You are currently sniping while on the move.

You learned a [Moving Snipe] technique (1/100).

——————————————————————

Triggered the learning of a new skill? Han Xiao’s eyes brightened—this skill could only be triggered when the Snipe skill was above Level8. He fired a few more shots and realized, when he successfully shot a target, he gained a progress point. He immediately became more enthusiastic in sniping the enemies.

Han Xiao evaded the majority of attacks from the enemies with the help of the hover boots. However, the enemies recognized his area-control ability as a sniper. They would have much difficulty taking the next step without bringing him down.

Thus, Han Xiao soon felt their ‘intense enthusiasm’, and he once again received concentrated fire from the enemies. The pressure on him increased sharply, and he was frequently shot by stray rounds. He had no choice but to shield his body with his magnetic armor.

The last Y-5 Snake helicopter swayed left and right to prevent Han Xiao from sniping its vital parts. The machine canon fired consistently, causing much trouble for Han Xiao. Even with the magnetic armor, it was painful for him to take a few canon rounds.

To make matters worse, the canon rounds had a push-back effect, which already made Han Xiao miss quite a few of his shots.

The armor on his chest received three more large-caliber canon rounds. Han Xiao felt his chest tightening; he was pushed a few meters back and almost fell off the wall raft. However, the damage was not significant to him—his current HP count was more than 2000, and with the help of the magnetic retractable armor, he could suffer through much greater damage.

At this moment, the mercenaries in the manor started fighting back and actively complement Han Xiao’s battle tactics.

“Oi, sniper, stop daydreaming. Continue fighting like before; we will coordinate with your attacks!” Chen Li shouted in the communication device.

Chapter 110 - The Main Character of Planet Aquamarine

Someone once said that if one reviewed one’s previous life, one would realize that one’s wrongdoings in the past would come back to haunt one.

If those words were true, Han Xiao felt that he was bound to become a haunted house owner, surrounded by hateful specters, since every enemy that he killed stared hard at him with vengeful, angry eyes.

At the most critical juncture, Han Xiao used his amazing sniping skills to stabilize the battle situation. He gave the mercenaries time to regroup, and the rest of the surviving snipers also made use of the opportunity to head to new hideouts.

The mercenaries made Han Xiao the main fighter, and all of them provided support for him. The enemy’s plan to suppress Han Xiao with heavy fire failed badly. The troops working with Han Xiao managed to relieve his stress and pressure. In turn, this brought out the best of his strength and made his fighting easier.

——————————————————————

You are currently sniping while on the move.

You learned a [Moving Snipe] technique. (100/100)

You successfully grasped [Moving Snipe]!

Moving Snipe Level1 (0/4,500): Reduction of the loss of accuracy from shooting in motion, +2% explosive firing accuracy, +1% fire rate when equipped with sniper rifles.

——————————————————————

Han Xiao realized that [Moving Snipe] did not require large sums of Experience points. He channeled his additional Experience points into the skill and raised the skill to Level4. He became more comfortable with operating a sniper rifle and could use the weapon to the best of its ability.

After the enemy’s initial strong push, the situation was back in the defenders’ favor. The incoming enemy troops were fatigued. They wanted to use explosives to blow a hole in the exterior walls of the garden and follow-up by driving their vehicles into the compound. However, the tough steel plates and concrete with the urgent repairs going on made the exterior impossible to blow up.

The enemies then changed their plans and wanted to wipe out the guards of the base directly, but instead, they were stopped by the powerful Han Xiao, who suddenly emerged before their eyes. The enemies realized their assault was going down hill. They started their retreat and left piles of dead bodies.

The Y-5 Snake helicopter turned back and flew away from the site. The helicopter did not have the audacity to fly close to the ground. The pilots were afraid that Han Xiao could fire at its fuel-tank and ammunition storage, which would limit the helicopter’s fighting ability, making it less of a threat.

The battle is finally over. Han Xiao heaved a sigh of relief. His HP had dropped by over 600 points. The endurance level of the magnetically-controlled retractable armor was reduced by a great deal, but he had brought some mechanical parts with him, so he could conduct repairs on the damaged item.

The mercenaries by his side were all exhausted. They collapsed to the ground in fatigue. Chen Li walked toward them. He was curious about Han Xiao’s abilities. He wanted to find out Han Xiao’s full fighting capability and asked, “Mr. Black, are you alright?”

Han Xiao waved his hand to indicate that he was doing fine at the current moment.

Although Chen Li appeared relieved, he was in fact slightly shocked. He did not expect the Scorpion-level assassin to be more reliable than the Hornet brothers.

Shooting the enemies under such powerful concentrated enemy fire was not a feat that was attainable by a Scorpion-level individual.

Chen Li suspected that Mr. Black was a new member of the Dark Web, which would explain his rather low level. Based on his performance in the previous battle, as long as he survived, he could easily attain ‘Ghost’ level.

——————————————————————

Third round completed. You gained 150,000 Experience.

Change in Quest Requirement

Fourth Round Requirement: Defend against five waves of attacks.

Reward: 40,000 Experience per wave (Accumulated Experience will be kept if the mission fails.)

Special Reward: 100,000 Experience

——————————————————————

Han Xiao felt helpless. Why is it another defense mission? Can there be more variety?

Three forts have been destroyed, and many mercenary troops have also perished. Is the whole mission going to be an endless defense against enemy attacks‽

The only consolation is probably the experience and the special reward. Perhaps the special reward is the reason behind all the hidden requirements for the mission. What special tactics are they going to run this time round?

Han Xiao made his way to the logistics zone to start the repairs of the damaged equipment and replenish the exhausted ammunition. On his way there, he was met with looks of respect given by the mercenary troops. Their looks seemed like they had given the ‘green light’ to let Han Xiao be the leader of all the snipers in the force instead of the Hornet brothers.

Those troops with injuries spent the night having themselves treated while the troops who were not injured had a peaceful night of sleep.

The rain stopped at twilight. The ground was muddy, mixed with blood and bullet shells. A strange pungent smell was also emitted by the ground.

Han Xiao was prepared to close his eyes to take a short nap when he heard a commotion emerging out of the communication device.

“The targets have appeared!”

Han Xiao opened his eyes and looked toward the mansion.

The bald old man and a fine-looking gentleman appeared behind the fences of the mansion. All the mercenary troops were alarmed, and they stared curiously at the targets that they were supposed to protect.

When all the mercenary troops and assassins arrived before him, the bald open man started speaking. “Thank you for the protection you guys have offered for the past few days. I will now call out the names of some of the guys whom I want to speak with.”

The bald old man chanted out a list of names. The names belonged to the commanders of the mercenary troops and assassins with outstanding performances in the mission. Mr. Black, which was Han Xiao’s code name, was also mentioned.

“… please enter the mansion in ten minutes. I have something to discuss with you guys.”

——————————————————————

The condition for the mission to fail has changed.

——————————————————————

The condition of no entrance into the mansion, which would directly lead to mission failure, was no longer there.

The appearance of the two mysterious characters created an intense discussion between the curious and puzzled troops.

Waves of unease could be felt in Han Xiao’s heart instead. He managed to recognize one of the guys.

It is him, Bennett Anderson!

No flashy adjectives were required to describe Bennett. In fact, one simple sentence was enough.

Bennett was the main character of Planet Aquamarine!

Amazing, right? There was something even more amazing.

Bennett was another main character on Planet Aquamarine’s main storyline that could lead the players to access missions only available on the main storyline. With that said, it meant that Bennett was an important character that many players wanted to curry-favor with.

Furthermore, Bennett… was a hidden General Skills trainer.

Han Xiao’s eyes glittered. In less than ten minutes, he made a phone call to the Rothschild family.

“Alphonsus, I want to exchange for some items…”

“Er? Aren’t you on the deployment mission? What do you need?”

“The Silver Defender Leaders’ Saber and the Lock HOC Sniper Rifle.”

“… Alright, I did not imagine that you would have such a hobby. I’ll get someone to help you find the items. They will be sent to you in two days.”

_____________________

You requested to exchange for the [Silver Defender Leader’s Saber] from the Rothschild Family.

Minus 300 affection points. Current relationship status – Friendly.

_____________________

You requested to exchange for the [Lock HOC Sniper Rifle] from the Rothschild Family.

Minus 300 affection points. Current relationship status – Friendly.

——————————————————————

Han Xiao nodded and hung up on the phone. All the troops were looking at the selected individuals as they entered the mansion.

The interior of the mansion followed a minimalistic classical style. Other than a chandelier hanging from the ceiling, there were no signs of extravagance in the other parts of the room. The bald old man sat on his sofa, and the friendly gentleman was standing behind him.

“Sit anywhere you want.”

The selected individuals took their seats on the sofas and chairs in the different corners of the room. Han Xiao remained standing. He leaned against the glass cabinet that stored all the bottles of wine. He stared intently at the friendly gentleman. That was indeed Bennett. He might have looked like a middle-aged man, but he was in fact over sixty years old. He was a powerful superhuman; therefore, he looked younger since he aged at a slower pace.

The bald elderly man pushed up his spectacles and said in a deliberate manner, “Let me introduce myself; I am Wang Yuan, and I will require the protection of you guys for an extended period of time. Today, I called you guys here so that I could meet you all. Also, the mansion will be open for you guys to visit. If you guys want to, you all can even rest in the mansion. ”

“Wang Yuan… Never heard of the name before.” Everyone looked at one another in confusion. They were in fact puzzled by the fact that the two mysterious guys decided to seek refuge in River Valley Manor as Seagull City seemed like a much better place to do so. Also, who were the enemies that relentlessly hunted for them?

They realized that Wang Yuan had no intention the queries they had in their hearts, therefore they could not be bothered to ask these questions. Also, asking sensitive questions was not a good practice of their profession.

“You guys are the central force defending River Valley Manor, and once the mission is done,” Wang Yuan said, “I will hand out additional rewards to you guys in private.”

The eyes of many mercenary commanders lit up. The stipulated reward from the mission was supposed to be shared with all the fellow troops. However, an undeclared reward privately handed out to the commander need not be shared with their men. The commander could use the reward as they wished.

The meeting was a short one. The commanders moved back to take care of their fellow troops. Some ammunition supplies were also transferred into the mansion for storage. The mansion was very big with many empty rooms that were available for the troops to rest inside.

The hustle and bustle moved into the mansion, and soon, people began moving in and out of the mansion endlessly. Wang Yuan and Bennett stayed for a while before they made their moves.

Han Xiao moved quickly up to the two of them.

“Mr. Black, what’s the matter?” Wang Yuan gave a slight grin. He remembered the stunning performance by the sniper last night. It was still fresh in his mind.

Han Xiao looked at Bennett and said, “I want to speak privately with him.”

Wang Yuan and Bennett both looked shocked. They looked at each other for a moment. Wang Yuan smiled and made his way to another side of the room so as to give Han Xiao and Bennett their personal space.

“Why do you want to speak to me?” Bennett was puzzled. “Have we met before?”

Han Xiao took a deep breath and spoke softly at a volume that only both of them could hear. “Bennett Anderson. You are the legendary guy who was active back in the times of the old warring period. You previously trained in the Misihorot Training Camp, which was directly under the Ordina Intelligence Agency. You were one of their best agents and a cold-blooded killing machine. Halfway through the warring period, you became the captain of the elite team of Ordina agents that went by the code name [Blue Devil]. You carried out hundreds of infiltration, sabotage, assassination, and covert operations. You left Ordina and became a traitor eventually. You head is now worth a bounty of 15,000,000!

“After you defected, you disappeared for two years. Legend says that you were undergoing some tough training in the harsh terrain of the northern continent. You were supposedly hunting beasts in the Caroso mountain range. When you appeared once again, you became the strongest man on this planet. You entered the war again, but you did not help any of the parties involved in the war. Instead, you assisted the refugees in their escapes, and through that, you built a strong organization that was the predecessor of the existing Dark Web Organization.

“You appeared countless times in the war-ravaged regions, and as more people were saved by you, you gradually became known as the hero by the people of your time. Also, you left your mark by having an amazing and almost unbelievable battle record. As the war ended, you left the world stage. You covered you tracks and disappeared. From then on, you never appeared in the eyes of the public.”

All these words were the official description of Bennett that was given in the game. Han Xiao could no longer remember the nitty-gritty details and could only give a rough overview.

There were a couple of main characters on every planet. They were like the shooting stars in the sky, leaving bright trails for the people of their time and impressionable marks on the history of the planets.

Bennett was the ‘main character’ of Planet Aquamarine. Even Hila could not be compared to Bennett at an equal standing. The rise of the goddess of death belonged to later versions.

After listening to the words of Han Xiao, Bennett was astonished. Han Xiao was the first out of all his guards to actually point out his true identity.

Even after decades, someone could still recognize him. Bennett had looked really cold, like a block of ice, in the past, and he looked completely different now. He really did change a lot, so how was it possible for his true identity to be recognized?

The most probable speculation appeared in Bennett’s heart. He asked hesitantly, “So, are you my fan?”

Chapter 111 - [Flaming Will]

Admire you‽ My ass!

Although Han Xiao wanted to say that, he reckoned that it would be no fun offending Bennett. He still wished to extract some benefits out of Bennett.

Be serious, be serious.

Han Xian made a dry cough. “I heard of your stories, and I have always wanted to meet you.”

Bennett gave a friendly smile and waved his hands. “Don’t mention the things in the past. What did you want to speak to me about? It can’t be for a signature, right?”

Han Xiao’s eyes twitched. Alright, enough showing off…

After regulating his breath, Han Xiao gave a stern expression and said, “I heard you are the strongest human on this planet…”

Bennett’s eyes flashed. He was too familiar with such an introduction. Perhaps it was another person that wanted to challenge him to a fight.

The war created power beings that emerged from the flames and bloodshed of the battles. Bennett took pride in his amazing battle record. Over the years, many strong individuals had wanted to challenge him. Bennett was too tired of the meaningless fights and his continuous victories from the easy battles. He appeared this time merely to protect his old friend, Wang Yuan. He never planned to reveal his true identity to his enemies—the traitors of the organization—else his enemies would not even dare lay their fingers on him. Precisely because of the fact that the traitors of the organization felt that the defense around Wang Yuan was weak, it allowed the baiting operation to proceed.

Bennett shook his head. If Han Xiao really wanted to fight him, he would definitely not agree to it since Han Xiao’s current strength was worthless in his eyes.

Yet contrary to his expectations, Han Xiao said, “I want to learn some combat techniques from you.”

“Interesting, you are the first person who has wanted to learn from me.” Bennett contemplated for a moment before shaking his head. “You are a sniper. It’s impossible for you to learn my combat tactics.”

As expected, Bennett used the same tactic again! It was Bennett’s standard line when he wanted to reject someone. As long as the pre-requisites were not met, the same line was thrown out to be used in rejections. It was always the same line.

“You are a mechanic, its impossible for you to learn my techniques.”

“You are a pugilist, it’s impossible for you to learn…”

“You are a superhuman, it’s impossible for you to learn…”

By merely changing the noun of the sentence, large numbers of players were rejected. Han Xiao was not going to fall for this same trick. Bennett was a hidden General Skills trainer, and gifts were required for him to actually teach the skills to a player. Previously, there were players that came with gifts with the intention of just currying-favor with Bennett. They did not expect themselves to actually pick up a skill or two from just handing gifts to Bennett.

Different gifts linked to different skills.

The two items that Han Xiao had requested from the Rothschild family were meant to be presented to Bennett as gifts.

Han Xiao chatted with Bennett to ensure that Bennett actually recognized him.

Bennett caught up to Wang Yuan, who was waiting for him not far ahead. Wang Yuan asked curiously, “What did he want from you?”

“He recognizes me and wants to learn some combat techniques from me.”

“What a strange dude.” Wang Yuan stroked his beard and said, “He has got some skill. He is a new assassin that just joined the organization’s Blood Pact Society. He has a mysterious background and is codenamed ‘Mr. Black’. He is definitely a character we should pull to our side. After this mission, I will ask Xena to increase his level to Dark.”

…

The mercenary troops were tidying up the rooms of the mansion. Chen Li went to look for Han Xiao and handed him a chain of room keys.

Han Xiao did not accept the keys immediately. He stared at Chen Li weirdly and stuttered, “Don’t tell me… these are the keys to your room‽”

“… I don’t have such an inclination,” Chen Li said as the veins on his forehead bulged.

“You sound like I like such kind of things.”

Chen Li coughed drily and explained, “These are the keys to the best rooms of the mansion, and I reserved one for you.”

It was only then that Han Xiao came to his sense. He received the keys and understood what was going on. “Who else are those singles rooms meant for?”

“They are allocated to Volcano, Moonlight, Hunter, and a few other commanders of the various mercenary groups.”

The names that Han Xiao mentioned were all the stronger fighters and leaders of the guards around the mansion.

Being allocated a single room was a privilege of the stronger individuals. The remaining ordinary troops and assassins could only squeeze into bigger rooms or sleep in the main hall.

In the fight the previous night, Han Xiao had replaced the Hornet brothers, who were killed in action. He was the core of all the snipers and was the backbone of the defense. His outstanding performance gained the respect of the fellow mercenary troops, which was also why Chen Li went over to pass him the keys. As long as one had the power and capability, one would be bestowed with special privileges.

Han Xiao gladly accepted Chen Li’s offer. Han Xiao’s room was on the second floor, and it had a balcony.

When he reached the corridor on the second level, Han Xiao saw the rest of the powerful figures. They looked at one another and nodded as a form of friendly gesture. Hunt left a deep impression in Han Xiao’s eyes. Hunter was a firearms expert from the Mechanic lineage. His weapons were a pair of very powerful hand-held cannons. It was said that the hand-held cannons did not have any recoil when fired.

Since Bennett is here and the mission has to be carried out, as long as I can get close to Bennett and in turn come into contact with the main server at the hideout, I will be able to gain the favor of the Dark Web Organization and access its huge network of intelligence. The gains from the move will be so great.

Being on good terms with the main character of the planet could bring so many benefits.

Han Xiao used his fingers to scratch the stubble on his chin. His eyes lit up like a shrewd thief.

…

Over the next two days, the enemies carried out raids each night, as if they were a bunch of crazy monsters that could not have enough of night attacks. They extended their devilish clutches toward the manor.

Han Xiao took over the role of the Hornet brothers and was in charge of holding the ground. He used his strong sniping abilities to control the situation. While his great accuracy was one thing, what was more impressive was his astute acumen in battles.

Having previously fought in the inter-planetary wars of the galaxy, where the scale and density of the firepower was just too overwhelming, this battle was like a leisurely stroll. The two were not on the same level, and their differences were just too great.

In the madness and mess of inter-planetary wars, a minor mistake could lead to planes crashing and deaths. Every small mistake was infinitely escalated. Therefore, Han Xiao developed his acumen and instinct to search for opportunities through the slim cracks of the intense situations. That was the mark of a true master. Although Han Xiao was not humble at all, rather shameless even, he was no doubt a true master.

It was a piece of cake for him to handle battles of such a small scale that adopted low-tech equipment. His shots could always hit the targets at the right spots.

With the help of Han Xiao, there were great reductions in the casualties faced by the mercenary troops. It was shockingly amazing. Previously, the Hornet brothers had been more focused on killing the enemies, and they could hardly help the rest in the firefights. However, Mr. Black employed an all-around sniping style, which enabled him to execute the enemies and also take time to carry out defensive actions. It was like a one-man show that handled that entire southeastern and northeastern battlefronts.

Reliable and stable were the perceptions that the troops had about Han Xiao. Han Xiao’s fire support allowed them to have easier fights.

A sniper who could control the entire situation of the battle was of indescribable threat. It was natural for the enemies to concentrate their firepower on Han Xiao. However, Han Xiao managed to neutralize the threat with the mobility provided by his hover-boots. Also, the low-level health strengthening module provided him with the ability to withstand attacks made by the enemy. He had almost double the HP that normal mechanics at his level would have.

Even super-humans and pugilists that exceeded LV 40 might not have more HP than him. Therefore, it was not necessary for Han Xiao to fear the enemy’s attacks like the other snipers. It was also the first time that the troops saw a sniper that dared face the direct fire of the machine guns of the enemies and take on the enemy up-front. That changed the troops’ initial perception that a sniper only dealt out attacks silently, away from the enemies’ attention.

In those two days, Han Xiao became more respected in the eyes of the troops.

Deaths were bound to happen in a battle, and new troops and assassins arrived to replace those that were killed in action. That was to ensure that new blood was being injected and a robust fighting force was constantly present.

Golden Fox was one of the ‘new blood’. She was a Dark-level assassin. Once she entered the manor, there was someone to receive her.

Golden Fox was a tall, pretty lady. She looked good and carried a sniper rifle on her back. She asked in a serious tone, “How is the situation?”

The mercenary leading the way took a glance at the perky ass of the Golden Fox. From the look in his eyes, one could tell he was aroused.

The Golden Fox had long gotten used to the perverted stares of men, so she simply ignored that mercenary’s action.

“The situation is looking good. Although the enemies are attacking more frequently, our defenses are very strong and tight. Also, all the ammunition and logistical supplies are replenished daily. Plus, there are new troops joining the force. The southeastern and northeastern sectors are managed by Mr. Black, so nothing will go wrong.”

The trooper laughed.

“Mr. Black?” The Golden Fox was very sure that she had not heard of such a codename. She asked curiously, “Who is Mr. Black?”

“Mr. Black is a Scorpion-level assassin. His sniping skills are unbelievably amazing.”

“Only Scorpion-level?” Golden Fox felt uneasy. She locked her brows. She did not trust the ability of Han Xiao and said in a confused tone, “Isn’t it too brash and unwise to let a Scorpion-level assassin to be in charge of the battle?”

After she finished that sentence, Golden Fox realized that the mercenary leading the way was no longer friendly or attracted toward her. His eyes turned cold. He pointed in the direction ahead and asked Golden Fox to go to the place by herself. The man then turned around and walked away.

Golden Fox was astonished. She had only questioned the ability of Mr. Black; was it necessary for the trooper to make such a big reaction? Was Mr. Black really that reputable?

That night, when the enemies approached, Golden Fox finally saw Mr. Black’s performance and his ability to control the situation of the battle. She was shocked. It was as if Mr. Black possessed the legendary Eagle eye and could see every corner of the battlefield. There were almost no missed shots. Even if some of the shots did not injure or kill the enemy, they played other vital roles such as to limit the enemies or to support the allies.

Golden Fox realized that she had nothing to do on the battlefield. All the work was already settled by Mr. Black. The work of Mr. Black impressed the Golden Fox more than the total number of enemies he killed. As sniper, the Golden Fox realized how much work Mr. Black was actually doing.

Mr. Black took all the work away from the other snipers. One Mr. Black could replace a team of snipers.

She finally understood why the mercenary troops let a Scorpion-level assassin take charge of battlefield.

That is the surely the strongest sniper I have seen!

…

——————————————————————

You defeated a wave of attackers. (3/5)

——————————————————————

After seeing the enemies retreat, Han Xiao heaved a sigh of relief.

It is the third wave of enemies, and the attacks are becoming stronger. However, there are also more guards in the manor. With me around, as long as there are no strong individuals in the subsequent attacks, the mission is likely to be completed. However, what is the requirement to obtain the hidden reward?

Han Xiao had zero clues about the hidden reward.

The next morning, Chen Li called out to Han Xiao through the communication device.

“Mr. Black, someone from the Rothschild family is looking for you.”

Upon hearing that, Han Xiao immediately shot up from his bed and raced to the gates of the mansion. He received the items from the delivery man… or rather, the courier from the Rothschild family. The two items were the Silver Defender Leader’s Saber and the Lock HOC Sniper Rifle.

The two items dated back to a few decades ago. They were no longer in production, and the countries that manufactured the items no longer existed. The two items were considered antiques. Bennett was an avid collector of antique weapons, and these items were the necessary pre-requisites to learn the new skills.

There was a total of more than ten items that could activate the learning of new skills. The types of gifts were different; therefore, they led to different skills. However, the total quantity of these items was limited, and it meant that the number of players that could learn skills from Bennett was also limited. The hidden instructors usually transferred skills to their disciples in such a manner.

For instance, there were only about a hundred of such sabers left, and with the saber, one could master a very powerful attacking ability known as [Flaming Will]. In the late stage of Version 1.0, the price of the saber was inflated to millions of dollars, and Han Xiao was able to obtain it by sacrificing some of his relationship points with the Rothschild family—it was a pretty good deal.

Han Xiao longed to master the ability of [Flaming Will], something he had failed to do in his past life.

Chapter 112 - LV 60 Character

After Han Xiao got the items, he immediately went to find Bennett. Since the mercenary troops and assassins were allowed into the manor, Bennett and Wang Yuan often appeared. Everybody knew that they lived on the highest floor.

The staircase of the villa was made of mahogany and gave out a special scent. Han Xiao walked up the staircase to the top floor and knocked on Bennett’s door.

“Sit anywhere you want.”

Bennett was holding a cup of herbal tea in his hand, and after opening the door, he sat on the sofa and looked at Han Xiao happily. He liked Han Xiao as Han Xiao was the first to recognize his true identity. He then asked, “What do you want? Oh wait, let’s not rush into the talking. I made a pot of herbal tea; do you want to try?”

He then pointed to the cup in his hand.

The herbal tea in the cup was so thick. The tea was green in color and had freakish bubbles.

Han Xiao closed his mouth, but he finally could not withstand his urge to speak. He pointed to the herbal tea and said in a breathless voice, “So what is the tradeoff I need to make?”

Bennett had confusion written all over his face. He did not understand what Han Xiao was saying.

Han Xiao coughed and put the conversation back on track. “I want to learn fighting techniques from you.”

Bennett did not know whether he should laugh or cry. “I thought I said no… eh, is that the Sliver Defender Leader’s Saber?”

The Silver Defender Leader’s Saber was manufactured in an ancient country that no longer existed. That country’s weapons’ manufacturing techniques had a history of more than hundreds of years. Every weapon manufactured was considered as a prized piece that displayed great craftsmanship. There were only about a hundred of such sabers left in the world.

The saber was truly a classic. There were carvings of scriptures on the blade of the saber. The words inscribed were aesthetically pleasing, and every saber was carved with a different paragraph. The paragraphs were joint together to form a saga of the ancient country.

Bennett stared hard at the saber. One could tell from the look in his eyes that he liked the saber a lot. However, he did not stretch out his hands to reach for it. Instead, he looked at Han Xiao in astonishment. “You want to give the saber to me? How did you know that I like collecting antique weapons? You must be my admirer!”

“I…” Han Xiao was speechless. Indeed, what he was doing to Bennett was a little out of the ordinary. It was hard to explain why he wanted to give the saber to Bennett. He thought to himself, As long as I can learn new skills, I can accept any form of misunderstanding. Maybe my actions can even improve relations with Bennett.

It’s fine as long as you’re happy.

After receiving the Silver Defender Leader’s Saber, Bennett could not take his hands off that prized possession. He was also feeling pretty tangled up. Han Xiao had handed him a gift that he had always longed for. Also, Han Xiao seemed like a hardcore fan of his, so he could not bear to reject Han Xiao’s request.

Bennett thought for a while and then raised his head. He smiled at Han Xiao and said, “Let’s do it.”

Han Xiao could feel his goosebumps rising, and he immediately retreated backwards. He held his hands in front of his body. His body was tensed up and prepared to face the upcoming move he expected from Bennett.

“What are you thinking about‽ I meant that I am willing to teach you some skills.” Bennett slapped his hand on his forehead.

“Can you say the full sentence next time‽”

“… you should clear up all these filthy thoughts in your mind.” Bennett did not know how he should react. He shook his head and contemplated for a moment. He eventually confirmed the skill he wanted to teach Han Xiao.

“In the early days when I was weak and young, I experimented and discovered many fighting techniques. One of such techniques gave me the power to make a comeback when I was down. I named the technique [Flaming Will].

“The brain is the protector of one’s body but at the same time a limiting factor. If one can remove the limiting factor, even an average individual without any form of training will be able to release an immense amount of power.

“However, such a method takes a heavy toll on one’s body. Once, when I was faced with danger, I unexpectedly unlocked the limiting factor, and with a few tries, I managed to uncover a way to remove the limiting factor for a short period of time without hurting my body.”

Bennett started to explain the theory behind the technique and patiently highlighted the key factors behind mastering the technique.

——————————————————————

Bennett Anderson (LV 60) taught you the skill [Flaming Will]. Your intelligence exceeds 100 points and met the pre-requisite to learn the skill. Your current progress is 3%.

——————————————————————

The lesson lasted all the way from morning to afternoon. The soothing voice from the interface highlighted Han Xiao’s progress up till the point when Han Xiao mastered the skill entirely.

——————————————————————

Flaming Will Level1 (General Skill)

The young Bennett Anderson was previously mastering his skills in the extreme wilderness of the Northern Continent. Seven Northern Leopard-Bears tried to attack him, and one of the creatures was as large as a small tank. Nobody wants to hear the roars of a Leopard-Bear. Once the creature roars, it means that it has locked onto you. Their thick skin, muscles are impenetrable even by bullets.

Bennett only had a small dagger with him when he was faced with the impending attack. He did not have any thermal weapons. In such a time of desperation, Bennett mastered the technique and used his small dagger to deal damage that was comparable to that dealt the by High-frequency Wave Blade!

The skill has both passive and active abilities.

Active ability: When the upper limit of 10% of energy and stamina is exhausted, the next attack will deal 130 to 150% of damage. There is even a small likelihood of 180 to 200% damage and a minute likelihood for 250 to 300% damage. Lastly, although super-rare, there is a microscopic chance of 500% damage being dealt! The cool-down for the ability is ten minutes.

Passive ability: When HP is less than 20%, the ability will be activated. The cool-down time is thirty minutes.

The increased attack is calculated from the damage dealt by the basic attack. It is similar to the concept of defense. The original damage received is then converted into the true damage dealt after taking damage reductions into account.

Note: Cooldowns for the active and passive abilities are calculated separately.

——————————————————————

What a solid move. Han Xiao was feeling very excited. He had longed to master the skill since his past life, and today, he finally accomplished the feat.

There was another name given to [Flaming Will] by the players. The ability was also known as the ‘Explosion of the Little Galaxy’.

The skill was a general skill that could be mastered by players of all professions. The pre-requisite was that one’s intelligence must exceed 100 points. There were a hundred Silver Defender Leader’s Saber; therefore, about hundred individuals could master the skill.

Han Xiao was one of them.

[Flaming Will] was a perfect complement to his sniping abilities. The damage depended on his intelligence and luck. The two attributes when combined could mask the weaknesses of each other and average out.

Once the skill was activated, there was a minimum increase in damage dealt of 1.3 to 1.5 times. Together with the sudden strike, sneak attack, and sniping shots, the ability could elevate the strength of the sniper rifle to a greater extent. If there was an energy surge, it could mean 3 to 5 times additional damage. In his previous life, Han Xiao had met players who used [Flaming Will] against him. One shot from the opponent completely shattered his shied. There was no way he could continue the fight.

The ability had a relatively long cool down time so was more suited for the final shot to secure victory. There was another line of skills that a sniper could use that involved firing secret shots to ambush the enemy. Such ambush snipes hit the enemies at their weakest spots without them even knowing.

The other item that Han Xiao had, the Lock HOC Sniper Rifle, could activate more missions for the side profession he was planning to take up. His side profession involved more secretive and covert operations. Han Xiao did not plan to activate the side missions with the item yet. He wanted to do so only after he completed his mission of defending the manor so that he had sufficient time to focus on it.

After seeing the excitement in Han Xiao, Bennett felt puzzled and asked, “You finished learning?”

“Fast right.” Han Xiao beamed with pride.

Bennett was shocked and could not believe what he heard. He moved backwards and said, “Give me a punch, and I will know if you have really mastered the skill.”

Upon hearing that, Han Xiao, who could no longer wait to test out his new ability, threw a powerful punch at Bennett.

——————————————————————

You used [Flaming Will].

Initializing…

Initialization complete. Your next attack will deal 136% of the basic damage.

——————————————————————

The punch landed on the left side of Bennett’s face. Bennett’s face felt like an indestructible wall that was harder than steel. A -1 damage was shown above Bennett’s head.

——————————————————————

You entered combat mode.

Based on your level, you have access to the following information.

Bennett Anderson

Level: 60

Profession: ?

Type: ?

HP: ?

State: Hidden injury (Reduction of all attributes)

Energy: ?

Energy Level: ?

Stage: D+ (C)

Strengths:

– Lucky Glow: What you wished for will come true and adversity will be turned into opportunity.

– Legendary battle techniques: With twelve attacks, there will be additional damage of up to 40-70%.

– ???

Skill:

– Strike the weakness Level8

– Instant shadow charge Level9

– ???

——————————————————————

Chapter 113 - The Unexpected Appearance of Division 13

Bennett stroked the cheek that had been hit by Han Xiao’s punch and said helplessly, “Don’t hit my face.”

“You are lucky it was just your face.”

Han Xiao stared silently at Bennett for a moment.

Bennett suddenly felt a cold wind breeze past the area between his legs. He gave a cold shiver and was puzzled. Was it an illusion?

Most of the critical information about Bennett was unknown. However, Han Xiao knew that Bennett had more than fifteen special skills, and most of them were standard skills! The scariest skill was not those that allowed for additional attacking power, HP, or attributes but [Lucky Glow]. The name of the skill probably would not convince one that it was powerful, but once the effects of the skill were revealed or the name of the skill was changed, it could probably scare one to death.

Glow of the Lead!

Galaxy was very large. The different planets and civilizations that made up the world of Galaxy would always have one of the thousands of the heroic epics. Lucky Glow was a standard skill that the main characters possessed.

For instance, if Bennett used his [Flaming Will], there would be gains in the attributes every round. That was the ability that ‘Lucky Glow’ bestowed upon him.

Bennett is probably secretly hurt at the current moment and will only recover in the future. Han Xiao remembered that the first time Bennett appeared before the eyes of the player, he possessed the energy of an active dragon and tiger combined. He could be described as a T-Rex forced into a human body.

At his peak, Bennett was at C stage, but he was merely D+ for now.

The energy requirement for C stage was 2,000 points, and a D+ stage meant that the character had an energy level of 1,600 points and above. The character was still very strong.

Han Xiao’s current combat power was stuck at stage D, which was around 800 points. Only after the additional gains that he could obtain from his equipment was he able to reach stage D.

The stage of a character did not represent their combat power. Ultimately, different characters with different skills had different strengths in certain types of terrain and environments. However, as long as a character had a high energy level, it meant that they definitely had an aspect they were very strong in.

After bidding farewell to Bennett, Han Xiao went back to his sniper post. He suddenly felt a weird sensation in his heart and turned back. The female sniper beside him was staring deeply at him. Han Xiao did recognize the lady. She was known as Golden Fox and was a new assassin that had arrived at the site only yesterday.

Han Xiao felt his face a few times to confirm that he had a mask on his face. He was really confused. There is no way that she can see through the mask. How can she be attracted by my handsome face even when I have a mask on?

Golden Fox walked forward to him. She had a pretty smile on her face and said cheekily, “Mr. Black, I was wondering if you can teach me some sniping skills.”

As she was speaking, Golden Fox surreptitiously squeezed her breasts with her hands to reveal her deep cleavage.

She’s trying to seduce me? Han Xiao squinted his eyes. Regardless of her intention, Han Xiao had no interest in such seductions. He raised his hand before his body and said sternly, “Miss, please have some self-respect!”

Golden Fox’s eyes flashed. She realized that Mr. Black was very resistant to sexual seductions. She immediately changed her strategy. Her expression turned from a sexy one to that of a helpless little girl who was seeking help. The sudden change was even faster than a Sichuan mask-changing show. She crossed her hands in front of her breasts and said breathlessly, “I… I just want to ask you for some guidance; I don’t have any other intentions.”

Han Xiao rolled his eyes and said, “Miss, don’t waste your energy. I don’t like ladies.”

The expression on Golden Fox’s face stiffened up, and she looked at Han Xiao in astonishment and stuttered, “You, you like…”

“No, I don’t like men.” Han Xiao touched his china and said, “Actually, I am not even interested in humans… er… or anything that is living.”

Golden Fox was completely dumbfounded. She lowered her head and said, “Sorry, sorry to disturb.”

She then turned around and ran away without hesitation.

Han Xiao laughed heartily. Can’t believe she tried to seduce me. She is just a greenhorn. Speaking of which, I was so popular with women back then. But that is all in the past, and it really meant nothing.

After laughing to himself a couple more times, Han Xiao suddenly stopped. He then gave a deep sigh and took out a cigarette and popped a light.

At that moment, a car neared the manor. Han Xiao looked over and was instantly shocked.

The car was painted black. It had an emblem on the car’s door. The emblem was a dragon that surrounded three stars.

It was Division 13’s vehicle!

Why is Division 13 here?

…

Heeding the instructions given by Wang Yuan, the mercenary troops opened the gates and directed Division 13’s car into the manor.

A leg wrapped in a combat tight suit emerged out of the doors of the car. The leg was slender, and it drew plenty of the troops’ attention. Once the boot landed on the ground, the first person to emerge out of the car was his old friend Di Su Su.

Di Su Su had an air of arrogance, and it was as if she did not want to be approached by anyone. The other members of the team followed behind her.

Some of the boorish troops were attempting to tease her with their wolf-whistles, and they were checking out the beautiful figure of Di Su Su.

A middle-aged with wrinkles at the edge of his eyes alighted from the car. His firm presence could be felt. It was obvious that he was the leader of Di Su Su and her fellow agents. The group headed toward the mansion.

Di Su Su could feel a chill up his spine. There was also a cold feeling emerging within of her heart. She knew that she was locked onto by a very dangerous individual. She turned her head and saw a middle-aged man suited up in complete black leaning against the wall with his sniper staring at her. His look was actually pretty calming, but even with that, she could feel herself on edge and the chill in her heart as if she sensed some sort of impending threat.

Who is that person? Di Su Su was alarmed. She then felt a sense of familiarity about the man in black. Before she could even think about the issue, she entered the mansion. The doors shut, and her view was blocked.

At the edge of the wall, Han Xiao saw the agents of Division 13, and his eyes brightened up.

…

The agents from Division 13 went straight up to the highest floor of the mansion, where Wang Yuan and Bennett were waiting for them.

“Wang Yuan, long time no see,” the old man leading the agents said. Although, he said it with a poker face, the tone of his voice sounded like he had finally met his long-time friend.

“Mo Ran,” Wang Yuan said, “it has been more than ten years. You are one of the trump cards of Division 13, and I am the leader of the Dark Web Organization. If not for the situation this time, we probably would not have met again.”

“Yeah.” Mo Ran nodded. He saw Bennett at the side, and although his face was still expressionless, one could tell the astonishment in his voice. “This fellow is also here‽”

“You still want to challenge me?” Bennett replied in an unfriendly tone. “I have no interest in beating you again.”

“It’s all in the past, Bennet. There is no point bringing it up again.” Mo Ran immediately put an end to this topic of conversation.

Bennett‽

Di Su Su and her fellow agents were shocked. Bennett was very well-known among all intelligence agencies. He was not only a hero of the old-war era but also an individual with an amazingly powerful fighting prowess. He was commonly listed in the top three threats in all case files. Upon hearing the name of Bennett, Di Su Su found it hard to keep her nerves under control.

Mo Ran frowned and asked, “In the battles of the past ten days, although they all took place outside the city, it also resulted in negative influences. The sounds of the canons and the gunshots are too obvious. What are you guys doing?”

Wang Yuan shook his head. “We, the original leaders of the Dark Web Organization want to maintain our neutral position, but some of the greedy higher ups want to give up the neutrality as they are keen on the powers they might get if they take sides. They are eyeing for our leadership positions and want to replace us to gain control of the Dark Web Organization. The attacks are all planned by these traitors.

“Xena is trying to track the location of these traitors through any clues she can find. Many of the attackers were wiped out, but we expect the traitors to make their last stand within these two days.”

“Find me in Seagull City in two days. We need a proper catch-up,” Mo Ran said. With Bennett around, he was not worried about the security of Wang Yuan.

After settling the important matters, Mo Ran turned and left—efficiency was Mo Ran’s style. Di Su Su and the rest followed behind him.

The Covert Ops agents from Division 13 were the best of the department but definitely not the most elite of the entire country. There was a smaller elite team that was the secret weapon of the nation. They were usually guarding the outposts and commanding the situation from behind the scenes. They rarely revealed themselves and were known as trump cards. Mo Ran was one of such individuals. There were such figures in every nation.

What an intense period with so many occurances at once, Di Su Su thought to herself.

About three months back, Stardragon had faced a several important events. First, they managed to destroy a hidden base of the Germinal Organization within their own borders. After which, Stardragon made an expedition for Dark Crow Valley. The source of the critical intelligence reports was very mysterious.

Also, the response from the Germinal Organization was also very weird. The organization seemed like it was searching for someone. After the Dark Crow Valley operation, the agents of Germinal Organization were more blatant with their actions. It seemed like they did not care if their identities were exposed. They were searching hysterically within the borders of Stardragon. The situation was most intense in the Western Capital. More than a hundred of the agents from the Phoenix Eye Society—a subsidiary organization of the Germinal Organization—were caught. They were mostly small fries that did not offer any value for the interrogators.

Since the disappearance of Han Xiao, Division 13 sent out many agents to all parts of the world to look for him, but they all returned without any substantial results. All the CCTV cameras, airline records, and border entry records were monitored, but there was still no clue. Agents were even sent out to the wilderness, but none returned with a single piece of information.

The result was unbelievable in the eyes of the higher ups of the department. It was as if Han Xiao had vanished into thin air.

Where did he go?

Where could he go?

What was he going to do?

Di Su Su knew Han Xiao and had interacted with him for a period of time. In her eyes, he was a man enshrouded in mystery. She was also curious of Han Xiao’s whereabouts.

After heading out of the mansion, Di Su Su tried to look for the man in black who she felt was dangerous; however, the man had already disappeared.

The agents of Division 13 boarded the car and left the manor.

After leaving the forest, Mo Ran asked the driver to pull over. He then stepped out the vehicle alone and said to the agents in the car, “Di Su Su, get some agents to monitor the battle situation together with you. Report back to me later.”Bian Lian (literally: “Face-Changing”) is an ancient Chinese dramatic art that is part of the more general Sichuan opera. Performers wear brightly colored costumes and move to quick, dramatic music. They also wear vividly colored masks, typically depicting well known characters from the opera, which they change from one face to another almost instantaneously with the swipe of a fan, a movement of the head, or wave of the hand. (Wikipedia)

Chapter 114 - The Surprising Hidden Request

Within the manor, Han Xiao scratched his chin and thought hard in silence.

The mask changed his facial appearance so much so that if one did not approach close to him, it would be impossible for the person to uncover his true identity.

Although he had escaped from Stardragon, the interface did not indicate a decrease in affection for him. Since his relationship with Stardragon was still relatively friendly and both parties were not reduced to enemies, there was chance for him to turn the situation around.

Han Xiao had a deep impression of Di Su Su. Although Di Su Su always teased Li Ya Lin and Li Ya Lin always tried to put her down, Di Su Su still unintentionally nudged closer to Li Ya Lin. Even the clothes she wore resembled those of Li Ya Lin. Han Xiao, who was great and very experienced at observing people, could tell with a single glance that Di Su Su and Li Ya Lin shared a very close friendship.

…

Two days later…

The bullet leapt out of the barrel of the sniper rifle and killed the final enemy sniper who was a few hundred meters away. The burnt smell of the smoky battlefield was very pungent. The enemy forces, which suffered a lot of casualties, retreated like a huge wave. Han Xiao let out a deep breath and leaned against the wall to sit down. He closed his eyes to ease the tension in his heart.

The enemies were getting stronger one wave after another. There were helicopters, armored vehicles, and small tanks; there were also a couple of strong super humans and elite soldiers that appeared on the battlefield, which posed huge threats.

The past two days in the manor had been very hectic and dangerous, as if they were all on a little boat stuck in a massive whirlpool. Han Xiao used all his effort, and together with the cooperation of the mercenary troops, the defense managed to pull through.

——————————————————————

You defeated a wave of attackers. (5/5)

The fourth round completed. You gained 200,000 Experience points.

The hidden request to prevent the appearance of Division 13 has failed.

You activated the additional fifth segment of the mission.

——————————————————————

Han Xiao was completely stunned. He did not expect the hidden request was to prevent the appearance of Division 13. He really had not thought of that possibility. After pondering for a while, he then realized why he missed out the hidden request.

If every one of his battles ended fast and decisively and created less commotion, perhaps Division 13 would not have entered the picture. However, such a request was too difficult. Even if he was able to find out about such a request, it would be very hard to accomplish it. Han Xiao was not particularly upset about such a result. Ultimately, the odds of completing a hidden request were fifty-fifty. There were times of success and times of failure. It was pretty normal for failure to occur after all.

The original mission only had four segments. However, since the hidden request was not completed, the fifth segment has been activated. Is it supposed to be blessing in disguise? What is the fifth segment exactly?

Han Xiao felt curious.

——————————————————————

Change in Quest Requirement

Fifth Round Requirement: Tag along with Wang Yuan and handle the incoming danger.

Failure Condition: Your death.

Reward: 30,000 Experience

Special Reward: 300,000 Experience

——————————————————————

At that moment, Han Xiao was shocked. He felt that the fifth segment of the mission was really confusing and weird.

The normal reward was not compatible with the current stage of the mission. Also, the special reward was ten times larger than the normal reward, which meant that there was a great deal of flexibility in the mission. What exactly was the danger that the mission offered?

The condition to fail the mission was targeted at the fact that some players could revive themselves. Since Wang Yuan was protected by Bennett, it meant that Han Xiao himself would have to deal with a great deal of danger.

It was like the mission was trying to tell Han Xiao, “Hehehe… this is going to be dangerous.”

…

Two days earlier, in a dim abandoned warehouse, Bai Jin was in his hideout.

There was a bolt of lightning surrounding his arm, and the lightning illuminated his face. There was a sense of eeriness in his eyes.

Bai Jin flipped his palm, and the lightning bolt fused into his skin and vanished.

Ding.

The computer on the table in front of him lit up. He received a confidential e-mail. Bai Jin clicked on the new mail.

“Target for assassination: Wang Yuan

“Assignment Location: East Stardragon, 20km North of Seagull City, River Valley Manor

“Strength of Defense: 214 troops, 14 contract killers, Moonlight (Dark), Hunter (Dark), Volcano (Dark), Golden Fox (Dark), Mr. Black (Scorpion)… There are sufficient defensive structures and firepower.

“Bounty: 2 million”

Bai Jin’s eyes dimmed and muttered coldly, “You really expect me to make a move when the bounty is merely two million? How can you put me on the same level as the other trash assassins in the market?”

He sent a mail back to reject the offer.

A moment later, another e-mail entered the inbox. The bounty had been raised to six million.

“That’s more like it.” Bai Jin gave a sly grin. There was an air of evilness and arrogance around him.

All along, Bai Jin had only cared about the bounty he would receive. He had no other goals in mind.

‘The Raging Bolt’ Bai Jin, was a heinous criminal that managed to escape countless of pursuits made by the various authorities of the six nations. His superpower could cause massive destruction. There were countless bounty hunters, agents, and executive officers of the Germinal Organization who had perished at his hand. The total exceeded three digits! He could even penetrate the intense flanks of military forces.

The individual combat strength on Planet Aquamarine was like a pyramid. There were three sections of the pyramid. The ones on the lowest level were mostly the recently awakened superhumans and normal warriors with a great deal of battle experience. The second level was mostly superhumans like Pang Kuang, who were executive officers of the Germinal Organization and secret agents of the intelligence agencies of the six nations. The third level was especially rare. These individuals were at least LV 40 and above. They were the trump cards of their respective nations or super criminals or faction leaders. Bennett could be placed at the pinnacle of the third level of the pyramid.

Bai Jin was a superhuman who could enter the third level!

…

In the evening, Wang Yuan gathered everyone.

“I need to make a trip to the Seagull City to meet with Division 13. I need to bring some powerful individuals with me for protection, and the rest of you guys will remain here to guard the manor.”

Before anyone could even respond, Wang Yuan started pointing out the selected few. “Moonlight, Volcano, Hunter, Golden Fox, and Mr. Black, I need you to protect me for this trip. I will raise the rewards for you guys. If you all are unwilling to do so, I will not force it upon you.”

“No problem.” Hunter was the first to respond. The other few agreed to the request.

Han Xiao knew that if he rejected the request, he would fail his mission. He agreed to it and looked toward Bennett. “Is he going?”

Bennett nodded and said, “I am coming along.”

Han Xiao’s heart sank. Bennett was able to protect Wang Yuan. As such, the danger from the mission would be concentrated on Han Xiao and his fellow killers.

With Han Xiao’s gaming experience, he was instantly able to sniff out something amiss in the mission. At this point in time, perhaps it was better not to be too complacent and stay alert. Instead of saying something to boost the confidence, it was better for Han Xiao to take a step back and say something to heighten the sense of vigilance among his teammates so that they would be able to tide through the tough mission.

The team followed Wang Yuan into the vehicle and headed toward Seagull City. Han Xiao realized that the people on the car did not speak at all. They all had an air of ‘don’t come and talk to me; I need to stay cool.’ Han Xiao had trouble to find anyone to banter with.

Looking behind him, Han Xiao saw Golden Fox hiding in another corner, and she was staying as far as she could from him as possible. When Han Xiao looked toward her, she immediately turned to avoid eye contact with Han Xiao.

I only made a small joke out of her. Is such a reaction really necessary? Han Xiao was speechless.

At the other side of the forest, Di Su Su, who was monitoring the situation, also set off to follow Wang Yuan’s party.

“The target has left the manor. They are heading toward Seagull City. There are plenty of assassins following. Continuing to monitor closely.”

…

The night sky was studded with stars, illuminating Seagull City.

This city of Stardragon was a heavy industrial city. There were plenty of factories in the outskirts. The huge chimneys of the factories were like gigantic fingers pointing into the sky. Since the city was filled with factories, there was a unique sense of heaviness in the atmosphere of the city.

The sentry guard received instructions from the higher-ups and let Han Xiao and the others pass.

Once the vehicle went past the sentry post, it was met with a black car from Division 13 at the roadside. An agent approached and said, “Mr. Wang Yuan, Officer Mo is waiting for you at the base.”

“Please lead the way.”

The agent from Division 13 saw the heavily armed assassins and immediately fell silent. He did not say another word in the end. He went up his car to lead the way.

The two cars drove all the way to the curfew area that fell under the jurisdiction for the Seagull City branch of the department. Only at the gates that blocked access to the area did the agent mention that weapons were not allow into the cordoned sector.

Wang Yuan nodded. He then turned around and said to the assassins, “You guys will spend a night in Seagull City. Assemble here at the same time tomorrow.”

After the instruction, Bennett and Wang Yuan entered the base.

The assassins were left to themselves.

Volcano was a massive Shanuk. He said in his deep voice, “What do you guys plan to do?”

Hunter grinned and said, “I’m going to the bar to have some fun.”

He then glanced at Golden Fox and smiled. “Do you want to come with me?”

Golden Fox smiled and wave her hand to reject Hunter. “Forget it, I am more interested in suave guys.”

Hunt was unhappy to hear the words of Golden Fox and snarled.

“Hunter, I’ll go with you.” Volcano laughed out loud. He looked and Moonlight and asked, “What about you?”

Moonlight was expressionless. He solemnly replied, “I will be patrolling around here.”

Volcano then invited Han Xiao to join them enthusiastically. Han Xiao waved his hand to say no. Upon seeing that, Volcano did not continue to pressure Han Xiao.

The five assassins went their separate ways.

There’s time for free and easy activities in the fifth round. I suppose the danger could arrive at any time…

Han Xiao thought about it. He did not want to just waste the precious free time. He then decided to complete the prize-pool mission that was offered in Seagull City.

Since danger was bound to arrive, it was better for Han Xiao to not waste the time and accomplish some other tasks. He did not need to hide and make other preparations to face the impending threat.

As Han Xiao walked on the street, he could sense someone in a black windbreaker hiding under the darkness of the night. His heart skipped a beat, and he felt that there was someone following him.

Chapter 115 - The Prize-Pool Mission

Han Xiao pondered for a moment and finally realized the reason.

They should be the agents from Division 13.

He maintained his walking speed and did not reveal any sort of anomaly. He knocked into the pedestrians on the road discretely and stole the hard objects on their bodies, such as keys and cell phones. Once he turned a corner, he took out the hard objects from his pocket and threw them at all the CCTV cameras, shattering those cameras.

From afar, in the vehicle disguised as a loading truck that served as the control center of the agents of Division 13, the screens present in the vehicle suddenly blacked out. Di Su Su frowned hard and spoke into the communication’s set. “The target is very alert. Follow close.”

The agents in charge of tailing behind Han Xiao dashed toward the target only to find that Han Xiao had vanished into thin air.

Di Su Su’s expression tensed up. Mo Ran was worried about these assassins; therefore, he had sent them to tail the assassins closely. All the other assassins were being watched. Perhaps, some of them already realized that they were being watched, but none of them excepted the man in black to try ditching the agents. Di Su Su remembered that it was the man in black that sent chills down her spine.

“Check the footage of all the CCTV cameras in the city and find that man.”

The footage was quickly consolidated and analyzed using the facial recognition system. The result shocked Di Su Su.

There was no one that matched! The man could not be found.

“Wait, this scenario seems pretty familiar! I have experienced it somewhere before!”

Di Su Su thought of Han Xiao, who had vanished completely from the face of the planet.

Shaking her head, she realized that she was probably thinking too much. It was unrealistic to think that every vanishing individual was linked to Han Xiao. There were many in this world with great powers, and Han Xiao was just one of the many.

I have probably been under too much stress lately. Aye, I have to help Xiao Lin Lin hide from the debt collectors, and I have had literally no opportunity to relax at all. Di Su Su sighed.

…

The famous Street 53 located in the south section of the Seagull city was also known as the antique street.

Li Xin was locking up the doors of her antique shop. Business at the shop had been bad lately, and she was preparing to end the operations for the day.

Thud, thud, thud…

The sound of knocks on the door was heard. Li Xin lifted her head in shock, and a very charming and handsome man was standing right her eyes, merely twenty centimeters away from her.

Li Xin could feel her heart skipping a beat, and her faced immediately blushed as if she had drunk too much alcohol.

“What… what do you want to buy?”

The handsome figure knocked on the window and said, “Please let me in. I want to check out the antiques.”

“Oh, ok.” Li Xin immediately opened the door and stared hard at the charming man. The man looked perfect from all directions. She tailed behind the man, and her hands were fidgeting nervously behind her back.

The handsome man looked at Li Xin and smiled. He then asked, “Are you the owner of the shop?”

He smiled! The power of his smile was simply too great and irresistible! Li Xin seemed like she wanted to just scream in excitement.

Seeing that Li Xin did not speak, the man moved closer to her. Towering above her, he asked, “Are you the owner of the shop?”

The moment the man approached, Li Xin could feel numbness in her brain. She was so excited to the point that she lost control of her five senses. She could not hear what he was saying, and she was all flustered.

Seeing the look of admiration on Li Xin’s face, Han Xiao felt confused. He them touched the mask on his face. He thought to himself, I wonder how I look like this time round?

Han Xiao decided not to beat around the bush and blurted out the reason for his visit.

“Where is Tang Shu?”

The expression on Li Xin’s face changed drastically as she moved backward and knocked into the furniture.

Han Xiao lifted his shirt and revealed the pistol he was carrying. “Take me to him.”

…

The two of them arrived at a dilapidated factory that had been abandoned for years. Li Xin knocked on the door shakily.

A skinny old man appeared before their eyes. The man looked as if he was severely dehydrated, and one could not help but worry that the old man was weak to the extent that it was highly likely for him to be blown away by a strong gust of wind. The old man looked especially creepy, like a rat. Anyone that saw how the old man looked like would lose his appetite and feel disgusted. The eyes of the old man scanned the area like he was preparing to escape at any moment.

Tang Shuwas indeed a fitting name for the creepy old man that looked like a rat.

Tang Shu was a both a robber and a mysterious businessman. The items he sold were all rather unique and out of this world. Tang Shu covered his tracks well, and the only opportunity to run into him without fail was during the prize-pool mission that was triggered in Seagull City.

The prize-pool mission was highly competitive, and it could be concurrently carried out by multiple players. Every player had to sacrifice some of their experience points to activate the mission. The experience points would be accumulated as part of the mission, and the rewards would then be allocated to the best performing players that gained to most experience points.

Han Xiao instantly went toward the entrance. Once Tang Shu saw an unfamiliar face that he did not recognize, he sprung up like a mouse in shock and wanted to flee.

“Hold it right there! If you dare move an inch, there will be another hole in your ass.”

Han Xiao fired a warning shot at the area slightly in front of Tang Shu.

Tang Shu immediately halted in his steps. His body stiffened, and he was too afraid to fidget. He broke into a cold sweat stuttered, ” You, did Jack send you here? After I complete my latest trade, I will definitely return the money I owe him!”

“I have nothing to do with Jack. I am here for something else.”

“What?” Tang Shu thought hard about all the people he had once offended. There were too many of them, and he could not think of who exactly was before him. He was completely flustered.

“I want to be part of your latest business deal.”

Tang Shu was shocked, and he looked toward Li Xin. “You found him and brought him here?”

There was a blank on Li Xin’s face, and she replied, “Nope.”

“The place I come from is not really an important question. I am acting sincerely.” Han Xiao holstered his pistol and eased the tension on the situation.

The normal route to activate the mission involved gaining the trust of Li Xin since she was the one that would take the players to Tang Shu, who would then trigger the mission. Han Xiao took the unconventional path and instead threatened both Tang Shu and Li Xin with his brute force. After a friendly round of discussion, Han Xiao managed to convince the suspicious Tang Shu and Li Xin.

Even if Tang Shu did not trust Han Xiao, he could not say no as rejecting Han Xiao’s offer would mean that he would have to face a bullet. Tang Shu knew that the best way out was to agree to Han Xiao’s request without any hesitation.

“Although I do not know why you are here to help, you look really sincere.” Tang Shu glanced at Han Xiao’s pistol and coughed. “Anyway, we welcome you to the team.”

——————————————————————

You used 2,000 Experience points to trigger the mission [Return the Antique]!

Mission Brief: Li Xin’s family heirloom was forcibly taken away by the city museum. You are required to help to retrieve the treasure.

Requirement: Return ten pieces of the antique items back to Li Xin.

Participating Members: 1

Rewards Accumulated: 102,000 Experience

Mission Requirement: 10% Experience gained for every antique object returned.

Additional Pointers: The antique objects are very fragile. Do not shatter them.

——————————————————————

After the explanation and brief by Li Xin and Tang Shu, Han Xiao understood the situation that they were in and why Li Xin and Tang Shu embarked on the mission.

Li Xin’s father had ten pieces of prized antiques. After the city museum got their hands onto this piece of information, the chief curator of the museum dropped by to convince her father allow for the display of these treasures at the museum’s gallery. He claimed that these items were very valuable and had huge historical and cultural significance. The chief curator had a glib tongue and he managed to persuade her father to agree to his request.

After her father passed away, Li Xin tried to retrieve the antique items from the museum, but the greedy and despicable curator acted as if the items were wholly owned by the museum. The museum’s authorities completely ignored Li Xin and even dispatched security to prevent Li Xin from entering the museum. It was evident that the city museum wanted to keep these prized treasures for themselves.

The city museum was directly connected with the city government, and both parties had a tight relationship. Li Xin had no choice but to engage the help of a robber. Coincidentally, she met Tang Shu and decided to hire him.

The intentions of Li Xin could be summarized with one sentence.

I would rather destroy these items than to give them to the country!

After hearing from Li Xin, Han Xiao made a dry cough and said in a solemn manner, “The ideas you have in mind are very dangerous. How can you snatch and steal from the country? You need to be more politically correct.”

Li Xin looked confused. She did not understand what Han Xiao was trying to say. Wasn’t Han Xiao the one that voluntarily offered to help?

Tang Shu whispered under his breath, “Is he out of his mind?”

Han Xiao’s sharp ears heard the words of Tang Shu, and he immediately turned his head to stare at Tang Shu. Han Xiao stared hard at Tang Shu to the point where Tang Shu started trembling.

Tang Shu could not tell the reason, but he was feeling uneasy about what was going to happen.Shu means mouse in Chinese.

Chapter 116 - Head Full of Crazy Methods

“When shall we move?”

“Anytime, as long as you’re ready,” Tang Shu replied.

Han Xiao nodded in agreement.

In his last life, a large guild had discovered this prize-pool quest. For the sake of maximizing profits, the guild announced news about the quest onto the forum, attracting tons of gamers. This caused the prize pool to increase to huge figures, and eventually, they managed to complete the quest, receiving the huge amount of rewards.

Now, Han Xiao was the first person to do the quest, and although he would not accumulate the prize pool to such an extent, the initial base prize was his to begin with. The main difficulty of this quest was that anyone possessing an antique would drop it the moment they were killed, making the quest a competition between the players. Thus, the quest was more difficult than usual. However, in Han Xiao’s case, simply stealing the antiques from the municipal museum was a much easier task.

Han Xiao had no other competitors, so he decided to act immediately.

Tang Shu glimpsed and turned, rubbing his hands.

“How shall we split the reward?” he asked, smiling humbly in the process.

Han Xiao waved his hands. “I don’t need that reward of yours. Let’s act quickly—I have limited time to work with.”

Upon hearing that Han Xiao did not need the monetary reward, Tang Shu immediately heaved a sigh of relief.

Hang on, if he isn’t after the money, why is this uninvited guest participating in the heist?

Li Xin’s heart began beating loudly, and scenes of various dominant CEOs came into her mind. Her two hands were place over her heart, and she stared at Han Xiao in adoration. “Could it be because of me that you…”

“You are thinking too much.”

…

Han Xiao and Tang Shu spent over an hour traveling to the other end of the city to get to the Municipal Museum.

It was already late into the night, so the gates of the Municipal Museum had closed, and the surrounding streets were deserted. However, CCTV was surveilling the area around the clock.

The two of them hid in the alley across the street opposite the Municipal Museum. Tang Shu held onto the map and explained the plan.

“The Municipal Museum has three floors in total. The first and second floors are exhibition halls, and the third floor is the staff area. Here are the blueprints. Our goal is on the north exhibition area of the second floor. I have already surveyed the area; the showcase is equipped with laser alarms and a proximity detector. If we are one meter within the vicinity, we will trigger the alarm. There are resident guards around the museum, and we cannot alarm them. My plan is to sneak in from the window of the third floor, and then… Hey hey! where are you going?”

Tang Shu had yet to complete his sentence when Han Xiao walked toward the door of the Municipal Museum with wide strides. Tang Shu could not call him back in time as Han Xiao raised his foot and kicked the front door open and flying. The sound of the slamming doors travelled through the entire street.

Tang Shu was dumbfounded.

What on Earth! What about the plan of sneaking in‽

Han Xiao turned toward Tang Shu and shouted, “Why are you still daydreaming? Get in now.”

“What on Earth are you doing‽” Tang Shu was stunned.

“That plan of yours is too complicated. It’s just a museum; at the most, only a few cops will appear. Don’t waste time playing Assassin’s Creed; playing Berserk is the best option.”

Tang Shu had already noticed residents popping their heads out of their windows, curious about the source of the boom, and someone was bound to call the cops within three minutes. Tang Shu, with a sullen look, had no other choice but to follow behind Han Xiao. He could only hold onto the that hope that Han Xiao was actual reliable, despite how unlikely that would be based on what had just happened.

The two of them ran to their target on the second floor. Han Xiao broke the showcase without much hesitation and took the ten antiques. Such extreme behavior immediately triggered the alarms, and the museum’s guards, awoken from their sleep, rushed over.

“Thief!”

“Catch them quickly!”

Han Xiao ran with the antiques in his arms, while Tang Shu followed behind hurriedly.

They were soon back at the entrance of the Museum, only to see four cops already blocking the way out.

Han Xiao, with the antiques in his arms, was unable to raise a fist, so he turned to Tang Shu. “It’s your time to shine.”

Tang Shu pointed at himself with a look of disbelief. “Do I look like someone who can fight to you? You chose this plan, so shouldn’t you be the one to fix the situation?”

While they were still conversing, the guards rushed over.

“Stop hesitating.” Han Xiao kicked Tang Shu’s butt, and he flew toward guards. “There, I gave you a boost!”

The guards swung their batons. Tang Shu was terrified, and he anxiously took his crowbar out to defend himself and fight off the guards. However, his head was beaten into a bad shape in one round of fighting. He could not take the pain and rushed back to Han Xiao, crying, “It’s impossible. I’m just too weak.”

“Tsk, let me teach you a mysterious spell that would double your combat ability. Say it after me, RUA!”

Then, Han Xiao kicked the Tang Shu back toward the group of guards while he was still confused by what was happening.

Tang Shu was not able to go against Han Xiao, and he became extremely furious. He could only vent his anger by hitting hard on the guards, and he managed to take down two guards. However, he was soon concussed by a strike to the back of his head from one of the guards, and as a result, stars started appearing before his eyes. He ran back to Han Xiao, crying out desperately, “I really can’t do this anymore. I am begging you. You have a gun, and you can fight so well. Can you please finish them off‽”

“I can’t help you even if you beg me.” Han Xiao did not move an inch, and without a second’s hesitation, he kicked Tang Shu back into the fight scene for the third time. “I’m supporting you in spirit, and if you really need, I can give you a buff to enhance your combat ability.”

Tang Shu was in a tight spot. He eventually took down the guards with much effort. His face was fully battered, and he was panting heavily. Suddenly, he felt a gush of wind blowing past him—Han Xiao had run out of the door.

“You’d better wait for me!” Tang Shu followed behind closely, flustered and exasperated.

When the two of them walked through the alleys and passed by a grocery store, Han Xiao smashed open the door and searched for several large backpacks from the store. He then placed the antiques inside and stuffed them with sponges to prevent any damage. He felt much more comfortable after emptying his hands.

The alarm suddenly sounded, and the four police officers who were patrolling nearby quickly rushed over. They blocked the entrance of the alley. As they saw Han Xiao, who was carrying the bags, they immediately drew their guns and aimed him.

“Don’t move!”

To the side, Tang Shu was dumbfounded.

Suddenly, Han Xiao grabbed Tang Shu’s throat and used him as cover. He took out his pistol at pointed at Tang Shu’s head. “Place all the guns on the floor! I have a hostage!”

Tang Shu was stunned beyond comprehension.

What kind of plan is this‽

The four cops had looks of disbelief on their faces. They were lost for words. A young cop could not help but say, “Who are you trying to kid? He’s your accomplice!”

“Tsk, I guess that plan didn’t work.” Han Xiao pouted.

Tang Shu turned his head around and shouted at Han Xiao, “Did you actually think that could succeed‽”

“Well, I was just trying my luck. We had nothing to lose anyway.”

Han Xiao then threw the bags into Tang Shu’s hands and grabbed him by his collar. Within a split second, he activated his Electromagnetic Hover-boots and rushed toward the entrance of the alley. The four cops were shocked by the bursting speed, and they simultaneously fired their guns in his direction, but his magnetic armor deflected all the shots.

Han Xiao’s crossed his arms, and using the extreme speed at which he is moving, he rushed toward the cops like a bowling ball.

Strike!

The wind gushed past them, and Tang Shu’s mouth was wide open whilst he was being dragged by Han Xiao. The wind gushed down his throat, and his lips fluttered as a result.

Even though Han Xiao noticed Tang Shu was in a state of discomfort, he still decided to increase his speed further.

…

It was a bar in Seagull City. Lights were shining, and music was thumping. The dance floor was full of impassioned men and women moving their bodies, with a look of intoxication. The extravagant atmosphere could be felt.

Volcano and Hunter were each with a beautiful lady, caressing them all over their bodies. The table was filled with liquor bottles.

Both of them were a little drunk as they walked out of the bar with their beautiful ladies. They were intending to go to a nearby hotel for the night.

After turning into a small alley, Hunter stepped onto a pool of stagnant water. The sound of the splashing water could be heard clearly in the quiet alley.

The night wind blew, and the two of them started to slightly sober up.

Even in such a drunken state, they kept their basic vigilance, constantly observing their surroundings. They had noticed the stalker from Division 13 early on, but they had chosen to ignore it.

However, they failed to realize that, in the air behind them, a pair of eyes opened wide.

Chapter 117 - The Invisible Demon Strikes

As he circled around the area where Division 13 was located, Moonlight walked on the street expressionless.

He patrolled since he had made a promise, and he did not make empty promises.

The cold moonlight shone upon him, as if his body was inhaling the energy. A silver aura seemed to form on the surface of his body, making him stand out with an elegant yet magnificent presence.

Walking past a quiet alley, Moonlight turned his head abruptly, and his ability [Power of the Moon] was suddenly activated. It formed an armor around him—his ability allowed him to use the energy from moonlight to gain physical strength.

His eyes turned white and silver, and his moonlight-wrapped fist suddenly shot into the air. It hit a body.

“Who are you‽” Moonlight exclaimed angrily.

Under the silver beams, a human figure slowly appeared from thin air.

…

Right before dawn, Han Xiao, together with Tang Shu, who was foaming at the mouth, were back at the old abandoned house. He passed the antiques over to Li Xin.

_____________________

You completed [Return antiques]!

Current number of participants: 1

Completed participants: 1

You returned ten antique pieces.

You receive 100% of the reward.

You gained 102,000 experience.

_____________________

It had not been a challenge for him since there are no other players competing in this mission.

Han Xiao looked at the interface, and it looked like the experience he had gained these few days had reached 700,000!

With the experience gained, Han Xiao waved his, turned around, and left without a trace.

Li Xin suddenly realized that she had yet to ask for Han Xiao’s name. She felt a sense of sadness. Han Xiao was just like the prince in her dream, appearing when she was in trouble, offering his help when she needed it, but disappearing right after.

Tang Shu was crouching in the corner, and he was drawing monotonic circles, mutturing, “I never want see you again.”

Han Xiao, who was walking along the streets, found a shop that had a glass window that he could use as a mirror. He was shocked when he saw the face simulated by his mask.

Wow, so handsome.

But it still can’t beat my original looks.

Han Xiao pursed his lips as he saved the image of this appearance in his mask.

At this instance, Han Xiao saw a pair of indifferent eyes in the empty space behind him in the window’s reflection.

…

Mo Ran’s office of Division 13’s Seagull City branch…

“Three assassins were killed last night—Moonlight, Volcano, and Hunter,” Di Su Su reported to Mo Ran.

“The wounds are all very similar. They seemed to have been cut by a sharp object at an extremely high speed that either pierced through the heart or slit open the throat. Based on evidence collected from the surroundings, the fight lasted less than ten seconds. These three assassins were not weaklings, especially Moonlight; he had the ability to absorb energy, which gave him a boost in physical strength. Since the killer easily got close to the three assassins, his ability must have been extremely lethal.

“Is there any footage?”

“No. The murderer must have chosen locations where there are no surveillance cameras.”

“Are there any suspects?” Mo Ran asked.

“With a hidden ability, extreme speed, and the ability to killing other elite assassins and Espers with the snap of a finger, there seems to be a matching character on the danger list… Invisible Demon!”

Wang Yuan’s face turned dark. “It’s him!”

Invisible Demon, a terrifying killer, used to be a convict on death row, but he was chosen as a subject for an experiment. As a result of the experiment, his whole body started to change. Other than the eyes, his entire body had an ability to adapt to the surroundings and blend in with the environment. He basically became an invisible man.

Furthermore, the Invisible Demon also awakened his own Esper ability, which was extreme reflex and speed. This gave him the ability to escape from the facility. Since then, he had been active in the underground world and became a mysterious killer that no one knew much about.

Wang Yuan’s face turned expressionless, and his eyes had a cold look. It is not cheap to hire the Invisible Demon; how much dirty money have these traitors pocketed from the organization‽

Although the Invisible Demon had extraordinary assassination capabilities, Bennet was not afraid. Even when he could not see something, he could rely on his other heightened senses to visualize it. He would never allow the demon to get within ten meters of Wang Yuan.

“The demon may want to get rid of my guards first, so my people will be in danger,” Wang Yuan stated. “Mo Ran, please get the people following my assassins to inform them to gather immediately.”

Di Su Su was helpless. “Golden Fox is resting in the hotel, but Mr. Black has gotten rid of his tail.”

Wang Yuan was dumbfounded. “Please send some people to try their best to look for him.”

The demon was a sniper’s worse enemy—even Bennett believed Han Xiao would most likely not survive the attack. Although he liked Han Xiao and wanted to save him, he was burdened with the responsibility of protecting Wang Yuan, thus, unable to help him. He could only pray for that Han Xiao could keep himself safe.

…

The instant the eyes appeared, Han Xiao activated his magnetic armor to cover his back and his neck. The next instant, sparks deflected off the surface of the armor, as if the armor had been hit by a sharp weapon dozens of times within the split second.

He had long known about the dangers this mission would bring, so he had always remained prepared to engage in battle. This was how he managed to react so quickly.

The impact on his back pushed Han Xiao forcefully forward into the store, shattering the glass window.

The enemy is invisible! Han Xiao immediately realized the issue at hand.

As Han Xiao fell into the store, the sense of danger followed him, and he heard someone moving through the air at high-speed. Suddenly, Han Xiao slid backward before he drew out his guns and fired at the place where the sound was heard. However, the rounds did not land on the enemy. Storage compartments were shattered instead, and bullet marks appeared on the wall.

The invisible enemy struck the armor again, giving out a harsh grating sound.

The movement is too fast! Han Xiao could only use his reflexes to preempt the strikes and then shield himself with the armor. Fortunately, his armor covered three quarters of his body. As long as he protected his vitals, the threat of the enemy was greatly reduced.

The interface displayed the damage inflicted by the enemy. The enemy was clearly a high-agility and high-attack character. Han Xiao looked at the battle info and found out the assassin’s name.

Invisible Demon! Han Xiao was taken aback as he realized how tricky the situation was.

Similar to the black spider, the Invisible Demon had established his name as one of the hardest bosses to kill on Planet Aquamarine in version 1.0. With the abilities of invisibility and super reflexes on the same person, he was born to be a close-quarters assassin.

Invisible Demon, LV 44 and extremely high agility. His invisibility is only limited to his bare body, which means the weapon he used to attack me are his nails, and he is moving around entirely naked. Talk about decency…

My movement speed is not be comparable to his. His speed is higher when it comes to short distance charging and evasion, but assassinating from a distance is not his forte. I can use my hover-boots and simply escape. But if I just escape like that, there will be another chance for him to assassinate me. Let me see if I can take him down. To tackle him effective, I have to slow him down first!

In that moment, a deluge of thoughts flashed through Han Xiao’s mind. His eyes turned ice-cold, and he entered a highly-focused state of mind.

Strike after strike hit Han Xiao, and he blocked each one with his armor. He then took some candy-sized electric bees and threw them into the surroundings.

The electric shock bees, also known as bee colonies, had stingers that carried a dangerously high voltage that could cause temporary paralysis upon contact. Multiple bees could even form an electrically-charged net to be used as a control ability. Han Xiao accidentally discovered the blueprint when he was making the hover-boots.

A group of electric shock bees flew inside the small shop, and their effect could be felt immediately.

The demon could escape with his speed, but the space that he could move within was heavily constrained, and as a result, his attack rate was reduced.

Bang bang bang!

Han Xiao fired non-stop, but the shots were all dodged. The demon was even faster than Pan Kuang—since Pan Kuang could dodge the bullets, the Invisible Demon could most certainly do it better.

Since you are so good at hiding, let’s see who has more HP!

As his eyes turned colder, Han Xiao changed the magazine and loaded the Hayme rounds. He then fired insanely. Green toxic gas filled the air within the small space, engulfing both of them.

Chapter 118 - Electromagnetic Weapon

_____________________

You have been mildly poisoned.

You will lose 3 HP per second for a minute.

You will remain in the poisoned state for as long as you are within the range of the poisonous gas, and the degree of damage will continue to increase.

_____________________

If the Invisible Demon attacked, he would be injured by the poisonous gas as well.

Han Xiao was fearless as he had brought along with him a low-level health potions. With his HP over 2,000, he turned the battlefield to his advantage and managed to defeat the opponent’s invisibility ability.

The situation was in a stalemate. The Invisible Demon was unable to deal with him, nor could Han Xiao shoot down the Invisible Demon.

Even though I will not be defeated, I am also incapable of defeating this demon. If this continues, he will definitely retreat, and that will just be a draw in the end.

Han Xiao was determined to kill the demon who could threaten his life. Upon second thought, he decided to abandon on the comfortable situation he had created. He activated his hover-boots and fled from the battlefield. As expected, the demon chased after him.

He pretended to control the armor slowly, showing his flaws to the demon. Unsurprisingly, it then scratched him forcefully on his back. Despite being racked with pain from the demon’s claws, Han Xiao maintained a straight face. This was all to test the impact of the demon’s attack on his body.

_____________________

You have been attacked by Invisible Demon (LV 44).

You have lost 37 HP.

_____________________

Just one attack and I’ve lost almost forty health points. Furthermore, the attack frequency is extremely high. Lucky, I am wearing my magnetically controlled armor, or else my blood level would have depleted within ten seconds.

Han Xiao had never been more serious when he realized that the Invisible Demon was the strong opponent for the fifth mission. There were likely other challengers that had already encountered the demon before him and perished.

After numerous trials and tests using different speeds of the hover-boots, he finally estimated the speed of the demon.

If I keep the hover-boots at a medium speed, it will be the right speed for the demon to catch up, but it won’t be too easy. Worth a try!

With the new plan in mind, Han Xiao instantly turned and skated toward the airport. The Invisible Demon was close behind.

Fortunately, it was dawn, and the streets were empty. If it had been rush hour, Han Xiao’s path would have been full of obstructions.

Han Xiao fished out his phone and called Antonio to bring the Second-Generation Rover over. After putting down the phone, he then concentrated on ‘baiting’ the demon.

Baiting was not an easy technique. The key was to ensure that the enemy never realized that he had a trump card, or else it would be hard for the enemy to fall for the trick. Just like playing MOBA games, if someone suddenly became too aggressive, the enemy would know that there was backup somewhere.

The game of chase lasted for a few minutes. Suddenly, Han Xiao’s sensed that he was no longer in crisis. He came to a stop before surveying the environment, when he realized that the Invisible Demon had not fallen for the trick and fled moments ago.

The Invisible Demon was always on his feet. Initially, when Han Xiao released the poisonous gas, the demon had already planned to retreat. However, Han Xiao gave up on his favorable environment and acted as though he was unable to withstand the damage caused by the gas. As a result, the demon took the bait and caught up quickly.

Even though there were no loopholes, the Invisible Demon noticed something was amiss almost instantly. This made him feel threatened, so he decided to retreat, giving up on the target decisively.

He’s too alert, Han Xiao thought disappointedly, but he soon mocked himself for such a thought. If the Invisible Demon was so easy to deal with, he would not have been ranked as one of the hardest to kill.

A few problems had arisen as the ferocious battle proceeded. Facing an enemy higher than LV 40, regardless of whether the enemy was more an agility or tank type, the gun seemed powerless. The main problem was that Han Xiao lacked the skills to be a shooter. He was always missing his shots.

The problem that Han Xiao was thinking about was also a dilemma in Version 1.0 of the game. The lethality of ordinary gunpowder weapons was limited when a player was facing an enemy above LV 50. Despite being powerful, most guns were still relatively weak against the super demons unless the player had set up traps beforehand.

An electromagnetic gun was the next generation weapon. Many improvements on fire power and shooting speed had been made to the weapon. These improvements met Han Xiao’s needs. With the speed of the bullets improved, it would be more difficult for the enemies to dodge them.

To build proper, complete, and stable electromagnetic weapons, one required full knowledge on the magnetism theory. Planet Aquamarine’s advanced knowledge on the magnetism theory was strictly controlled.

Han Xiao frowned. If I want to create my own electromagnetic gun, I will need to construct my own blueprints. The theory behind portable electromagnetic guns is not that difficult to understand or hard to control if my basic electromagnetism theory is upgraded to Level5.

However, it will be difficult if I want to make it into a real weapon as there will be a lot of details to take note of. To reduce the experimental time, it is best to have a direction to work toward, such as having blueprints of existing weapons and then making further enhancements to them.

After some time, Antonio arrived with his van. He looked left and right, then asked, “Where’s the enemy?”

“Ran away.”

Han Xiao hopped onto the van and simply said, “Let’s return to the plane. I need to fix the equipment first and then think of a new plan.”

“Do you really take me for your driver?”

Antonio had no choice but to drive Han Xiao to the airport.

…

The battle between Han Xiao and the Invisible Demon created a great commotion. Division 13 investigated and discovered traces of the battle.

“A sniper, not afraid of being killed by the Invisible Demon, and even managed to force the demon to flee?”

Di Su Su was surprised as she thought of how threatening this Mr. Black had made her feel in River Valley Manor with his extraordinary strength.

Bennett’s eyes shone with surprise. “Where is he now?”

“He is related to Farian Company. He is on that company’s aircraft at the moment.”

“He should be preparing and fixing his equipment now,” Wang Yuan replied. “Let’s not alert him yet. Mo Ran, can I trouble you to have someone send a message to ask Mr. Black to come to River Valley Manor tomorrow morning?”

“Alright.” Mo Ran nodded.

Standing at the side was Golden Fox, who had been invited over previously. At that point, her face was pale like a sheet of paper. Mr. Black was the fourth target of the Invisible Demon while she was the fifth. Fortunately, Mr. Black had forced the Invisible Demon to retreat and allowed her to escape.

Golden Fox doubted if she would have been able to survive the attack by the Invisible Demon.

He saved my life.

Golden Fox bit her lip. Mr. Black was mysterious and good at everything. The only issue was that his preferences were a little too strange.

…

Inside the aircraft, Han Xiao was busy fixing the magnetic armor. At the same time, he thought about the construction of the magnetic gun. The most suitable type of gun would be a sniper as it could complement his movement ability and maximize the gun power at the same time.

With seven talent points, Han Xiao spent five points to upgrade [Basic Electromagnetism Theory], [Basic Weapon Theory], and [Basic Energy Theory] to the maximum of Level5.

Han Xiao selected [Basic Electromagnetism Theory] as the core skill and came up with various skill set combinations. He then constructed many magnetism related blueprints as he penned down his ideas, regardless of their viability. Each skill set would be incorporated at least twice.

With tons of blueprints in his hands, his brain juices were finally used up. He massaged his temples and sighed. “I think that’s enough, time to construct.”

Farian Company had no contacts through which to acquire materials in Seagull City. The electromagnetic materials that Han Xiao had brought along with him were limited, yet it would be enough if he removed and reused the parts from his failed products. However, some of the parts might become worn out when the products failed. With that, the recycling rate was approximately 80%.

Han Xiao predicted that it would be hard to construct a stable electromagnetic gun without failing more than ten times when he tried to build the basic structure of the gun.

If I want to succeed, I have to lower my expectations and create the prototype first with the specifications adjusted.

Han Xiao hesitated and finally decided he would first create the test product, then the prototype, and not to be too ambitious.

Chapter 119 - Raging Bolt!

With a clear plan in mind, Han Xiao proceeded to create the weapons.

The updated weapons were of the utmost importance to the military force, and light weapons were the main focus.

The principle of electromagnetic weapons was not complicated as it was just using the electromagnetic force to push the bullets. The more challenging part was the actual debugging itself, as there were many variables like the number of coil turns, current voltage, limited energy, speed, distance.

By reaching Level5 in [Basic Energy Theory], it gave Han Xiao a new blueprint—a new form of energy battery. It was referred to as a Rubik’s Cube, and it was a precise component. It could store up to 180 ouna, allowing its capacity to be several times that of an ordinary battery.

The Six Nations were experimenting on other batteries, such as power batteries, superconducting batteries, and even micro nuclear batteries, that could be used in different aspects. But the Rubik’s Cube was one of the more convenient kinds of batteries used by mechanics.

The same theory could have countless possibilities as the future of science did not have a fixed road. Technology was always changing, so it was interesting to explore different possibilities.

…

_____________________

Failure.

_____________________

Failure.

_____________________

Despite his many failures, Han Xiao never gave up and kept trying, improving the details each time.

“It’s getting late.”

Han Xiao took a look at the sky and felt it was a pity he had to stop doing his work.

Anthony then walked in. “There were people from Division 13 who came to find you earlier.”

“What did they say?”

“Your employer has changed the timing needed to assemble, so you do not have to rush over. Just get to River Valley Manor by tomorrow morning.”

Han Xiao was pleased with that as he realized that would give him more time to continue his work.

…

At night, Wang Yuan and friends sat quietly in the car and made their way back to the manor safely.

Wang Yuan and Bennet then walked into the villa, went to the room on the top floor, and closed the door.

“Xena has locked away all the traitors, and the operation this time was successful. Other than getting rid of the traitors, the organization can also start to implement your ideas,” said Wang Yuan.

Bennett nodded. “I have a hunch that the battle will start sooner than expected, and we need to prepare early to escape from the crisis. We will need the cooperation of other forces and organizations to complete the plan.”

“One thing I know for sure is that the Six Nations will definitely help,” Wang Yuan replied. “During the discussion previously, you saw Mo Ran’s attitude. Getting the Six Nations’ help will be highly beneficial. With his aid, we will be able to escape the crisis. I am just afraid there will be ambitious parties eyeing our resources.”

Bennett’s eyes flashed, and his voice was like a gush of icy wind blowing from the north. “This is a plan to save many innocent lives. I will deal with anyone who tries to get in our way!”

At that instant, Wang Yuan was about to speak when a sharp piercing sound reverberated outside the manor.

The two looked outside the window and saw a lightning shoot up into the sky. The manor gate was then struck by the lightning, and it was thrown into an armored vehicle.

Someone flashing with light walked toward the gate, and it looked like the frightening lightning earlier had been shot from him. The strong gate, which had withstood a storm of bullets, had been instantly destroyed!

The mercenaries screamed and were all frantically shooting machine guns and firing cannons. However, Raging Bolt did not give in and shot lightning from his feet. He shot up ten meters into the air and blasted his original spot on the ground.

In the air, Raging Bolt clenched his fists and lightning shot out from his chest. A strong burst of electricity flashed, burning the cornea of every mercenary on the ground.

Boom!

The area where all the machine guns were located was blasted. A few of the mercenaries who were struck by the light were electrocuted before they could even utter a word. The smell of smoke filled the entire area.

The impact of this battle left all of them shocked. A stream of frigid air that felt like death creeped up their spines.

With the death of Volcano and Moonlight, there was no one in the manor strong enough to defeat the enemy. Even Mr. Black was not around.

“We can’t defeat this level of Superhuman!” A mercenary backed away fearfully.

Chen Li’s eyes were fierce with determination, and he gave the order to start the attack again.

Raging Bolt was not in the least injured when he dropped down from the sky. When he saw that the mercenaries still had the will to fight, he smirked coldly. “Ha… bunch of idiots not knowing your limits.”

He then raised his hands and thrust his palms forward. An invisible electromagnetic pulse spread across the manor and damaged all electronic components, resulting in total darkness.

The mercenaries were all shocked. Even the vehicles were damaged, so there was no way to escape even if they wanted to!

Despair filled the air quickly.

Wang Yuan took a look at Raging Bolt, and his face darkened. “Raging Bolt Bai Jin’s power is the generation and control of lightning. He’s a superhuman with great potential, and he has been very active in the criminal underworld in recent years.”

“Oh c’mon, it’s just a young man. Let me deal with him since the lads outside can’t handle him.”

Bennett maintained the same expression as he pushed open the window and jumped to the ground. Pushing aside the mercenaries, he captured all their attention as he walked toward Raging Bolt. Only then did they realize that there was someone who could defeat Raging Bolt, and a ray of hope shone upon them.

“What? There was actually a strong opponent!” Raging Bolt excitedly licked his lips and mobilized all the energy stored in his body.

“No matter how many weak opponents I defeated, the pleasure of beating a strong opponent is just incomparable.”

Raging Bolt stared at Bennett with the eyes of a wolf.

…

The vehicle of Division 13 was situated in the forest, monitoring any movement in the manor.

Raging Bolt is way too powerful, thought Di Su Su as she wiped away the sweat on her brow.

I have to report this to Mo Ran quickly as such threats could cause dire consequences to our city.

Di Su Su immediately picked up the phone and called Mo Ran.

On the screens, the battle between Bennett and Raging Bolt was ongoing. Both were about to release their strongest moves any time!

It was the moment when everyone held their breath.

However…

Raging Bolt’s chest suddenly burst into a bloody fog.

Following which, everyone heard an eerie gun shot from afar.

Chapter 120 - Three Shots!

Two hours earlier…

“I finally succeeded!”

An excited cheer could be heard from Han Xiao on the Farian transport plane.

A brand-new sniper rifle was lying on the bench, and it looked very different from a gunpowder rifle. Its entire body was dark green. The gun was very thick while its front end was narrow. It also had sharp edges, just like a triangle.

The entire barrel was embedded in the gun body, and the exposed part of the coil was tightly wrapped up.

The gun was 0.87 meters long, and it was equipped with a multi-fold aiming rule sight. It also had an electromagnetic scanning function, so both sides could be used.

_____________________

You discovered [Ghost Sniper (Incomplete)]!

_____________________

Ghost Sniper (Incomplete)

Type: Electromagnetic Sniper Rifle

Grade: White

Damage: 183-246

Fire Rate: 2/second

Magazine Capacity: 16

Range: 1.1km

Power Output: 144

Usage Requirement: 45 Dexterity, Level6 Sniper

Ammunition Type: Electromagnetic Ammunition

Length: 0.87m

Weight: 6kg

Additional Features: Recoil is low, increasing firing accuracy.

Incomplete Limit 1: Power, fire rate, and range are limited.

Incomplete Limit 2: As the technology is not complete, the weapon’s energy consumption is high. Each shot will consume 10 ouna (Battery holds 180 ouna).

Incomplete Limit 3: As the technology is not complete, some components will need to be replaced after 20 to 30 shots.

Full version requirements: Level1 [Advanced Electromagnetism Theory] (lack), Level5 [Basic Energy Theory], Level5 [Basic Weapon Theory], Level1 [Basic Energy Conversion Theory] (lack)

_____________________

What a surprise! Han Xiao was exhilarated as he did not expect to get an incomplete version of the drawing, which also meant that as long as he had the knowledge, he could directly obtain the full drawing.

The ghost sniper rifle was a stable electromagnetic weapon, but Han Xiao still lacked two important pieces of information at the moment. It was very hard to obtain the advanced information; thus, he was very satisfied with obtaining the incomplete version.

Even if the ghost sniper rifle was an incomplete edition, it was two or three times more efficient. Electromagnetic weapons usually had a shooting range of ‘over the horizon’, so the defects were not obvious yet.

As for the limitations, Han Xiao had thought of a temporary solution, which was to have more spare batteries. This way, he would not have to worry about the high energy consumption. The only problem was that it was very costly. But for Han Xiao, money was not an issue. It was the same method for the other rifles, and the replacement parts were already in place.

Electromagnetic weapons were different from gunpowder ones as they required electrical conductors, and this was quite a huge problem. However, given some time, he would be able to utilize the principle of special ammunition. In the short term, however, he could only use special ammunitions for his gunpowder weapons, so he would not be throwing away his Red-Falcon sniper.

Han Xiao then built two magazines with magnetic clips.

All of a sudden, his eyelids started to feel heavy, and a wave of fatigue gushed over him. He held the side of the table for support and took a deep breath.

He did not sleep a wink last night. He had first completed [Return the Antiques], and subsequently, he had battled against the Invisible Demon. He had only briefly taken care of his wounds. Then, without a break, he had begun to develop new guns late into the night. His body was able to withstand the exhaustion, but his mental fatigue had been accumulating.

That is all for today.

Han Xiao rubbed his eyes and switched off his equipment.

The surroundings quieted down.

The people on the airplane were all resting. Han Xiao did not want to stay any longer, so he took his equipment and drove back to the manor. He needed to get back quickly so that he did not miss anything while he was not at the manor.

With Han Xiao’s alertness, he had smelt something fishy from Wang Yuan’s instructions to return to the manor the next morning. He had a hunch that if he really went back the next morning, he might miss out on an opportunity. Therefore, Han Xiao decided to be more cautious.

…

After a long journey, he finally arrived at the manor.

Suddenly, a flash of lightning hit his windscreen, and Han Xiao rammed the breaks forcefully.

There are enemies attacking the manor? Shit, this really is a flag!

After putting out the fire, he quietly sneaked onto the tree with his equipment. He then took out a telescope to check out the battle outside the manor and was shocked by what he saw.

“Provided it’s not a character I do not know, Planet Aquamarine only has four characters who possess this level of ability. They are Duss Thunder, Electric Eye, Raging Bolt, and an Germinal executive. This person’s lightning abilities are so powerful, and they can release an EMP externally. This is likely Raging Bolt!”

Another famous figure from Aquamarine!

After observing for a while, Bennett finally walked out of the manor. Han Xiao’s eyes flashed. He had thought that he would have to settle the problem himself.

As he thought that, Han Xiao suddenly deduced the hidden requirement for the Fifth Round. Most likely, the upper limit of the special reward—300,000 Experience—was for ensuring that Bennett did not need to get involved.

With this in mind, Han Xiao immediately picked up the rife and aimed at Raging Bolt.

“Flaming Will!” Han Xiao shouted.

Shouting was not required, but he felt that it would give him a higher chance of getting what he wanted.

_____________________

You activated [Flaming Will]!

Your next attack will cause 180% base damage.

_____________________

Han Xiao then pulled the trigger, and the exposed part of the gun glowed bright blue. The bullet flew out at such a high speed that the enemy could not react.

The recoil was minimal, and it had little effect on accuracy.

The blue light penetrated the body of the Raging Bolt, not allowing him to escape in time.

It hit the heart, which exploded into a bloody fog.

The interface flashed with the results of his move.

_____________________

You have caused 200% stealth damage to Raging Bolt.

You have caused 200% critical damage to Raging Bolt.

[Flaming Will]’s bonus caused the attack to be multiplied to 342!

Critical Strike! Damage multiplied by 4!

1,368 damage!

You have caused 1,175 damage to Raging Bolt after resistance reductions!

You have damaged the heart of Raging Bolt.

The damage has taken one third of his life.

Raging Bolt has fallen into a state of severe bleeding, losing 2% life per second for 10 seconds.

Raging Bolt is paralyzed. His defense is reduced by 30% for 3 seconds.

Raging Bolt is in a weakened state. All his attributes have decreased by 50% for 30 seconds.

_____________________

Raging Bolt spat out blood as he fell to the ground. His heart had been pierced, and his entire body was devoid of energy. He gazed in the direction that the bullet had come from, his eyes filled with pain and agony.

Bennett was shocked as Raging Bolt was a powerful character, yet he was no match for the sniper rifle? The power of the gun had indeed exceeded his imagination.

“I cannot die here!” Raging Bolt bit his teeth, holding back the pain as he was about to escape.

Han Xiao, who was hiding a distance away, shot Raging Bolt a second time, sending a bullet through his brain.

The third shot then followed, shooting the left eye, causing red and white fluids to spill to the ground.

“Fatal attack!”

Raging Bolt fell to the ground, his remaining eye full of despair.

Everyone was stunned.

Those three shots were like the god of death wielding a knife, taking away his life. The air of death had silenced the entire audience.

Bennett heaved a sigh of relief.

Three shots!

It had only taken three shots!

A criminal who had taken the lives of many could actually be killed in seconds!

The mercenaries around were shocked; the turn of the situation had exceeded their imagination.

That thunder-like enemy had been defeated in just three shots?

Impossible!

In the distance, even Di Su Su’s tone trembled as she yelled, “Who shot that‽”

Chapter 121 - Did Too Much Work, So I Couldn't Think of a Title

Han Xiao looked up from the scope, surprised. He was also shocked by the power of the three shots. The second shot was a critical shot, greatly weakening Bai Yu’s attributes. It was as if the actual damage had doubled. The first two shots were so impactful. Han Xiao roughly estimated that a player like Bai Yu, who was at LV 48, was likely strong in offense yet weak in defense. Therefore, his HP would roughly be at around 2,500 after the second shot. Thus, he fired the third shot as the last fatal blow, killing Bai Yu in just mere seconds!

The key blow was the very first shot, which inflicted explosive damage on Bai Yu, causing him to crumble at once. He became an easy target.

_____________________

You have gained 64,000 experience points by slaying Bai Yu (LV 48).

You surmounted the fourteen-level difference. You will get 360% additional XP bonus, bringing the total to 230,400 XP.

Your personal contribution rate was 100%!

You’ve gained an extra 230,400 (100%) experience points!

_____________________

Han Xiao himself did not even think that he could successfully complete the leap-level killing. 300,000 XP in a matter of seconds made up for the XP that he had used up to for the fusion of blueprints to manufacture the Ghost sniper rifle. There was in fact an excess of XP.

He looked at the manor again and realized that it was all quiet outside.

Everyone stood rooted to the ground. They had originally thought that there would be an impending bitter fight and had braced themselves for it. Yet, things had happened in just a flash, leaving everyone stunned.

Pitter-patter…

Footsteps could be heard creaking through the forest, and everyone’s eyes immediately veered toward the sound, full of curiosity, awe, and fear.

At that very moment, dark clouds gradually began covering the moonlight, and the silver moonlight faded into the clouds. Han Xiao, who was in a black suit, walked out of the forest with the moonlight shining on the bottom half of his face. The moonlight seemingly backed away as he advanced, and darkness was following his every step. It was as if he was bringing about nightmares with the darkness. He was a spirit concealed in the night.

This scene made him look ever so cool and led everyone to hold their breath for that moment. This very moment was deeply ingrained into everyone’s memories.

“Mr. Black!”

“It’s him‽”

Everyone gasped in shock, for they knew Mr. Black was extremely strong, but little did they know he was this powerful.

Bennett was surprised. He did not expect himself to be dazed by Han Xiao as well. Judging by the explosive destructive power of Han Xiao, it was more than sufficient to threaten him. And as Han Xiao walked closer, Bennett could not help but praised him. “Well done.”

“It wasn’t much,” Han Xiao replied, modest as always.

Looking around him, there mercenaries who gathered around were staring at him in silence. Han Xiao said sternly, “Don’t just stand there. Go do what you’re supposed to be doing.”

The mercenaries came back to reality as though waking up from a dream, and they hurriedly began to repair the fortifications of the manor. All of them accepted Han Xiao’s command without much thought.

Bai Yu’s body was then moved in, covered casually with a cloth. Nobody would forget that this was a supreme fighter, and every time they saw it, their respect for Han Xiao would grow even deeper.

The corpse of an enemy was a medal of accomplishment.

Han Xiao walked into the manor, and Wang Yuan came over. This time, his smile did not mean just a welcome invitation but also full of appreciation and sincerity. “Stunning three shots! This old man here was shocked by you as well.”

“You’re too polite.” Han Xiao waved his hand and glanced at Bennett next to him. “With him around, you won’t even be in any risk.”

Wang Yuan smiled. “I’ve checked the file. The Rothschild Family introduced you to this mission. Your strength widely exceeds the level of Dark. I will raise your level directly to Ghost.”

This was an obvious act to gain his favor. An immediate promotion to Ghost made Han Xiao surprised. He nodded, accepting Wang Yuan’s kindness.

…

In the woods, Di Su Su had solemnness written all over her face. She reported on Han Xiao’s performance.

“Mr. Black possesses immense sniping ability, and his lethality is hard to behold. I suggest that we add him to the extreme threats target file.”

“Permission granted,” Mo Ran responded.

Division 13 had a database for all extremely dangerous targets, and this was also called the extreme threats file. Han Xiao’s performance had already attracted their attention, especially the fact that he was a sniper.

…

Early the next morning, Wang Yuan summoned all the mercenaries and declared that all guard duties were to end that instant. All the gains from the task would be directly credited to their accounts.

The traitors in the organization had already been captured. Wang Yuan’s goal was completed.

As for the Invisible Demon, the owner had died, so it naturally stopped attacking.

Han Xiao checked the deposit—two million dollars, twice the initial agreement. This was likely Wang Yuan deliberately compensating him extra due to the performance of his last three shots, which was well worth the price.

_____________________

The fifth round has been completed. You gained 30,000 Experience points.

The hidden request to ensure that Bennett did not join the battle has been completed. You gained 300,000 Experience points.

_____________________

This time there was not an additional mission segment, which meant that the chain mission had ended. The level of Experience he had accumulated so far broke the one million mark! This mission’s reward was way too fruitful.

Finally completed this mission.

Han Xiao felt more relaxed. He went on to find Bennett and gave him the Lock HOC sniper rifle.

“You’re giving me another present?” Bennett was bewildered. Noting that this present was to his liking yet again, he could not help but ask, “What request do you have?”

“I would like to learn the art of combat.”

Why is he saying this again?

Bennett’s head hurt. After thinking for a while, he decided to teach a set of skills suitable for Han Xiao’s sniper ability and began to explain.

“In my early years, I was once an assassin known for my stealth. Perhaps these skills can help you a little…”

After hearing Bennett’s explanation for over an hour, Han Xiao was awarded with a new mission.

_____________________

You have triggered level D mission [Night Stalker (Class Change)].

Task Summary: You have learned some special skills from Bennett’s explanation, but you still need practice them to perfect them.

Mission Requirements: Complete 5 assassination missions in the dark (No limit on level).

Reward: [Night Stalker] Class

_____________________

Night Stalker—this was a class that Han Xiao had long wanted to attain from Bennett to be able to learn stealth skills, critical strike bonuses from stealth hits, and other skills. Coupled with his Flaming Will and Ghost sniper rifle, he could perfect the art of stealth battles. Moreover, this would give him the chance to enable the [Fatal Shot] specialty.

This class was already extremely rare in version 1.0, and the attribute bonuses were not low. The experience needed to level up was less than the main profession, yet the sub-profession was able to be used for improving his combat skills.

After explaining, Bennett paused and said, “I can tell that your energy is not strong, but your lethality is unfathomable. Here’s my number; you can find me anytime you need me. Who knows, I may need your help in the future as well, what do you think?”

“Sure.”

Han Xiao blinked, promptly recalling one of Bennett’s main story missions. Since he had no objection to this, they exchanged numbers.

On a side note, the phone that Han Xiao was currently using was no longer the black brick machine that Division 13 had given him.

The defense mission had finally ended. The mercenaries all heaved a sigh of relief. They proceeded to pack up, and as they were about to leave, Han Xiao walked around to collect the phone numbers of the assassins and mercenary leaders. Who knew, maybe they would be of use some day?

Golden Fox took the initiative to give Han Xiao her number. She promptly left afterward, fearing the strength of Han Xiao. Furthermore, she could not stand his strange taste.

The manor became much calmer now with the crowd having dispersed. Han Xiao drove back to Seagull City airport and departed on Farian Company’s plane.

Having levelled up through two highly rewarding missions, Han Xiao had accumulated tons of experience. The big action plan that was about to start before the public testing began would likely be following the trend of reward-based missions.

I have already become a Ghost-level assassin with priorities in receiving tasks, commissions, and intelligence. Now that I have paved the way, I can definitely become a Legend if it all goes according to plan. All I’ll have to do is complete this final goal…

Screw Germinal!

I hope that you all can withstand the violent love I’ll be showering upon you.

Han Xiao laughed devilishly and rather coldly at the same time.

…

In the Intelligence Headquarters of Division 13, the Intelligence Minister had received a file about the application for the transfer of Mr. Black into the extreme threats target file.

“Mr. Black, of unknown source and unknown origin, is currently a serial killer. Only completed two missions, smashed the Rose Militant mercenary gang of the Somar Desert, displayed extraordinary sniping ability when guarding the valley of Manor, caused the Invisible Demon to retreat, killed Bai Yu with just three shots.

“He possesses extreme alertness and excellent stealth ability (NB: He shook off the stalker of Division 13). He is also a mechanic, has high speed boots with sliding ability, and possesses shocking killing ability. He uses a special sniper rifle.

“Requires special attention.”

After reading the information sent by Seagull City, the Intelligence Minister felt a sense of looming imminent danger.

“Seems like another amazing player has appeared.”

He took out his stamp and stamped firmly onto the footer of the document.

“Entry file approved!”

…

Something big had happened in the underworld. The list of killers in the Dark Net had a shocking major change. An unknown killer by the name of Mr. Black was added, and among the thousand names, he skyrocketed to number 23 on the killer list.

“I’ve never heard of this name before, where did he come from?”

“The Dark Net’s list has always been fair. It was impossible that this is in any way untoward. Quickly, go ask around about this Mr. Black guy.”

People of various strongholds were on the phone, calling each other about Mr. Black. The underworld intelligence network began to collaborate with one another to find information about him. Some mercenaries and killers who had once fought aside one another at River Valley Manor spoke up about it.

Han Xiao’s extraordinary feat of killing Bai Yu in three shots sparked a commotion in the underworld.

Those who knew Bai Yu thought the news was fake when they first heard it, but the hard evidence of Bai Yu’s horrible death captured by the mercenaries proved them wrong. It was those three shots that caused his death.

The killers who knew about it were shocked. Even though Bai Yu was strong at attacking and weak at defense, he was still a high-level individual on Planet Aquamarine. He was not afraid of bullets. How could he have been killed in a matter of seconds?

More and more people went to investigate the origins of Mr. Black, only to realize that this person had simply appeared out of thin air. No one knew his identity. He was like a ghost, appearing out of the blue, floating around in the underworld.

Mysterious and powerful, Mr. Black’s codename became known by everyone in the underworld. It entered the list of people to take note of for many forces.

Many old-schoolers would say that the killer should be hidden in the darkness—becoming famous was equivalent to failure. However, to the Blood Pact Society, with fame came greetings, and it was also a form of deterrence. Any enemy who threatened the Dark Net organization needed to take precautionary measures—could they withstand the continuous attacks from the killer alliance?

The Blood Pact Society had been weakening as the elder killers died, those who wanted to leave had left, and those who wanted to retire did so. Ever since then, the killer alliance’s days had been numbered. With Mr. Black’s new fame, Blood Pact Society was out to make Mr. Black their poster boy.

Chapter 122 - Let's Create Some Trouble!

Thorns was traveling alone in the endless plains of Karst. The vehicle definitely looked scary and threatening, like a spiky porcupine. The vehicle was dragging a huge container as it travelled. It looked odd as if it had a light head and heavy torso. There were huge batches of raw materials worth millions stored in the container, all of which had been purchased by Han Xiao in a single consignment.

Han Xiao was the only one on the car. As he was driving, he was looking at the radar coordinates. He was heading toward the ruins known as Graymetal Ruins.

After completing the mission at River Valley Manor, there was a large increase in the affection of the Blood Pact Society toward him. The Blood Pact Society was now ‘friendly’ toward him. Based on his current progress, he would be able to hit the legendary level before the public beta. Also, he could complete the Class Change mission along the way and officially become a Night Stalker.

The side-profession he planned to attain was rarer in version 1.0. He planned to not only use it to attain new skills—he also prepared himself to advance up to level 40 and start another level-advancement mission. The maximum level of an apprentice mechanic was 15. The higher the level, the larger the increases in Experience points. Based on his current efficiency at gaining Experience points, adding a side profession was a good move. Also, the side profession allowed him to improve his combat style.

Before Han Xiao carried out the plan for his assault on the Germinal Organization, he planned to create a secret base for him to deposit supplies and round up weapons and essential equipment. That was to ensure that he had a place to retreat to if his mission failed.

Based on his current situation, the Farian Company seemed like it was able to provide a reliable hideout. However, Han Xiao had cultivated the good habit of preparing alternative solutions and redundancies. Although the possibility of getting into a conflict with the Farian Company was rather unlikely, he would still feel safer if he was completely in charge of his own fate.

Anything could change in this world, and it was especially so for relationships. Han Xiao had seen too many of such cases, especially the relationships with his ex-girlfriends.

More often than not, genuine feelings lost out to tactics in terms of attracting one’s heart. If there was a color to ‘love’, it would be the color of ‘forgiveness’. The world was just too much of a mess, such that anyone could lose their footing if they were not careful. It was not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning…

Getting close to the ruins of the Graymetal Ruins.

The maroon soil looked like dried up spats of blood. Once the tires went past the dried-up hard blocks of soil, the sound of the friction between the tires and the soil could be heard. Through the window, one could also see the oddly-shaped plants that were sparsely growing on the plains. The land before his eyes indeed looked barren.

In the distance, he could see the silhouette of an abandoned city. Graymetal Ruins was a dead city that even the vagrants avoided. The only creatures that resided in the city were insects and animals.

Graymetal Ruins had once been the capital of an old regime, and green pastures had surrounded the city. When the fires of war reached the city, the place was reduced to rubble, and the green plains turned into a barren landscape.

Mighty civilizations and abandoned cities coexisted on this planet. The world was constantly changing, regardless of it changing for better or worse.

There was an abandoned base among the ruins that the outside world did not know of. The abandoned base was in fact Han Xiao’s target.

As Han Xiao moved closer to the city, the scene before his eyes became more dilapidated. Vines could be seen creeping along the walls of the wrecked buildings. The streets were completely empty and covered with moss.

Only a couple of lizards hopped out from the cracks on the road.

The rumble of the vehicle’s engine seemed to have awakened the city. Bugs crawled out from the buildings and cracks on the roads. They rested along the street, watching the vehicle speed past them. They used their limbs to scratch their eyes and moved their antennae.

On the south side of the ruins, there was a building that resembled a military facility surrounded by barbed wire. Fortunately, the wires were not charged with electricity. The interior of the building had collapsed.

Han Xiao drove his vehicle in and parked outside a bunker with the red label ‘S-539’. There was only small entrance left into the bunker. Dust particles were floating in the air, filling his nose.

After Han Xiao alighted from his car, he took out the mechanical spider and threw it into the bunker. He had modified the camera on the spider. The spider was now equipped with thermal-vision and electromagnetic sensors. It even had hearing abilities.

Half an hour later, the spider reported that there were no signs of life in the bunker. Han Xiao then made his way into the building. He navigated through the darkness with his torch, making his way to a small room in the bunker. He found a small crack in the wall and pulled hard. An elevator well was revealed behind the wall.

The abandoned base that he was searching for was in the basement of the bunker.

Han Xiao knew this place very well. In fact, this base was also his in his past life. However, it was unfortunately taken over by a guild.

At that point in time, Han Xiao had still been a young lad who was easily bullied by others. However, when he looked at the base again now, he realized that the base had great defensive infrastructure in place. As long as he was able to supply electricity to the building, the base was practically impregnable to attacks. He only had himself to blame for giving in to his enemies in his previous life.

The underground base was very spacious and had two emergency passages. There were spider webs and dust everywhere.

I shall call this place the Graymetal Base. Han Xiao came up with a practical name for the facility.

There was no source of energy in the base. Han Xiao took out the flashlights that he had brought with him to light up the place. He then started to execute the most important task, which was the energy modification operation. The Graymetal Base previously had a cable that connected it with the power station. However, since the city was abandoned, the power station had stopped its operations.

The power station was located some distance away from the Graymetal Base.

Han Xiao entered the power station only to discover that most of the generators were faulty. However, he never planned to rely on the old generators. He had expected such a scenario to occur; therefore, he had spent a huge sum of money and bought a batch for solar-powered generators. He dragged these generators out of the container and altered the wiring in the power station. He switched out the faulty items in the power station and connected the electric cable from the military base to his new solar-powered generator.

When Han Xiao returned to his base, the base was already powered up. The lights were switched on, and the interior of the base was clearly shown before his eyes.

The base, which had been covered in darkness for so long, was finally embraced with light.

The solar-powered generators were clean, efficient, and discrete. The additional electricity that was not expended in the day would be stored in the batteries. The generated electricity would likely cover one full day of activity.

Han Xiao started to clean up the base. Due to the prolonged period of inactivity, everything was covered in a layer of filth. It was while he was cleaning that he started to miss Lu Qian, who had superb housekeeping skills. Han Xiao had not seen Lu Qian for some time, and her cooking was something he longed for.

“I wonder what her reaction is for leaving without a word.”

Thinking back to Old Man Lu’s repeated recommendation of his granddaughter, Han Xiao could not help but smile.

After the housekeeping session, he carried the supplies out of his vehicle. The material and spare parts were all sorted out and stored. The bottles of water and canned food were placed in in the gigantic fridge. Following which, he used some of his Experience points to raise his [Basic Programming] to Level10. He then modified the main control room and created a chip to organize and store the data of all the activities in the base. The main use of the system was to map out the energy usage so that electricity could be better allocated for the different activities.

For the next few days, Han Xiao was busy modifying the base, and it slowly began to take shape. The base was equipped with infra-red, thermal scanners. The defenses put in place were light machine guns and booby-traps. The bunker on the ground level was also repaired. Additionally, the large gate was fixed up so that the base was better hidden.

However, the most important point was that Han Xiao created three robotic assistants to serve as his workers.

The skill of [Elementary Programming] at the maximum level could create low-level chips that were able to store simple blueprints that the robotic assistant could follow and manufacture according to the plans autonomously. Han Xiao could also gain a part of the Experience from the items successfully manufactured by the robots. This meant that there would be incoming Experience for Han Xiao all day, every day. One robot assistant could generate 2,000 to 4,000 Experience, so three robot assistants could contribute a steady 10,000 Experience points.

There was a limit on the energy that could be used by the Graymetal Base, and the three robot assistants made it reach this limit. The stored raw materials and spare parts were also only sufficient for around ten days of continuous activity by the robot assistants. The logistical flow of the system he had set-up could not be disturbed. Han Xiao could also make use of this period of time to carry out his assassination mission and gain skills that could help him refine his process.

If the earlier players wanted to develop a base, they could only employ a team of mechanics to complete their base. That was because most players had certain gaps in experience that they could not fulfill themselves. They had different areas of specialties in terms of their knowledge, and that meant that there were also many areas they were unfamiliar with. However, my three separate branches of knowledge are upgraded together. That makes me master the different aspects of the job alone. However, my strategy has a huge flaw of requiring me to possess an especially large sum of Experience that is several times more than that of normal players.

Luckily for Han Xiao, he had his ways.

The Graymetal Base might not be the largest, but it was definitely one that had all the necessary items that were required. The base also looked new and tidy after Han Xiao’s refurbishment and housekeeping. Han Xiao could feel a deep sense of achievement when he saw the fruits of his labor.

Finally, I am a man with some assets.

After completing the modification of his secret base, it was time for him to begin his assaults on the Germinal Organization. He had been left with no time to spare for the Germinal Organization lately, and that resulted in the organization recovering and growing from the previous damage that Han Xiao had caused. Indeed, the Germinal Organization had recovered by 0.01%.

However, Han Xiao was not worried in the slightest. The reason he decided to carry out his activities at the later stage was because he had set his sights far. He was no longer aiming for the smaller bases of the organization.

He wanted to do something big!

Han Xiao plan was simple and ‘loud’. He released all the information he had collected about the smaller bases to the six nations!

Crazy but deadly!

The six nations were old enemies of the organization. The moment they got their hands on the weakness of the organization, they would not rest until they caused grievous damage. As long as he dared to do such a crazy thing, the Germinal Organization was bound to suffer intense damage. However, that would also destabilize the entire situation on Planet Aquamarine. It was even likely for a change in the original storyline to occur.

It was that which made the whole process exciting.

To be scared of a change in the storyline was not the hallmark of a strong individual.

A world that did not change was something a destroyer like Han Xiao was fond of.

Han Xiao clenched his fists. He could feel gushes of energy flowing through his body and confidence emerging out of his chest.

I am no longer a weakling who is afraid of everything like when I first entered the planet. I have the ability to challenge and battle most people on this planet.

Strength formed the base of one’s power. To endure now was so that one could be powerful enough in the future, such that he no longer needed to endure.

Now, Han Xiao could defend himself, and he could finally accomplish the initial goal he set for himself!

Han Xiao connected his cellphone to the computer and created an anti-tracking application to disguise his actual number and address. He then dialed in a chain of numbers that he had memorized.

“Hello, who is this?”

Feng Jun’s voice emerged out of the cellphone.

“Guess~” Han Xiao teased.

Feng Jun almost choked. The sly voice was too familiar to not recognize.

“You… How dare you call back‽”

Feng Jun was dumbfounded.

Chapter 123 - Germinal, There Is Something I Have to Say!

In Division 13’s headquarters, Director Gu Hui and the Intelligence Minister stared at the phone on the desk, while Feng Jun stood to the side with a clear look of nervousness.

“Can we trace the location?”

The technician replied hesitantly, “We can’t break the opponent’s anti tracking protocol. He is a highly skilled hacker.”

Gu Hui’s vein throbbed with anger. When did that guy become a hacker? How could I not know?

After some deliberation, Gu Hui picked up the phone and said in a grave voice, “Han Xiao, you left Division 13 without permission. You violated the code of secrecy. This behavior is abominable!”

Han Xiao chuckled and laid bare Gu Hui’s thoughts. “You want to ask me when I’m coming back, right?”

“You should know better yourself!” Gu Hui said.

“I am not going back.”

“Are you defecting?” Gu Hui’s eyes darkened, and his tone changed.

“You misunderstood,” Han Xiao slowly said. “I still want to continue to work with you guys, but the way we work needs to change.”

Gu Hui frowned. “What do you mean?”

The others in the room pricked up their ears to wait for Han Xiao’s reply.

With a click, Han Xiao hung up the phone.

The intelligence minister was expressionless, but the twitch at the corner of his eyes revealed the storm in his mind.

Gu Hui took a deep breath and thought to himself, I am the director; I cannot flip the table. I am the director; I cannot flip the table…

Ding!

The phone vibrated with a new message notification.

Gu Hui narrowed his eyes and opened the text message. A page of dense information was thrown into his view. He was struck dumb by the content of the message.

It was all intelligence on Germinal’s bases in Southern Continent. It was very detailed and complete!

Is this what he meant by changing the way we work? Gu Hui was uncertain. Nonetheless, his anger with Han Xiao dissipated.

This was the intelligence they had always wanted, and Han Xiao had actually given it to them so easily.

He’s so sincere!

Gu Hui was lost in thought. Han Xiao had demonstrated unexpected sincerity. The issue would be how he should deal with Han Xiao’s identity. If he were to say that he was a defector, his action would benefit the interests of Stardragon. But to say that Han Xiao would be returning to Division 13 would be untrue. Han Xiao had personally said that he would not go back.

After some thought, Gu Hui made a decision.

“Stop searching for Han Xiao. Keep his official secret agent identity, and move his files to the field agent files.”

Feng Jun was taken aback. The director’s decision would mean that Division 13 was reconciling with Han Xiao. They would acquiesce to Han Xiao’s solitary behavior and regard him as one of their own.

Division 13 was in charge of the formation of field agents. Field agents were employed under the department, but they could move freely. Only some meritorious agent or retired agents could get such preferential treatment.

Although Feng Jun did not have a long relationship with Han Xiao, they were on good terms. Feng Jun was a happy; at least they would not become enemies.

With the information he needed in hand, Gu Hui was in a good mood. He praised the intelligence minister lightly and was about to leave when the bespectacled secretary in the intelligence group stumbled in, panting for breath.

“Director! Minster! The intelligence departments from Hesla, Maple, Ordina, Theus, and Raylen have all sent us a request for communication!”

The look in Gu Hui’s face hardened.

Only with truly urgent incidents would the intelligence agencies of each country contact another country. It had been many years since they had a meeting between the different intelligence agencies from the Six Nations. What had happened‽

With a heavy heart, Gu Hui walked to the conference room. Five individuals appeared on the big screen. They were the heads of the intelligence agencies from the other five nations. They had the same rank in their respective agencies as Gu Hui.

“What happened?” Asked Gu Hui.

As soon as he spoke, he found the five heads of intelligence agencies stare at him with a very strange look, making him feel a little confused.

The representative from Ordina took the initiative and said, “Um… Division 13 Director, you… do you know Germinal’s top wanted man, Zero?”

Gu Hui stared dumbfounded. He had a bad feeling.

“What happened was, all five of us received intelligence from Zero, including maps of Germinal’s secret bases across the South, West, and North Continent. We have always been cautious about information from unknown sources, but he had added a line to his intelligence.

” Stardragon’s Division 13 can testify as to the credibility of my intelligence.

“So, we are here to clarify with you.”

Damn you! How could you even send the information to all the other nations and expect us to testify for you! Han Xiao, you just scammed us again!

Gu Hui almost fainted from the shock. He could almost see Han Xiao’s sniggering face in his mind.

…

His set of equipment—the incomplete Phantom Ghost Sniper, Electromagnetic Skateboard Shoes, facial simulator, and a full version of a Magnetically-Controlled Retractable Armor—would be able to fully support his variable sniping style of combat. This was a tactic that was very popular among the older Mechanics. Since the equipment he produced had properties way beyond what would normally be at his level, it was obvious that his combat capability would be way more effective.

With his enhanced equipment, his energy was about 1,100 ouna. He was considered upper-middle rank on Aquamarine. In addition, Han Xiao also had the NPC Molding Ability [Basic Strengthened Life]. He was definitely able to take some hits.

[Flaming Will] was upgraded to Lv5, and the lowest multiplier was increased to 138%. Although this did not sound like much, with sneak attacks and critical strikes on weaknesses, even with the lowest enhancement, he could boost his capability significantly.

As long as he avoided fighting someone crazily powerful like Bennett head on, Han Xiao should be able to cope with most face-offs with ease. So, the assassination mission from the Blood Pact Society would naturally not be too much of a worry for him.

Time flew past as Han Xiao completed more and more missions. He gained vast amounts of Experience and wealth, and he was growing stronger day by day. Mr. Black was also becoming feared by more and more underground forces. He had risen to the tenth position on the assassin leader board. He was finally gaining some fame.

Meanwhile, the underground world gave Han Xiao a new nickname—Black Phantom!

One could only take on a bad code name, not a bad nickname.

_____________________

Planet Universal Reputation Legend (Aquamarine): Black Phantom (Dark Net Assassin List)

Legend has it that he comes from the darkness of the night with a thousand faces. No one knows when he will come. No one knows when he will leave.

When you see him turn away, the kiss of death has already been printed on your forehead, leaving fresh bullet holes in blood. He pays a bullet and takes away your life.

_____________________

He sounds pretty cool…

In fact, when he learned that he had been given the nickname, Han Xiao did not know how he should feel about it.

Black Phantom… Why don’t you call me White Yaksha?

Han Xiao had been one of the most active members in the underground world lately, and he was getting on the good books of the Blood Pact Society. They were even featuring him to attract talents. According to statistics from the Blood Pact Society, their business had finally stopped falling even since Black Phantom came around. Their business was even slightly on the rise, attracting other assassins to them. They were leading in transaction volume.

However, two months later, the attention of the whole world was on another big event!

As the last civilized countries on Aquamarine, the Six Nations were so powerful that whatever they did would affect every single person in the world. Be it the underground, rogue warlords, or various organizational forces, everyone was always looking to the Six Nations to observe their actions, especially in terms of their military operations.

After the wars of the old times, there was a delicate balance of order and chaos on Planet Aquamarine. Wars continued to break out occasionally, openly or hidden, and it was not in the Six Nations’ interest to cover up and pretend it was all peaceful.

The delicate world situation tipped on this fateful day after two months. The Six Nations sent out troops almost simultaneously. The armies were sweeping across the three continents, wiping out Germinal bases one by one. It shook the whole world.

The war came without any warning!

The world fell into a turmoil. Many was starting to fear that the nightmare of a terrible war that happened decades ago would explode again. Their wounds from the war had not healed fully, and no one was too eager to be devoured by such a manmade disaster again.

Even within the Six Nations, thousands and thousands of people took to the streets to protest against the war, but the governments have turned a deaf ear. To them, Germinal was the root of a disaster. As a terrorist organization that had been created to subvert the Six Nations, the conflict between the Six Nations and Germinal could be traced back to the war of the old times. Germinal had been gathering outlaws and rebels who were determined to subjugate the Six Nations.

Until now, the two sides had been caught in a stalemate. It was such a good opportunity to crack down on the Germinal Organization; how could they possibly miss it?

For those who were more informed, they were not as surprised by the tough stance of the Six Nations as the intelligence they had gotten—why did the Six Nations act simultaneously, and how could they launch precise attacks on the hiding grounds of Germinal?

There was only one possibility—someone had provided a large amount of intelligence!

In another way, this mysterious person providing the intelligence was the real puppet master behind the war!

After many inquiries, the name of the man was leaked out from within the Six Nations.

Zero!

Germinal’s traitor!

The underground world was shocked.

Among the outlaws taken in by the Germinal Organization, some were idealistic fighters while others were hooligans who had committed petty crimes. There were traitors in the past, but they had all hidden like street mice, afraid of being hunted down. Zero was the only person that had strike back on Germinal so openly, generating such chatter.

How did Zero get so much intelligence? Was he a high-level officer in Germinal before he defected?

Many were scratching their head over this.

All this was a mystery. There was no way anyone could get an answer, but that did not prevent all the major powers from adding the name ‘Zero’ to the threat list.

…

“A war is coming…”

Bennett looked up at the hazy sky with furrowed brows, his mood was as gloomy as the sky.

Wang Yuan whispered to him from the side, “It seems like we need to get the shelter plan up ahead of schedule.”

“There are still a lot of things left unprepared…” Bennett shook his head. “I guess we can never be fully prepared. Let’s roll out the shelter plan. Contact some allies and get strong independent fighters to join us. We must rally all our forces.”

Chapter 124 - Open Beta

In the Germinal Organization Headquarters at Andrea mainland…

BAM!

A fist covered with a black glove slammed against the wall, creating a sound like a steel rod being swung against a car window. The thick force made a large piece of the wall shatter and collapse, exposing the steel bars. His fist, however, was not injured.

The leader’s body trembled with fury. His anger was obvious. His subordinates trembled next to him and dared not move an inch.

All the secret bases on the other three continents were being swept through by the Six Nations’ armies, incurring huge losses every day. The Germinal Organization’s base camp was located on the continent of Andrea. The secret bases on the three other three continents were intended to be the beachheads to nail the enemy in future wars. So, the loss this time was equivalent to the organization’s painstaking efforts for many years being destroyed! It had severely wounded the organization.

“Zero…” The leader took a deep breath into the unfathomable depths of his lungs.

How much information does Han Xiao have? This was a question that the leader had always been suspicious about. He felt that Han Xiao was not in a position to be aware of key intelligence. He had once told the organization’s hackers to check the program loopholes repeatedly, and there were no signs of hacking. He had also conducted multiple investigations on the top management. There were no traitors.

Zero’s source of information was really too suspicious. It was as though he was a prophet.

In fact, the four bases that were lost, including the Dark Crow Valley base, were not of particular importance to the organization. Before the four secret bases were removed, the leader hesitated over whether or not to relocate other bases in Southern Continent, but he did not implement any action. It was not that he wanted to leave it to chance. He felt that moving other bases rashly would expose these locations and cause them to lose their secrecy. It was like abandoning the huge amount of up-front investment, wasting their finances and time. Perhaps, it was as Zero had mentioned, making a mountain out of a molehill.

However, the situation made it clear that Zero had mastered the detailed information of the organization, far more so than he had expected!

The Valkyrie experiment strengthens the brain, and awakens… Thinking of Han Xiao’s performance, the leader felt as if there was a hint to the truth.

Zero has awakened the ability to predict!

No wonder he could get intelligence, escape from the lab, and avoid the tracking of the organization…

The leader closed his eyes and anger brewed in his heart. He felt that this was the only possible explanation. Zero was a monster created by the Germinal Organization, and all the organization could do was accept it.

Regret? The leader did not allow himself to have this kind of emotion. There was no room for regret.

This kind of character is too dangerous. If he is allowed to live, all the actions of the organization will be made known.

He has to be killed!

The pin drop silence continued for three minutes.

The leader’s low, hoarse voice slowly sounded, and it spoke of deep savage intentions. Even though the Germinal Organization’s members in the room knew that the leader was not targeting them, it still sent a chill down their spine.

“Move all the bases in the three continents. There is no need to care about the loss and damage. Withdraw whatever can be withdrawn. Start the crisis plan [Hibernation Project], and all activity is to be moved underground. All intelligence personnel are to thoroughly investigate Zero’s tracks—not a single clue is to be neglected. Before we find Zero, the full-scale war plan is to be delayed… indefinitely!”

…

_____________________

[Fall of The Germinal] current progress 13.8%.

_____________________

At the Graymetal Base, Han Xiao lay on the sofa, sliding his fingers across the tablet and brushing through the information collected and organized on the Dark Net, almost all of which was related to the movements of the Six Nations.

Two months ago, he had provided intelligence to the Six Nations. Naturally, none of the Six Nations acted immediately. They first sent people to confirm the accuracy of the intelligence, then they secretly dispatched resources to prepare for the war. The military operation only became official two months later. The results were very gratifying. A large number of Germinal bases were removed. Yet, there were some secret bases that Han Xiao was not aware of. They were forces that had been preserved.

Han Xiao’s mission profile had increased exponentially. Although the increment was reduced, he was winning by volume. With the actions by the Six Nations, he was progressing every day. The Germinal Organization was not a pig that would stretch out its neck dumbly to be slashed. They were determined to preserve their last breath by any means. They had evacuated all remaining bases and were trying to minimize losses. This was within Han Xiao’s expectations. He was simply waiting to see how many battles the six countries could win next by chasing Germinal’s trails hard.

With the momentum now, my mission progress is estimated to be more than twenty percent.

About fifty percent of the Germinal Organization’s bases in the three continents had been conquered, whilst their base camp on the Andrea continent had only half its size left.

The morale of the Germinal Organization had been so badly hurt that it would not be able to declare war against the Six Nations in three months’ time as per the original scenario. This had a far-reaching impact.

One such impact was that the Germinal Organization’s sub-bases on the three continents had been removed, cutting off the channels for most players to join the organization. That meant that the players in Germinal’s camp would be ninety percent less than originally! In Han Xiao’s opinion, this was the biggest gain.

Taking advantage of the chaos, I can also personally intercept and kill countless disoriented troops and improve my mission progress.

Releasing information could only be done once, so Han Xiao was ready to make full use of this opportunity to strike against his enemy while it was at its weakest, hoping that his attacks would deal some serious damage and advance his level.

The small butterfly effect he had set off was rolling up into a storm, causing a huge mess in the quest between the Six Nations and the Germinal Organization. If one of the front-line events on Planet Aquamarine was accidentally annihilated, the players on this planet would become idle and start to freely explore.

Interesting… Han Xiao’s face broke into a sinister smile.

His two-month killer career had earned him a lot of Experience. He had already unlocked [Night Stalker], providing him skills such as [Stealth] and [Steady Aim]. This sub-professional upgrade bonus had a slant toward agility. With this, Han Xiao’s total level had reached LV 40, and he was stuck at his advancement.

The manner in which he completed his mission was a prerequisite for his next advancement.

_____________________

[Second Stage Advancement]: Defeat three strong enemies beyond your level.

Note: Your opponent must be at least five levels higher than you.

Current Progress: 0%.

_____________________

Defeating a higher-level opponent was a common requirement for class advancements. The difficulty was not high, and the player could compete in a team. This made it easier for Han Xiao. It was a pity that his previous such assassinations were not counted for his current task.

As his level increased, higher-level killing was becoming more and more difficult. With Han Xiao’s level, he had to kill opponents beyond LV 45 at the bare minimum to achieve the cross-level standard. Moreover, these LV 45 opponents were already in the third stage of Planet Aquamarine’s combat power, possessing ghostly powers.

Because he was stuck at advancement and could not upgrade to the next level, Han Xiao was putting all his Experience into developing his skills. He had managed to improve his combat sniping skills.

Before building a powerful machine that could become the core of his tactics, he was not going to change his strategy of using [Moving Snipe] for the time being. In addition, he had also incorporated new blueprints, improving his personal capability tremendously.

In addition to becoming a legend in the list of killers, Han Xiao had also unexpectedly become a legend for a different reason.

_____________________

The Legend of Planet Aquamarine: The Mysterious Zero

As a traitor of the Germinal Organization, you have uprooted the solid foundations of the organization based on your sole effort. No one expected such a course of events. You have already become the arch enemy of the Germinal Organization. Perhaps you should protect your identity as there are many people who are searching for you.

_____________________

The source of my legendary status comes from my intelligence that inflicted a great loss on the Germinal Organization and caused Planet Aquamarine to fall into a state of chaos. I think I figured out how to attain such legendary status. I guess I just have to disrupt the original quest of the camp, and that means to wreak havoc… I guess that is my strength. Han Xiao touched his chin in thought.

His relationship with the Germinal Organization had fallen to -3,000. He was becoming their arch enemy; the relationship was unsalvageable.

This hatred is really deep-seated.

Han Xiao furrowed his brows.

On the other hand, the Graymetal Base was also becoming better-equipped. Han Xiao had upgraded the energy source on the base. There were already eight assistant robots working hard. It was a stable source of Experience. The cost of manufacturing each assistant robot was about 200,000 Experience.

Mechanics could create assistant-type robots, but few people did it in the early days because it was not cost-effective. These robots cost hundreds of thousands of Experience to develop, but they would only provide a few thousand XP each day. One could easily attain that by completing simple tasks. Moreover, these low-level intelligence robot assistants could only complete simple manufacturing tasks. If spare parts were needed, players could directly purchase them from the player market. Even unions were unwilling to use the assistant robot in their early stages. They had their production team and were in no shortage of manpower.

Only when the mechanics learned how to manufacture intermediate-level smart chips to enable robots to perform more precise operations would these robot assistants gradually become the standard tools for mechanics.

But for Han Xiao, money was not that important. He took a brief look at his dark net account and a bunch of zeros leaped into his eyes. All these were rewards that he had collected from completing various assassinations. Well, it seemed that there were some orders from Division 13. He had almost forgotten.

Han Xiao looked at the interface, and it was the last thirty minutes before the public beta.

This day has finally arrived!

Over the past year, he had accumulated a huge amount of capital, way more than most.

Han Xiao’s eyes were beaming as he nestled in the sofa, waiting silently.

The public beta countdown was counting down to the last minute.

Looking at the time—Galaxy calendar, July 3, 688.

Countdown!

Ten, nine, eight… three, two, one!

_____________________

The public beta is now open.

Fetching data… Fetching data done!

Player Forum Open

Open beta duration: 1271 days

Welcome to Galaxy 1.0—Adventer!

Chapter 125 - What Have We Missed!

Ever since Galaxy was in the research and development stage, the game had received wide attention with minimal marketing. Only basic information was provided on the official website. Even so, its popularity was continuously rising. Due to the many groundless rumors, Galaxy was shrouded with an air of mystery, fueling the players’ anticipation and curiosity.

On the day of public beta, the enthusiasm of the players was exploding like the eruption of a volcano. Although the number of VR capsules in the first batch was limited and there was also a restriction on the number of purchases, the game was sold out in half an hour. Those who did not manage to grab hold of the game were utterly disappointed, whereas those who did get it could not wait to enter the game.

…

The day that the game was released, enthusiastic players rushed into the game. In Galaxy, there were dozens of players who came from different birthplaces, and this formed the first batch of players.

In the evening, more and more public beta players who had created their characters appeared out of thin air in the forest outside the settlement of Big Horn Village, looking around curiously.

“It feels so real!” exclaimed a player as he jumped around with ease.

“Quick! Look at the sky, there is actually more than one moon!” a player shouted out in excitement as he admired the scenery.

“Woah, can I take off my pants?” asked a muddle-headed player.

“Is there no novice village in this game?” Another player scratched his head, not knowing what to do.

As more and more players appeared, a huge crowd began to form. With more than a thousand people gathered, one could hardly see an end to the mass of players. There were thousands of players who had gathered. After some confusion, some observant players spotted the lights in the distance from Big Horn Village. Thinking that it was the novice village, the players rushed over en masse.

The guards at the settlement of Big Horn Village were shocked to see the group of ragged men and immediately blew the whistle to inform the rest of the population to lock their doors and stop this huge group of foreigners from entering their settlement.

The players were all stopped at the gate, and they started shouting out against the guards.

“What is going on? Why isn’t the novice village open?”

“My hunger level is dropping; I will die if I don’t eat something.”

“The expressions of these NPCs are so lively.”

Within the settlement of Big Horn Village, all the residents walked out of their house holding torches and weapons, and stood guarding the main door solemnly, preventing the mass of people from attacking the place. The village chief, Xander, gathered the few key personnel urgently.

“Where did this group of people come from? It’s almost 10,000 people!” Xander exclaimed.

“Is it a group of migratory vagrants?”

“Let’s just ask directly.”

Xander climbed to the watchtower and asked loudly as he looked down at the huge crowd of players, “Friends from afar, why have you come to us?”

The players looked at one another with confused faces, not knowing how to respond.

Xander then shook his head. “If you all do not state where you are from, I cannot let you enter the settlement.”

The public beta players were baffled. They were all new players who could not even understand the map. How would they be able to tell him their origin? Was that a joke?

Inside the settlement, the closed beta players found the whole situation amusing. It was like a show for them as they watched the situation unfold from the side. They had landed directly inside the settlement when they first arrived and did not have to go through the trouble that the public beta players who had landed outside the settlement had to face now.

Just then, they received a notification. It was a mission where they had to convince Xander to allow the public beta players to enter the settlement, and the prize was rather significant. There was a note that specified they had to make sure that their use of words would match the current game context.

“Interesting, there are no other games like this.”

The players inside the settlement were surprised by the creativity in this game. They could actually use their convincing skills to influence the NPC in this game. That was new to them.

After a few discussions, the closed beta players went up to Xander to start a discussion.

After what seemed like a long time, Xander finally understood. “Do you all know the group of people outside?”

One of the closed beta players answered with a straight face. “Yes, we used to be residents in the same settlement, called Earth Village. There was a disaster, and we lost all contact. This group of people outside are all as hardworking as us. Chief Xander, please accept them.”

“Earth Village? Why haven’t I heard of this settlement?” After some thought, Xander seemed slightly convinced. “There are too many of them. It is impossible to accept all of them.”

“That is simple. All they need is a job, some food, and basic supplies. You can think of them as cheap labor, and it is also an opportunity to expand the settlement.”

The closed beta players snickered, as they could not wait for the public players to be scammed.

Xander’s eyes lit up. “You are right.”

Soon enough, Xander explained the situation to the public beta players, and they all received a task each.

_____________________

[The First Job]: You should earn some money through labor. Do not let yourself starve to death. Try to build a better relationship with our settlement so that you can be trusted.

_____________________

With guidance, the public beta players started their tasks. Residents of Big Horn Village settlement eagerly provided different job opportunities, and the merchants also opened up their stores to the players, allowing them to use their own money to buy some food.

With a clear goal to work toward, the public beta players started to have a good impression of Big Horn Village. The public beta players formed a ring of tents on the boundary of the settlement, adding on to the construction of the settlement.

The same scene was happening for the newcomers at other settlements on Planet Aquamarine.

On the first day of the public beta, all the players were very excited, and they soon found out that there were camera and video functions, which added on to their excitement. The number of posts on social media exploded with players posting about the most miniscule of events. The following were some of the posts.

“Poor review! How can there be no excretion function!” The owner of this post obvious had ulterior motives, and he was obviously not really complaining about excretion.

“Taking on an alien body is so fun.” Another post showed a picture of a Taurus male player shaking his tail.

“Almost got killed by a wild boar. It’s so fun!” The post showed a picture of a female player making a peace sign with a wild boar chasing right behind her.

…

On the first day of the launch of the public beta, millions of players joined the game, and they were assigned to different planets, with at least around 100,000 players on each planet. As the news spread, the numbers rose at a rapid rate. With the next half a year, the numbers would likely snowball into tens of millions.

The public beta players were overjoyed with the game while some of the closed beta players were not having it so well.

…

In Dark Crow Valley, Jupiter and the other members of the guild looked at their surrounding forests with a blank look.

All around them, the woods were green, the evening wind lightly caressed their skin, and the calm atmosphere was like a gentle palm, warming their hearts and making everything seem so harmonious.

The view was amazing and pleasing to the eye.

But where did the base go‽

Jupiter hesitated before he asked, “The place we are going to… should be the base, right?”

Everyone nodded in unison.

“There is no longer a connection with the camp!” Poseidon exclaimed.

Everyone then checked their interface and realized that their original [Dark Crow Valley Base Connection] was gone! Everyone was flabbergasted.

What is this situation‽

“Quick! Check the tasks!”

Waking up from the trance, Jupiter checked his interface immediately, before heaving a sigh of relief.

“Fortunately, the mission is still there. Oh sh*t!”

In the next moment, everyone was shocked.

_____________________

[Search for Zero (Level A)]: Zero, a mysterious traitor. He has caused the organization to suffer many losses. Find Zero, and you will become a great friend to the organization.

_____________________

The level of difficulty had changed from B to A!

The task instructions had also changed; the location of Zero was no longer required as it was like finding a needle in a haystack. The Guild of Gods had made a lot of preparations, and the results of the discussion could fill up an entire blackboard. This change had caused all the preparation in the past few days to go to waste.

“What have we missed‽”

Jupiter then thought of the official introduction of Galaxy and lost his voice.

“Don’t tell me Zero is the main character on this planet!”

Chapter 126 - What a Scam

“What shall we do now?” Poseidon asked.

“Let’s go ask around.”

Jupiter and his group returned to Dark Crow Forest Town, and upon hearing from the villagers that Dark Crow Valley Base had been destroyed by Stardragon, they were shocked. After getting a rough idea of what had happened, they thought to themselves, How is it possible that the base could have disappeared just like that?

Wow! Who knew this game would be so intense?

Last week’s efforts had all been wasted, and their advantages from the beta-testing were almost all lost.

Now that Dark Crow Valley Base, the organization that had been issuing quests, was gone, even if they completed the quest, they had no idea who to get their rewards from.

Everyone looked at each other and cried in dismay.

How could this actually happen…

Jupiter felt terrible, but he was reluctant to give up on this Grade A quest. “The Germinal Organization definitely won’t just stop here. Let’s go look for other bases. There should be a way for us to return to Germinal Camp.”

…

In the Western Capital…

In a blur of vision, Frenzied Sword realized that he had spawned in an alley that was not too far from the site where the beta-testing had gone offline.

Public testing has begun!

Frenzied Sword was so excited. Finally, he no longer had to worry about the time limitation and could wholeheartedly follow Han Xiao.

My dear Xiao, I’m coming!

Based on his memories, he found his way to Old Man Lu’s repair shop.

“Han Xiao? That kid left long ago without even a goodbye. Who knows where he went?” Old Man Lu gulped down a can of beer, and his tone was a little depressed. He secretly doubted if his granddaughter’s charm had truly lost its effects.

Upon hearing the news, Frenzied Sword’s was struck dumb. He bore a sluggish face and stood rooted to the ground.

How could his master run away‽

What am I to do now‽

…

The forum’s popularity continued to climb, gamers from different planets shared their own rumors. There were some gamers who were purely focused on trying and reviewing new elements of the game, and all seemed to praise it highly, even calling it a new era of gaming with true to life experiences.

It was merely a display background that was recently set, yet people were already fantasizing about it. It was a virtual game that was like no other; from the start to the end, there was only one world, so gamers all united in one place. There were different planets, which were equivalent to the different servers. Gamers very much looked forward to meeting fellow gamers from other planets.

This was not just the case in China; esports teams from other countries also flocked to Galaxy. Even though they did not communicate prior to this, among the esports powerhouses—America, Korea, France, England, and so on—all chose to develop themselves in their own planets.

Planet Aquamarine was one of the base camps that gamers from China chose.

However, this did not mean that all the gamers on Planet Aquamarine were from China. People from other countries could also choose to join Planet Aquamarine. There were leisure gamers, and there were also the European spies who came just to create trouble.

Electrolux, a retired professional gamer of America’s Key Club who did not achieve anything much in his career, joined the club’s studio after retiring. He joined Planet Aquamarine with such an ulterior motive.

Han Xiao was the only one who could recognize Electrolux. This scorpion was to become the first to rise up to the top sixteen in the First Professional League in the future, and in Planet Aquamarine’s selection trial, the strongest sixteen that were selected to represent Aquamarine were usually all Chinese. This was going to be the Chinese professional gamers’ base. Among the sea of Chinese one could easily spot the one American, Electrolux, who started the uproar with a swear word on the forum. The evil Chinese gamers all over the planet were out to kill him but all ended up dead under Electrolux’s knife.

Although Electrolux had the American arrogance, his strength and vast resources gave him the courage to start in a random planet. His luck was good as well.

In one of the Germinal Organization’s laboratories…

Electrolux opened his eyes wide and found himself soaking in a light blue solution. He was in a vat of nutrition fluid and was surprised that he did not need to breathe. He looked through the glass and saw a scientist holding a tablet, recording scribbles on the outside.

Realizing that he could not control his character for the time being, Electrolux waited patiently; according to his experience, this should be an intermission animation. After roughly a minute, a drainage hole appeared at the bottom of the nutrition tube, and the light blue solution disappeared. Electrolux could now move, and he saw a notification on the interface.

_____________________

You have been injected with DNA Improvement Solution. Your total attributes have increased by 3. You have acquired the skill [DNA Regulation].

[DNA Regulation]: You have a much higher chance of awakening Esper abilities, and the power will be increased by 10%.

_____________________

My God! Electrolux was overjoyed. Random openings are so awesome!

The nutrition cabinet opened, and the scientists came crowding. Electrolux did not resist, allowing the scientist to pull him over to the Golden Platform to do various instrument tests.

At this moment, Electrolux received another prompt.

_____________________

The DNA Improvement Program is a biological research program that helps to cultivate superpowers. The success rate is extremely low. And you, being one of the few successful tests, will be valued much by the Germinal Organization. You can choose to stay or leave.

_____________________

Previously Electrolux had chosen to stay, and afterward, he had become Germinal Organization’s strongest player. He made a similar decision, for with such an amazing start, only a fool would leave!

This skill is specially tailored for me. Electrolux had originally planned to become an Esper, and without saying another word, he entered a shop in the interface. Using the funds given by the club, he bought an [Ultra-Perfect-Deluxe Gene Awakening Elixir]. He immediately chose the Awakening option, and after a long and nervous wait, the interface prompted that he had successfully acquired the Awakening Ability!

How smooth. Electrolux had a look of joy on his face. He felt like Lady Luck was shining upon him. He raised his palm, and his palm amassed a white whirlwind.

The scientists rejoiced.

“Eureka!”

“He’s awakened!”

Electrolux knew that since he wanted to stay, it was best to show his potential. The scientists’ reactions made him very satisfied. But the next moment he saw a scientist calling for the guards, leaving him puzzled. Why did he have to call the guards at such a nice moment?

Germinal Guards sped to the site, and without much effort, they handcuffed him. He was dumbfounded. Did they not say that they valued him? Why were they treating him like a prisoner?

When he entered another laboratory, Electrolux was locked down onto the brainwashing device. It was only then that he realized something was wrong. “What are you doing to me?”

The guard spoke in a chilled manner. “We have orders from above that every successful test subject must be brainwashed five times over and then observed for another month before they can move freely!”

Electrolux was stunned. What logic is that? The reaction is simply too radical!

He really was clueless. The original DNA Improvement Program did not need brainwashing. His random start was started by a European, and it was all benefits and no harm.

However, after their experience with Han Xiao, the Germinal Organization had implemented an extremely strict policy. They would rather kill than release, and no matter the research plan, the test subject was to be brainwashed and put under close observation for a month.

Little did Electrolux know that this was all because of Han Xiao. It was too late to regret, for he was soon to be brainwashed.

_____________________

You are not exempt from the brainwashing. You have joined the Germinal Organization under a special condition.

As you have been brainwashed, you are unable to rebel against the Germinal Organization.

_____________________

Electrolux panicked.

Being unable to rebel meant that he was unable to escape the one month of imprisonment, which meant a month of being locked up, not to mention levelling up. This would mean he would be much behind other gamers!

Which part of ‘being valued’ is this! What a lie!

He had clearly attained the ultimate awakening skill, yet he was stuck in this rot hole and had to suffer a month of being locked down and gaining no experience!

It was a perfect start, but now he was to fall behind all the other gamers!

Electrolux exploded internally.

Chapter 127 - The Fangs of Capitalism

The golden rays of dawn were shining in the sky. It was a cool and refreshing morning.

Whilst driving a truck, Han Xiao made his way toward Big Horn Mountain. He had based his directions off a radar. Despite him driving all night, he was not tired at all. In fact, he was alert as he had pulled over to nap the night before.

The public beta had started a few days ago, yet the forum was already buzzing with comments. Han Xiao specially took notice of Planet Aquamarine’s forum, and through the tags of the players, he managed to understand the situation of each and every newcomer. He had always wanted to join in the commotion.

The best chance to interact was when the players made their first appearance.

Just a few days back, Han Xiao had used his authority to obtain a tip-off from the dark web—there was a batch of newcomers in Big Horn Village. Hence, Han Xiao decided to advance toward Big Horn Village to get rid of them.

In the distance from Big Horn Village, one could see the silhouette of the settlements. Han Xiao could tell with one glance that the settlement was filled with countless tents, just like a refugee camp. A swarm of players could also be seen busy bustling about.

The moment Han Xiao parked his truck, he caught the attention of the players.

With a cigarette dangling from his lips, Han Xiao got out from his truck and leaned against it while puffing out a cloud of smoke. He put on an air of arrogance, misleading the players to think that he was an important character.

A deep understanding of players’ mentality was Han Xiao’s specialty. He had analyzed the situation. With the new game being released, all the players were thrilled. No matter what kind of tasks were given to them, they were all willing to try. This was known as the ‘hunger’ stage, and since there was an overwhelming number of new players, there would definitely be a few players who could not obtain any missions.

Therefore, Han Xiao knew that as an ‘advanced player’ character, he was influential. All he had to do was appear in front of the players, and he could definitely rile up the players. The players were all new and did not have skills yet. However, he could benefit from their large number. Han Xiao also happened to have a way to reap benefits from these newcomers, and he could take this opportunity to further test the functions on the NPC interface.

In Han Xiao’s eyes, the players who were walking about resembled walking wallets.

After a while, the players were finally starting to get curious and some walked over.

_____________________

Black Phantom – Unknown (Yellow Name)

Rank: Unknown

Attributes: Unknown

Risk Level: Extremely deadly

_____________________

“What the heck? This is a high-level NPC!”

“This is the first time that I’ve seen one.”

“Why is there such a high-level player in a novice village? Is he the Boss?”

“Doesn’t seem like it though. It looks like we can trigger a mission.”

The surrounding players were full of astonishment and were hesitating whether they should approach Han Xiao.

Han Xiao raised an eyebrow—he was now at LV 40, which was thirty levels higher than all the other players. This time around, he was fully aware of the players’ abilities. Hence, he cleared his throat and said, “You all seemed to be a capable bunch of people, and I do need some help at the moment.”

After making his statement, Han Xiao sent out the missions that he had prepared earlier on.

The dozen players received their missions.

_____________________

[Mysterious Stranger]: You have encountered a mysterious NPC, and he seems to have some work for you. Try to please him as much as possible, and you might receive unexpected surprises.

_____________________

The mission was to collect a plant known as ‘Snake Venom’. These players realized that the reward given was more generous than the novice tasks that they had received in Big Horn Village. It was reaching up to a thousand Experience. Thus, the players received their missions excitedly.

Snake Venom was a relatively common plant. This plant could be collected near Big Horn Village, and it was also sold in the settlement to make poisoned arrows.

At this moment, many players could not afford firearms; instead, they used cold weapons. Han Xiao set up this mission for the sole purpose of experimenting as well as to allow his subsequent activities to not be suspected.

_____________________

The limit of my missions now is much higher than before; it has reached D-level.

_____________________

With that thought in mind, Han Xiao opened the interface, and the detailed numbers appeared.

_____________________

Highest reward limit: 36,940

Level 40: +12000 (Advancement Level Limit +300)

Rank D: +10,000

Camps:

– Germinal (Enemy): -3,000

– Division 13 (Friendly): 2,130

– Blood Pact Society (Respect): 3,950

– The Rothschild Family (Friendly): 1,300

– Farian Company (Friendly): 1,200

Universal Reputation:

– Black Phantom (Aquamarine) +5%

– Mysterious Zero (Aquamarine) +5%

_____________________

The bonuses from his Universal Reputation was a ten percent on his current limit. Different regions had different Universal Reputation bonuses, but usually, the bonus from one Universal Reputation was 5%. In addition, the bigger the area, the higher the bonus.

The main objective of the Universal Reputation was for the daily limit; one Universal Reputation resulted in double the limit, and originally, his limit was a five times addition. Now, it was at seven times the original limit, nearing 26,000 experience points.

The players who had not received any missions huddled together and were quietly discussing among themselves while looking at Han Xiao curiously.

“This is the high-level NPC? It feels like he’s no different from us!”

“Black Phantom does sound very old-fashioned.”

“I wonder which profession he is from.”

It might not have been mentioned before, but most of public players’ profession was Esper!

The other four schools of players required basic knowledge to change their profession, but Esper was capable of many things. Of course, even though their abilities were strange, none of the players had the ability to use them. Espers required a huge amount of energy, and it was dependent on the players’ current levels. They were simply unable to use their powers and hence appeared very weak. The players were at most able to exert their power for around ten seconds, which meant that the players were weak and vulnerable.

Not long after, the players who had completed their mission were returning with a bunch of Snake Venom. Their faces were filled with excitement.

Once Han Xiao realized that there were enough onlookers, his eyes flashed. “I will stay here for a few days. I can provide some weapons for you should you need them.”

Han Xiao then opened the window containing goods that he could sell to the players. He had only set up a few types of weapons: Foldable Machete, ordinary pistols, and submachine guns. He did not sell other machinery as he knew that the novice players did not have that much money, but he was selling many types of ammunition and special ammunition.

However, Han Xiao also had a powerful setup called ‘Lightweight Mechanical Arm’, the price of which was so steep that the players were unable to afford. It was actually bait that was as effective as hanging a carrot in front of a donkey.

Offering the Lightweight Mechanical Arm meant nothing to him as it was useless to him because of two main reasons. Firstly, the equipment did not match his capability, and secondly, it was not a rare product to begin with. It was just introductory machinery, and since it would be developed by other mechanics in the future, it was better to release this machinery now to earn short-term profit.

One issue was that the Foldable Machete and Lightweight Mechanical Arm that Han Xiao had created in Stardragon seemed to have a risk of being exposed, but Han Xiao was not too concerned as Stardragon and him were not enemies. Furthermore, his own whereabouts were erratic. Even if his identify was known, it did not matter as the circulation of information between the players and the organizations was very slow.

Hence, his sale of this machinery in a short period of time would not pose any problem. The profits from the players’ market was too awesome for him to give up, whereas in the future…

Once I’m stronger, there will be absolutely no need to continue hiding my identity.

Not to mention Han Xiao’s psychological activities, but all the players who saw the equipment put out for sale were shocked!

“This is the mysterious businessman!”

“Lightweight Mechanical Arm! Oh my God, this is an artifact!”

“This machinery costs 20,000 dollars! This is way too expensive; who can even afford it? Besides, it requires twenty-five points of strength to use it; I think you would need to be LV 10 at least to reach this attribute.”

“Those firearms are cheap though. They only cost 1,500 dollars for one!”

The player then called their friends and flocked over, eager to have a look. Han Xiao was surrounded by them in an instant.

The novice players were attracted to the firearms like a moth to a flame. Since they are using cold weapons now, it would require a dozen people to even defeat a weak beast. Not only were Big Horn Village’s firearms expensive, they needed money for the ammunition too. The novice players simply could not afford it.

The cost of Han Xiao making a pistol was only about 800 Aqua coins, and the selling price was twice the cost price. He was considered kind because his price was affordable; he doubted that anyone could find a cheaper pistol than his. Furthermore, Han Xiao’s pistols were of great quality. It was not as if he was trying to cheat the players’ money by offering inferior quality pistols.

Because there were limited firearms, the players rushed to make a purchase. Those who managed to get their hands on the guns were exhilarated, while those who did not manage to get one were disappointed.

The closed beta players had also squeezed in with the crowd. SliceYouUp, who had killed the world guild’s leader, bought a pistol from Han Xiao and realized that the quality was much better than the gun sold in Big Horn Village. How regretful he was! Had he known earlier, he would not have bought his weapons from Big Horn Village.

Having sold all his weapons in the truck, Han Xiao earned thirty thousand dollars in that short period of time. Yes, the players’ funds were limited, but there were at least ten thousand of players in Big Horn Village, which meant the combined purchases were earning Han Xiao big bucks. After selling the firearms, Han Xiao could use the cargo compartment in the truck to manufacture new firearms and ammunition.

The real profits from selling firearms were the sales from ammunition. Having bought the firearms, the players would have to buy ammunition as well. This was known as bundled sales, where one product generated the demand of the other because they had to be bought together. This was also what Han Xiao had realized previously when he had bought instant noodles without the seasoning from the shop downstairs.

The players loved their newly bought guns so much that they refused to put them down. Some were shooting at trees faraway; the recoil strength was so strong that the players’ wrists shook, and the bullets flew aimlessly.

Those who had no shooting skills were unable to unleash the gun’s power fully. A lot of the players realized they had this problem, and their excitement slowly turned to distress.

This was what Han Xiao had been anticipating. Now he could offer his after sales service!

Han Xiao smiled to himself and set up a window for shooting lessons. This time round, he did not announce it to the players. He set it in a way that to learn from him, the players would have to have a reputation of five points.

The players discovered this service almost immediately.

“We can actually learn skills from Black Phantom!”

“Oh my, there are so many abilities to learn.”

“We need five reputation points to learn though. How do we increase our reputation?”

“I just discovered how; for every 500 dollars spent, your reputation with Black Phantom will increase by one!”

“It is still too expensive!”

The players only had a thousand dollars with them now, and they had accumulated this from completing missions. Han Xiao had a deep understanding of their financial status as he was, after all, once a novice player. This move was to enable the players to feel that learning a skill was not easy.

Humans are as such; they would not appreciate things that were given easily. Only when they are unable to obtain something instantly would they feel the need to upgrade themselves to get what they desired. In this case, once an ordinary player and a character developed a good relationship, it would also increase their reputation with the NPC. Of course, Master Han’s main purpose was to also rake in a large sum of money from the players.

If I don’t earn the players’ hard-earned money, am I still human?

To continuously create demand from his customers and force them to buy products was a tactic used by businessmen. Han Xiao touched his chin and mused, Oh if only I had gone into business instead.

Chapter 128 - All Linked

The players were hesitant, but Han Xiao was not at all worried. There would be someone who eventually decided to start eating the crab first.

Just as he expected, a cute girl with the ID ‘Maple Moon’ finally decided to do it. After she spent enough money in the shop, Han Xiao immediately raised the reputation of this player by five points. After which, he suddenly realized that Maple Moon… was someone familiar.

Maple Moon was shocked as she looked at the list of skills that could be learned.

“I can actually learn the basic knowledge required for class advancement!”

The moment she said those words, players began to chatter, and their level of excitement went through the roof.

Besides tycoons and those who were willing to spend a lot of cash in this game, most of the ordinary players had experienced problems with advancing as they still did not know to obtain the basic knowledge required. This mysterious NPC Black Phantom was willing to sell basic knowledge.

Players who were initially hesitant instantly made up their minds and were determined to raise their reputation with Black Phantom to five points. They were not willing to let such a good opportunity slip by.

_____________________

You have taught [Basic Assembly]. You have obtained 1,000 Experience and 200 Aquamarine Dollars.

_____________________

Indeed, compared to the beta testing phase, Han Xiao doubled the price of the basic knowledge, yet players were still highly enthusiastic to learn it. Although he would only gain 1,000 Experience every time the knowledge had been learned, the total amount would accumulate quickly with so many players here wanting to get the knowledge.

Originally, for Aquamarine players to advance, the most common way was to join a camp. It was rare for players to obtain the basic knowledge before joining a camp. By joining a camp and performing quests to get connections, players would be able to exchange their reputation points for basic knowledge. Of course, players could choose to purchase with cash, but it was not worth it. Han Xiao’s action had saved many players from this trouble, and at the same time, it quickened their progress.

In a short while, hundreds of players had learned the basic knowledge. This meant that Han Xiao obtained hundreds of thousands of experience points. This number was still quickly climbing.

With his business booming, Han Xiao was like Jiang Taigong 1 ], calmly waiting for fish to fall for the bait.

While entertaining the players, he was casually scrolling through the forum.

All the players from the new planets were sharing this information. Players from Big Horn Village were all enthusiastically advertising Han Xiao on the forum. He was the first high-ranking character in all the new planets that ever appeared in the Novice Villages; therefore, he quickly gained popularity. Many posts about him kept being bumped up in the forum.

“This high-ranking character sells inexpensive firearms and ammunition with excellent quality. Basic knowledge can be learned from him if the reputation is raised to at least 5 points. Other than common skills like Basic Shooting and other basic combat skills, a lot of mechanical knowledge can also be learned. Mechanic players can immediately go for their class advancement by learning the basic knowledge from him.”

“Woah. I haven’t seen such a high-ranked character before.”

“Even class advancement knowledge can be learned! Big Horn Village? I’ll go over right now!”

“Damn, I’m on another planet; I can’t go over at all.”

“Why has such a high-ranked character not been seen anywhere else?”

“Danger Level: Fatal? Any brave souls want to test out his power? If you die, I will pay you. I am not that rich, so I can only give an airplane for compensation.”

Many posts were also accompanied by images. The appearance of Han Xiao, who was in black, achieved a huge on-screen success. Many people were greatly impressed by his outfit, which included a black windbreaker and a pair of black gloves. He appeared both cool and handsome, and as long as his face was not shown, he could definitely be a male model.

Even players from the other beginner planets were discussing his combat strength enthusiastically. The forum had an automatic translation function, so there was no need to worry about language barriers.

Players are really interested in the combat power of this high-ranked character… An idea suddenly ran through Han Xiao’s mind, and he thought that if he could show off his skills, he might be able to attract more people to advance as mechanics.

Even though he was willing to share his basic knowledge, many people were still on the fence. After all, there were quite a few players that were not really interested in the path of a mechanic and were doubtful about their combat strength. Naturally, Pugilist and Esper were more fun to play, and therefore, more appealing to most players.

Indeed, they were right in their suspicion. Mechanics were not as strong in the earlier stages. However, this rule did not apply to Han Xiao. He smirked and decided to mislead the players. He understood the psychology of these players too well and knew that many would simply join whichever class they thought was the most powerful.

To Han Xiao, teaching the basic knowledge was an excellent way of earning profits. There were already hundreds of players who had acquired the mechanic’s basic knowledge. If he was able to trick half of the players from Big Horn Village into becoming mechanics, then he would easily obtain millions of Experience.

The profit in this market would be almost unbelievable!

Han Xiao was exuberant.

Just in time. The troops from the Germinal Organization will be arriving in a few days. This is a good time to carry out the plan.

…

In the Western Capital, Frenzied Sword felt exasperated. In the last few days, he had no appetite for anything. Days without Han Xiao were like a day without sunshine—each passing day was torture.

As Frenzied Sword randomly scrolled through the forum, he came across a bunch of posts by the players from Big Horn Village. The posts were about Han Xiao and the goods that he was selling.

“Lightweight Mechanical Arm‽”

With a look of pleasant surprise, Frenzied Sword stood up suddenly.

He remembered that Han Xiao had previously exhibited this Mechanical Arm. Han Xiao was, too, always wearing a mask. As such, Frenzied Sword hazarded a guess.

Could Black Phantom be Han Xiao?

I have to find him!

…

In order to raise the reputation with Han Xiao to more than five points, many players had moved to the assembly point at Big Horn Village to do the quests and earn money. As such, the number of players surrounding Han Xiao increased significantly.

_____________________

Your product [Lightweight Mechanical Arm] has been sold!

_____________________

Han Xiao was shocked.

He had previously set the high price of 20,000 for this item, yet someone was able to afford it. He surveyed the surrounding players and found their leader. His ID was ‘Jade Green Sky’. The moment Han Xiao saw this name, he was immediately enlightened. Jade Green Sky was the chairperson of a guild named ‘Sky Territory’, and with the wealth of the guild, he would naturally be able to afford the item.

Jade Green Sky was wearing a set of hand-sewn leather armor, and his equipment was at least a grade better than the open-beta players. That was because he was a close-beta test player. During close-beta testing, he had brought some of the core members with him to explore the other places on the map. Through the mouths of the other open-beta players from his guild, he learned about Black Phantom, and he quickly brought the core members back to the village.

Even though Jade Green Sky had yet to advance in his class, he was preparing to be a Pugilist. He was immediately drawn to the stats of the lightweight mechanical arm. Although he was unable to equip the item as of now, he decided to purchase it first and keep it in his storage, just in case Black Phantom disappeared suddenly and the opportunity was lost.

“There are quite a lot of good items.” Members of the Sky Territory guild muttered praise as they browsed through the list of items.

Unfortunately, in order to raise the reputation to five points, each member of the guild would have to spend 2,500 dollars. Despite being a large guild, the money that Sky Territory had was limited. The purchase of the lightweight mechanical had used up the majority of the guild’s cash.

Out of a blue, Han Xiao spoke. “There will be a troop from the Germinal Organization passing by here in a few days, and I need some people to help me set up the traps in the forest. Are you free to do so?”

With that, he set a quest and released it.

E-Level difficulty. The description was “Set up any kind of trap in the forest, and you will gain 500 Experience.” Additionally, Han Xiao offered three reputation points as part of the reward, just what the Sky Territory guild wanted.

Jade Green Sky responded decisively. “Everyone, accept this task!”

Han Xiao smiled to himself silently. By luring players to complete his quest using reputation points, he could both complete his quest and gain more business. It was killing two birds with one stone.

He could arbitrarily attribute the reputation points with a certain value. This method was like the theory behind paper currency, whereby something was made to appear valuable, but in actual fact, it was worthless. This could be effective in attracting the Sky Territory guild, Destroyer guild… any guild’s players into picking up the quest.

Han Xiao had always felt that the currency system was built on a bubble. With this thought in mind, he would spend any cash he earned.

Unspent money could become a hindrance to one’s motivation to work!

Most of the players went into the forest to set up traps. The traps that they could use were the more elementary ones—they were monster traps. Han Xiao took some time off and visited the forest. The forest was so full of traps that anyone with claustrophobia would have been triggered and covered with goosebumps instantly.

The retreating troops from the Germinal Organization would definitely be horrified when they entered the forest.

The monster traps that the players had set were very much useless and were mainly to attract attention. Han Xiao set up some other traps by himself, and those traps were the ones that would be the deadliest.

Chapter 129 - Uproar in the Esports Circle

There were four continents on Planet Aquamarine and many more assembly points for novice players. There was a perennial stream of new players joining the open beta, so the total number of players kept increasing. However, compared to the entire population of the planet, it was still an insignificant number.

The players were all doing beginner quests and advancing slowly. They mostly camped in the areas around the novice villages. The players in Big Horn Village had been envied by many since they encountered a high-rank character, Han Xiao, who could teach them basic knowledge, whereas the players in other novice villages could only advance slowly through grinding for the secondary class.

Generally, players could be divided into three types: casual players, studio players, and professional esports players.

On the forum, there was a live broadcast. A godly player from the Deluxe Sanctuary Club, who was ranked 2nd in the country’s esports field and 21st in the world, had officially announced that he would join Galaxy! His ID was Song.

The number of viewers had already reached millions, and yet, it was still rising rapidly!

“Song, may I ask if your work from now on would be entirely focused on Galaxy?”

“May I know why you only chose to join the during the open-beta phase?”

“May I know…”

Even when he was bombarded by questions from reporters, Song remained calm and charismatic, and he answered each and every question elegantly. He was a handsome young man who always wore a mesmerizing smile. Due to his excellent skills and dashing looks, Song had gained a huge fan base.

“Galaxy is the game of the century with unparalleled potential. It has countless possibilities, vast maps, and an incredible amount of freedom. From my personal point of view, I believe that Galaxy will become a phenomenal game. The World E-sports Association has already begun to prepare the first league for Galaxy, and it will be on a world-wide scale. Not only me, but all Chinese players will participate in this grand event to compete with players from America, France, Korea, and other great esports countries, aiming to win glory for our country.

“Yesterday, major America guilds like Key, Devil, and Thunder Snake also announced their entry into Galaxy. They chose the in-game planet with the greatest potential, Planet Winterfrost, to be their base camp. They will become tough opponents in the future. Our guild also contacted major e-sports clubs such as Long Sky and Thunder Storm to invite them to join the game. We, as a nation, will definitely not lag behind in this game!”

“Do you have any comments on the issue where your old nemesis, Lost Angel, claimed that he is going to defeat you in Galaxy?” one reporter asked.

Song chuckled before he spoke with a strong sense of self-confidence. “I will never be afraid of any enemy. I will be the best in Galaxy and lead the Chinese players to defeat every player from other countries!”

This conference was like a signal that hinted the rise of Galaxy. Its influence soared immediately after the conference. The entire esports field roared, and countless professional players announced their plans to enter the game.

With the arrangement of their respective clubs, players such as Sleepy Winter, Twinkle Fried Rice, and Rainy Kim, who joined the game during the close-beta phase, also held a press conference. This further fanned the enthusiasm in the e-sports field. The topic of the game became more and more popular, and the activity in the game forum was at a phenomenal level! Countess players were also looking forward to the sales of the second batch of VR capsules.

Just as the popularity of the game soared, Galaxy released its first official trailer. The trailer showed the different landscapes of the novice planets as if it was a documentary film. The different styles and appearances of the planets, coupled with magic and technology from both ancient times and the future, attracted countless eyes. This trailer was made from the collection of closed-beta players’ clips, and they were all recorded from their point of view.

This trailer introduced the background and the environment of the world of Galaxy through moving images. Soon, Galaxy would release other similar publicity videos to introduce other aspects of Galaxy. They announced that the next video would show the battle scenes of different classes, giving players a greater insight into the variations of different classes and their fighting styles. Many were eager to watch this video.

The activity level of the forum was constantly through the roof, and Han Xiao kept an eye on the trends on the forum. Seeing the IDs of many professional players whom he had previously battled in his last life, Han Xiao felt a little emotional. He could still remember the times in his past life when he was an enthusiastic new player in the game. After many years, he had become a highly-experienced professional power leveler in the game, and then he was transmigrated. Things had changed so much for him—indeed, reality was more dramatic than a novel.

In his last life, he had been among the players who bought the second batch of VR capsules. Han Xiao was curious if there was another version of him in this world, which was why he always paid attention to the forum for any evidence of it.

Han Xiao had stayed at Big Horn Village for the last past few days, and during this time, there had been old players constantly visiting the village and new players been born here.

A group of curious new players who had just arrived gathered outside Big Horn Village. Their faces were full of curiosity. “This is the novice village, right?”

A player with a pistol around his waist walked past, and he immediately caught the attention of those new players.

“Bro, where did you buy that gun?”

“Oh, you must be newbies. You asked the right guy for this. A word of advice: never head to Big Horn Village to purchase a gun. Go straight west. There is a high-ranking character called Black Phantom who not only sells guns at a really affordable price but can also help you with class advancements,” the player with the pistol said.

“Really? Let’s go take a look now!” the newbies exclaimed as their eyes lit brightly.

“Go on, do not forget to thank me.” The player with the pistol had a look of pride plastered on his face.

More and more players came to find Han Xiao the moment they arrived in the game before heading to Big Horn Village to receive quests. They then used all their hard-earned money from the quests to buy more items from Han Xiao to earn reputation points. They were just like hard working bees, promptly supplying Han Xiao with a large amount of money.

In just a few days, Han Xiao had earned more than 500,000 Aquamarine Dollars and close to a million Experience—such efficiency was unparalleled. It was also a much safer and more convenient way for him compared to earning money and Experience by doing quests himself.

The players now are all only newbies. Now is the best time to exploit them.

The features of an NPC offered him a tremendous advantage when facing players, but Han Xiao knew there was a prerequisite to extracting profits from them—he had to be ahead of players in all areas of advancement.

Although the current situation is really good, I cannot relax and stagnate, Han Xiao thought to himself as he took a puff of his cigarette.

Among the players in Big Horn Village, around twenty percent had chosen to switch to become mechanics while the other players were still on the fence. Only by showing off the combat strength of a mechanic would the other players start to budge.

Han Xiao glanced at the computer and read the intelligence passed from the Dark Net about the Germinal Organization. The retreating troops would be passing by Big Horn Village this afternoon.

As he was in the process of thinking, he heard a female voice.

“Black Phantom, why do you want to be enemy with the Germinal Organization?”

Han Xiao turned his head and saw a petite young female player. She was below his chin and had delicate short hair and watery eyes full of curiosity. Her face was just like an apple, which made people want to poke her cheeks. Her ID was ‘Maple Moon’. She was the first female player who learned skills from him.

I can’t believe we’ve met again… Han Xiao raised his eyebrow as old memories started appearing in his head.

Maple Moon, one of the Mechanic representatives in the third Season, was originally a casual player. She became extraordinary in the third season competition and was then signed by a club to become a professional player.

In his past life, it was revealed on the forum that Maple Moon liked to dig into hidden story plots, and all the benefits she gained from doing so accumulated and compounded until the third season where it was advantageous for a mechanic. It was only then that she really showed her true combat prowess.

Han Xiao blinked and had a new idea.

Players like this seem to be able to…

Chapter 130 - The First Step in Building a Large Network

Based on the quests that Han Xiao assigned to the players, Maple Moon had guessed that Han Xiao and the Germinal Organization were enemies. Most players would just want to complete the task and get it over with, so they would not even bother with understanding any background information about the quest. However, Maple Moon enjoyed exploring the story plot and became curious about the background story of Han Xiao. Black Phantom—this name made her think of all sorts of assassins and stories of vengeance. She believed that there was something she could dig further into.

She is the first player to interact with me outside of assigning quests and selling equipment. Han Xiao’s eyes lit up.

Han Xiao pondered about his relationship with the players and concluded that they were not enemies—except for the players who took on missions that targeted him. He was able to not only extract profits from players but also train players with potential and let them become his allies. By exchanging help and resources, he could make these players willingly fight alongside him.

As the players could resurrect, it was somewhat unfavorable to Han Xiao. However, looking from another perspective, it also meant that the players were best used as fighters and cannon fodder. Although most players did not have principles, and therefore, using players in such a manner could be rather chaotic, Han Xiao was clear about the players’ psychology and what motivated them. As long as he manipulated them properly, he could control the players’ actions to a certain extent. If he made good use of this strategy, he could gain a huge advantage when fighting against NPC forces—the advantage could be as big as his advantage when interacting with players!

What’s this called again—two-timing?

Nah, it should be called focusing on both sides!

A flash of thoughts sprinted through Han Xiao’s mind as he glanced at her. He then suddenly walked up to the vehicle. Maple Moon was startled momentarily before she followed.

The vehicle storage compartment was a workshop full of spare mechanical components. Han Xiao casually pointed his finger to ask Maple Moon to sit wherever she wanted. He then lit a cigarette and began smoking. The smoke created a mysterious atmosphere, and Maple Moon, upon seeing this scene, knew immediately that something exciting was about to happen to her. This caused her heartbeat to thump rapidly. She was very expectant.

Han Xiao flicked the ashes off his cigarette as he said, “The Germinal Organization is an evil organization that is using the grief the people who lost their country to manipulate them into fighting for their personal gains. They outlandishly try to start a world war and add more scars to this world that is already covered in wounds…”

Han Xiao embellished the story with many details of the evil deeds that the Germinal Organization had previously committed, but he did not twist any facts around. The Germinal Organization had indeed committed a lot of bloody acts. Han Xiao was able to know all this based on the memories from his past life and by reading the relevant case files on the Dark Net. He gave a good account of all these incidents to Maple Moon.

As Maple Moon listened to Han Xiao attentively, her emotions fluctuated up and down. Her impression of the Germinal Organization plummeted as she felt the anger brewing within her. Maple Moon was the kind of person who would get emotional from the storyline of a game, and she would always make decisions based on what her heart wanted. She had never been motivated by personal gains.

There were actually a lot of players like Maple Moon since most players were there to enjoy the game. A game was a story that people could easily immerse themselves in. However, most of such players were playing offline games, so it was rare to find players like this in an online game.

Han Xiao, in fact, found players like Maple Moon admirable. He coughed and asked a question that was clearly leading to a quest. “Would you be willing to become an enemy of the Germinal Organization?”

It was basically a yes or no question.

Maple Moon nodded solemnly.

_____________________

Your reputation with Black Phantom has increased by 5 points.

_____________________

After adjusting her reputation points, Han Xiao took out a mobile phone and handed it to Maple Moon. “Good, I have seen your courage. When you have grown stronger, contact me using this phone.

_____________________

You received the quest [Black Phantom’s Invitation]. Reach LV 20, then contact Black Phantom.

_____________________

Maple Moon was secretly delighted by her correct choice. She was right—there were hidden plots that could be triggered!

Han Xiao’s secretly chuckled as he saw Maple Moon’s delighted face. He was planning to spread a wide net to catch all these players with good potential. However, due to the limited number of players he could train, choosing each player carefully was a very important thing. Maple Moon would be a famous mechanic in the future and could be a good assistant for him. She was definitely a good spare tire… Cough! I mean an alternative.

As for the remaining candidates, Han Xiao had to think hard about them. He was prepared to choose the players who had good principles and potential. As long as Han Xiao showed players that they could trigger hidden missions from him, the rest of the professional players would automatically come to find him by themselves, and this would allow him to have more choices in picking the candidates.

A rough plan was generated inside Han Xiao mind, and he believed that it was rather actionable, but for the time being, the players still required a period of growth before he could proceed to the next step of his plan.

…

After he sent away the excited Maple Moon, he waited till noon before creating a new quest for the players.

_____________________

[Hunting Germinal]: Follow Black Phantom to attack a troop from the Germinal Organization. This quest is a Prize-Pool Mission, and the base reward is 35,000 Experience. 500 Experience will be consumed by accepting the quest and be placed in the reward pool. The total reward will be split proportionally among the top 5 players (or teams).

_____________________

Han Xiao had the ability to release different kinds of quests including a Prize-Pool Mission. Unfortunately, the reward he could dispense for a Prize-Pool Mission would still depend on the upper limit of a single mission. However, as the players were mostly around the level of four or five, 35,000 was still an astronomical number to them.

The players wanting to join the Prize-Pool Mission had to pay an ‘admission fee’. Han Xiao tried and realized that he could not manipulate the Experience that the players put into the prize pool. He felt bummed, like he had lost another way to earn—scam—the noobs.

The Kill-all Guild was the first to discover the Prize-Pool Mission. They were shocked by the sheer size of the reward for the quest.

“This must be the first Prize-Pool Mission!”

“Oh woah! 35,000 Experience! Even for the base reward, it is way too much! The quests that I can do now only give me a few hundred Experience!”

“If more players accept this quest, the prize pool will accumulate to an astronomical number!”

All the members from the Kill-all guild could not contain their excitement.

SliceYouUp’s eyes flashed, and he had a different thought. “No, we cannot allow other players to accept this quest!”

Members of the guild were shocked and asked the president, “Why not?”

Slicer eighteen spoke volubly, “Only five players or teams can receive the prize for this quest. The Big Horn Village has few hundred thousand players which even include some professional players. Rather than competing with all of them and rely on luck, why not just get the 35,000 Experience into our hand! If we are the only ones to accept the quest, we can easily manipulate the ranking and distribute the reward without the rest of our guild. Also, if we only win the quest as a team, each member will only gain an insubstantial amount of Experience. If we can distribute the Experience to a few individuals, it will be a lot more useful!”

He wanted to get several core members to complete the task and earn the huge amount of Experience—it was basically transferring the Experience that other members of the guild would gain to an elite few. If everyone in the guild were to gain the Experience, each person would only average about 500 Experience, which was insignificant. However, if the Experience were to be transferred to just a few members, their growth would be greatly accelerated.

The guild members look at each other in consternation. Although they were reluctant, they did not want to lose their job. It was only a little Experience; it would not matter that much. So, everyone agreed.

“The quest only starts in the afternoon, and Black Phantom will definitely set out in advance. As long as we do not let any players come into contact with him during these two hours, we are set!”

SliceYouUp ordered his guild members to hold up pistols and guard the area around Han Xiao. He then gave an order. “Warn any person that’s coming near him. If anyone defies the warning, fire immediately.”

The Kill-all guild had more than twenty core members located within Big Horn Village and more than a hundred secondary members. It was the biggest player faction at the moment.

These guilds working in a studio were different from casual players. They had a presence in many games, and only when they were certain that a particular game was valuable enough to have a great investment in would they then move their members based in other games into that specific game. The Kill-all Guild had a few thousand members, but there were only about a hundred of them based in Galaxy. More players from the guild would join the game when more VR capsules were on sale.

Players in this game could kill each other. However, the more people they killed, the more Sin points they would accumulate. The amount of Experience and equipment that a player would drop for dying was proportional to their Sin points.

…

Han Xiao realized that there was a group of guild players around him chasing the other players away, preventing anyone from getting close to him. They were rather aggressive and stern—those that got driven away were afraid to speak up.

He pondered for a moment and immediately understood what the Kill-all Guild was trying to do. His face turned black. “This guild to trying to swallow my Prize-Pool Mission alone—how fearless!”

His original intention of the Prize-Pool Mission was to get more players to join in and become his canon-fodder, but the Kill-all Guild was now interfering his plan.

A large group of players gathered on the side. They were indignant.

“They are too authoritative! I just want to buy some ammunition, that’s all!”

“What right do you have to forcibly occupy Black Phantom‽”

At this moment, members of the Sky Territory Guild forced their way through the crowd and confronted the Kill-all Guild.

Jade Green Sky then shouted, “What are you guys trying to do‽”

SliceYouUp was expressionless. He did not even bother to explain before he gestured with his hand; his members around him immediately aimed their pistol at Jade Green Sky. This immediately triggered the members of the Sky Territory Guild—they responded in kind.

All the other players were slightly shocked by this scene. They quickly moved backward, lest they got splashed with blood.

Jade Green Sky was hesitant. He had fewer people on his side, so he knew that he would be at a disadvantage once the battle began. He did not understand why the Kill-all Guild suddenly became so authoritative, but he was certain that something fishy was going on. Furthermore, with so many eyes around observing them, the Sky Territory Guild could not act like cowards.

Jade Green Sky and his members glanced at each other, confirming each other’s thoughts.

Fight!

Tension was building on both sides.

Other players stretched their necks to watch the show—two big, famous guilds fighting against each other was not an everyday occurrence.

The battle was on the verge of starting.

Just then, every member in the Kill-all Guild received a notification on their interface.

_____________________

Your reputation with Black Phantom decreased by 10 points.

Current Reputation: -5

Current Relationship: Cold

_____________________

SliceYouUp was astonished!

Chapter 131 - Bloodshed

“Oh My!”

“What’s the matter?”

“How did my reputation drop!”

Players from the Kill-all Guild were all confused. They immediately turned back to look at Han Xiao, only to find him looking in their direction with a look of indifference. This time around, no matter how thickheaded they were, they could figure what was going on. They observed curiously and suspiciously from the side.

SliceYouUp was extremely troubled. How was he to know that such actions would cause Black Phantom’s unhappiness? Wasn’t it normal for guilds to hoard resources in the game? Why was this NPC so intelligent?

The reputation earned these few days was all gone, and it even dropped quite a bit!

The members around him gave him looks of disapproval. It was too late for regret for SliceYouUp. He could sense that his authority as a leader had decreased a level. He was stuck in a very difficult situation, and he could only quickly withdraw from the scene with his men.

The players around him were baffled. They did not know why or how the previously arrogant Kill-all Guild cowered in a matter of seconds.

Jade Green Sky thought that Kill-all was afraid of their Sky Territory.

What’s happening? When did my Guild become this cool?

With no one blocking the way anymore, the players realized there was a Prize-Pool Mission. They finally realized Kill-all Guild’s motive. They were filled with righteous indignation, for that was totally unfair.

“Look at them trying to claim the entire Prize-Pool!”

“Gross!”

After crusading against Kill-all, the players then turned their focus to the Prize-Pool Mission, becoming increasingly attracted to it. Everyone accepted the quest, all wanting a slice of that huge cake.

The Prize-Pool slowly amounted to over 500,000 Experience, and to those players, it was simply an unthinkable sum, to the point that just thinking of it would make them stop breathing.

There were only five people that would be entitled to the Prize-Pool rewards. The ranking depended on the energy expended. Compared to the number of participants, five was undoubtedly a small number.

But the problem was that everyone thought they would be the lucky person. Even though it was almost as unlikely as winning the lottery, there was still that glimmer of hope that shone in their eyes—if they were chosen, it would be like hitting the jackpot.

The players were not even at LV 10 yet. Their combat strength was extremely low, but the good thing about them was that they were not afraid of death. With a pistol, they could deal a bit of damage. At least with everyone around, they could combine their firepower. This was why Han Xiao thought of the quest.

…

The forest of Big Horn Village was vast, and the huge amount of information on the Dark Net helped mark the exact route of the Germinal Organization’s evacuating troops.

Everyone arrived at the place where the trap was marked. Players teamed up and spread out to ambush. Among them, the players from the closed beta were obviously preferred as teammates. Of course, those with a guild would be the most advantageous.

Teaming was the best advantage one could have. Everyone knew that solely relying on one’s efforts alone would never get one onto the list.

Maple Moon was a little down. Every player had a team. She was just a step slower and did not manage to find anyone to team up with.

Han Xiao noticed and called Maple Moon. He took out his modified sniper rifle, as well as several rounds of ammunition, and handed it to Maple Moon. “I’ll lend you this gun, stay by my side.”

Maple Moon clasped her two hands over her tiny mouth in surprise with a cute look of shock. She had thought that this was the benefit of triggering the secret quest. But upon seeing the traits of the sniper rifle, she was stuck in a difficult position. The sniper rifle required an attribute of at least Level1 in [Sniper].

Maple Moon pouted. “But I don’t know how to use this.”

_____________________

Black Phantom has imparted the ability [Sniper] to you. Do you want to expend 2000 Experience to learn it?

_____________________

Han Xiao had not taught the gamers about this sniper ability. Maple Moon was shocked and happy at the same time. She agreed without a second thought.

Since Maple Moon was worthy of training, Han Xiao naturally became biased toward her. Of course, this was a secret between them. If other players felt that it is unfair, what can they do but restrain their complaints? In this materialistic society, people without resources had no say!

…

A gust of wind whistled through the forest.

The ambushing players all had nervous yet excited faces. It was the first battle for many of them.

Jade Green Sky brought Sky Territory’s members to camouflage themselves in the forest. It was a must for him to attain one of the top three prizes from the Prize-Pool Mission. He thought to himself, My biggest rival should be Kill-all. First place is bound to be either of us.

On the other hand, SliceYouUp was still extremely troubled by Han Xiao’s extreme drop in reputation, but the quest still had to be done. He took a look at his dejected guild members. “Don’t think too much. Just finish this quest first. We cannot let Sky Territory’s members get ahead of us.”

The passing time was like a sharp knife, killing any warmth in the atmosphere.

Han Xiao took out the report he had gotten from the Dark Net. He took one final look. There were two combat executives in the evacuating troops, Freire and Seiberre. The two of them had once been part of the same elite army squad, each over LV 30, but they were of no threat to him.

Woo woo—

The sound of the engine came from far away. The sniper rifle’s electromagnetic scanner showed the Germinal Organization’s troops on its radar.

Han Xiao reoriented his vision, becoming extremely alert.

Maple Moon followed Han Xiao’s every word and action, sprawling on the ground with the sniper rifle. Suddenly, Han Xiao seemed to have disappeared. He was clearly right in front of her; how could he have vanished from her vision? This made her very uncomfortable.

_____________________

You have entered [Stealth] state. Agility stats +8%.

Your next strike will have a Sneak attack effect.

You have entered [Steady Aim] stat. Your next shot has +15% shooting power.

_____________________

[Night Stalker] had bestowed Han Xiao with many hidden skills, and accompanied with his [Flaming Will], anybody shot was bound to be destroyed.

There was the Little Li Flying Dagger in the past. Today there is my deathly blow. Haha, this sounds so good!

This shot was specially prepared for the executives. Han Xiao held his breath and aimed steadily like a patient hunter awaiting his prey.

The Germinal Organization’s evacuating troops entered the trap and were almost immediately caught off-guard by the many animal traps set up. But they were also puzzled by the animal traps. Was this really a trap?

If this was not a trap, how fierce was the beast in the area to require so many animal traps? And if this was a trap, who would be stupid enough to use animal traps to deal with an armed force? It was so obvious as well.

Freire, the conductor, felt something was amiss. He said in the intercom, “Be careful, there is a possibility of an ambush. Deploy minesweepers.”

The troops slowed their advancement. Carrying the metal detectors, the minesweepers overtook them.

The Germinal Organization had been shifting their bases in massive operations, and many troops had been intercepted. Their enemies were not just from the Six Nations. There were other enemies looking for revenge taking advantage of their current situation. When Germinal was still strong, these enemies did not dare make any move. But now that they were met with such a good opportunity for revenge, they all got excited.

Freire and Seiberre had been caught in an ambush during their journey, and they had all raised their alertness greatly since.

Beep beep beep.

The metal detectors flashed in red, indicating that there were mines underground. At the same time, the scouts also found traces of human activity.

Freire’s expression darkened. “Enemy ambush ahead!”

Just as the Germinal troops were sweeping the field for mines, the players who were hiding in the bushes spotted their enemy as well. The heavily armed Germinal soldiers and armored vehicles looked formidable. The players dared not anger them.

But at the slightest thought of the huge reward-pool, the players were unable to resist. Some jumped out of the bushes immediately, firing their pistols from afar.

The Germinal soldiers habitually wanted to sprawl down and hide, but they realized that the enemies’ bullets were almost going into outer-space. Their aim was just so bad.

“Counterattack!”

The Germinal troops returned fire without hesitation. The submachine guns fired away, the armored vehicles’ machine guns roared, and some heavy firepower guns could be heard, too.

The fierce artillery instantly tore the players running toward them into pieces.

Chapter 132 - A Death God

“What the hell is this damage!”

“I died instantly when the explosion blast grazed me!”

“My Experience’s dropped so drastically!”

The first wave of players eliminated died tragically, leaving the rest of the players in awe of the Germinal Organization’s firepower.

SliceYouUp gritted his teeth. “Task requirement is to achieve highest damage. Doesn’t matter if you die, just deal damage! Go!”

The penalty in Galaxy for dying was not light to say the least. Experience was deducted proportionally to a player’s level, and the player could only be revived up to a maximum of ten times within six days. With every death, the waiting time before the next revival would increase. After hitting the limit, there would be a temporary ban on the player. Despite all this, it was worth dying once or twice for the Prize-Pool Missions.

The players from Sky Territory also had the same thoughts, and all the other players followed suit and fearlessly, albeit tactlessly, made their attack on the Germinal soldiers, giving the latter a shock.

“All these enemies are rushing to die?” Seiberre was surprised; he had never seen such a fearless army, like a pack of starving wolves, dying to get a piece of them.

Their spirit and momentum were impressive, but in terms of combat ability… they were shamefully pathetic.

“They are just a motley crowd, let’s satisfy them since they want to die so badly!” Freire snorted and promptly commanded the surrounding troops. Since there were mines buried in the forest, the Germinal troops stopped their armored vehicles and started using as their armored vehicles as a temporary base for their counterattacks, killing off waves of players with ease.

“Shit… Can’t even touch them!”

“I already died twice! Goddammit!”

The Germinal troops was dominating the fight. The other players were being massacred, yet they refused to give up in the hope of dealing some damage to claim the quest rewards.

“I will give them a surprise.” Seiberre smirked. He saw absolutely no threat from these enemies. He was itching to toy with them.

Freire frowned slightly. “Don’t go crazy, we are in a rush.”

“Humph! I’m always quick with my kills.”

Seiberre hopped off the armored vehicle. With his strong physical attributes, all he needed was a slight push against the floor with his feet, and he was off dashing toward the players like a cannonball. His foot landed on a player and instantly caused the poor soul’s chest to cave in before the player was sent flying, hitting against a tree with an explosion of blood and flesh. The shooters dealt no damage to Seiberre, since he would dodge way before they could aim. Even if some bullets did hit him, it would be nothing but single digit damage.

Seiberre went on a killing spree like a tiger among the sheep, and the players were desperately trying to retreat. However, Seiberre would catch up and kill them before they could react. Many tried to assess Seiberre’s stats.

_____________________

Seiberre – ?

Level – ?

Class – ?

Threat Level – Extremely fatal

_____________________

Another extremely fatal dude! No one knew what this threat level meant until this moment, but the contrast in skill level was apparent.

The combat strength of a high-level character was indeed to be feared.

Black Phantom and Seiberre have about the same combat strength. This thought flashed across the minds of many of the players.

Seiberre was covered in his enemies’ blood, like a ravaging beast. The scene looked so realistic that it scared some of the more timid players, who quickly adjusted the graphics to PG mode to reduce the gore. Some turned on the recording function to capture this highly bloody scene.

A panic-stricken player fell, and Seiberre, in the midst of his killing spree, laughed as he started to crush the poor player like a cockroach. Suddenly, blood spilled out from Seiberre’s chest, and a gaping hole appeared at the place where Seiberre’s heart was supposed to be.

Seiberre stopped moving, his entire face frozen. Then, he collapsed and fell to the ground without a sound.

“Is he… dead?”

“He just got killed in one shot!”

Everyone was thrown into shock and confusion. How did the blood-lusting monstrous enemy just get defeated in a split second?

Then, the electrical current buzz of a sniper rifle from afar came within earshot.

Jade Green Sky, SliceYouUp, and all the other players that were still alive glanced unanimously in the direction of the rifle. Everyone remembered that it was roughly where Black Phantom was camping.

This snipe kill was by Black Phantom!

“Even such a vicious enemy was killed by Black Phantom in one shot!”

The players all gasped in disbelief. Black Phantom was also extremely fatal in terms of threat level, but this was way more fatal than Seiberre!

Black Phantom was obviously on a higher level than Seiberre, but it was still incredible that the fearsome Seiberre got killed in a single shot. Han Xiao left a mysterious and immeasurable impression on everyone.

Nothing was scarier than a killer who could instantly kill his victims.

Seiberre is very strong in terms of Energy attributes. How could he have been killed instantly? Freire was shocked.

This shot sounds familiar… the ability to instant-kill a Superhuman… Only one person is capable of doing this.

Freire’s face changed immediately.

“Must be the Ghost-level Black Phantom from the Blood Pact Society! Goddammit, why is such a high-level monster finding trouble with us? I thought he only does bounty hunting?”

Black Phantom’s reputation preceded him in the Underground World in these two months because of his amazing stats. He had killed ‘The Raging Bolt’ Bai Jin in an instant. Even the famous Invisible Demon was running for his dear life from Black Phantom. It was no wonder that Black Phantom rose to fame as the best assassin in the Blood Pact Society and his name began to instill fear in many.

The Germinal Organization gave a command long ago, asking its members to avoid direct conflict with Black Phantom. It would be troublesome to deal with this type of super assassin, even for big organizations.

Freire wanted to retreat, and he ordered for it with no hesitation. “All force retreat!”

It was too late!

Han Xiao activated the EMP Disruptor he had buried. Some of the Germinal troops’ armored vehicles were in the effective range of the disruptor, and they broke down immediately, crackling and sizzling with electricity. One third of the vehicles were fortunate enough to be outside of the effective range; Freire’s was one of them.

Freire could not be bothered with the rest of the troops. He knew that he needed to retreat.

Don’t even think about escaping after you have entered my sight.

Han Xiao’s glaze was as cold as the frozen ice as he activated a particular program. Having max leveled [Basic Programming], Han Xiao could bind most mechanical control systems to his computer.

Three metallic plates were lying at a spot three hundred meters horizontally away from the Germinal troops. Suddenly, they all cracked open from the center and started a series of self-folding, forming a multi-barreled heavy machine gun, with the metal plate as the base of the battery. This was the foldable portable battery that Han Xiao had buried beforehand. They were equipped with automatic firing systems, and the ammunition loaded was all highly explosive and could pierce through armor. The firing range had a five-hundred-meter radius.

The portable battery was one of Han Xiao’s new blueprints. It was the product from a mixture of various technology—a fixed battery combined with folding technology and many other designs. Han Xiao had spent a lot of effort and had failed countless times before arriving at the final model, which was very handy. He could have arrived at something similar by merging different ideas, but inventing the fort by himself saved him from using Experience.

As Han Xiao learned more and more blueprints, it was becoming obvious that he was capable of grasping the functionality and usage of knowledge.

Within the last two months, he already bought the last three types of basic knowledge that he had yet to acquire from the slightly friendlier camps. They were [Basic Energy Conversion], [Basic Thermodynamics], [Basic Acoustics]. To learn all fifteen types of basic knowledge was a feat even for some full-level players, not to mention players under level forty.

The multi-barreled machine gun aimed at the Germinal troops, who were a few hundred meters away, automatically, warmed up for one second, and fired away. The fiery metallic storm blew all the trees in the way to bits, and the immobilized The Germinal troops’ armored vehicles could not escape the same fate!

There was nothing but screams of agony and firework-like explosions.

The cost of a small foldable battery port was high, as was the ammunition. Wars fought by Mechanics were all expensive like this, but with sufficient funds, Mechanics were capable of having dominating firepower. Only a rich and resourceful guy like Han Xiao was able to fully utilize the abilities of a Mechanic to the fullest extent.

The firepower from the battery turret gave the rest of the players a huge shock, but this shock quickly turned into a craze over Han Xiao.

“So, this is how Mechanics fight!”

“One guy soloing against the whole army!”

“He is way too strong!”

Han Xiao did not idle either, he began sniping the enemies one by one. He smiled upon seeing the excitement among the other players. He did not have to use the battery turret against the small Germinal troop, but he did so anyway for the sake of demonstrating the destructive power of Mechanics.

However, looks could be deceiving. When the players went to research about the actual cost to play as a Mechanic, they would find the painful truth behind this vocation–”Using Ona to create happiness, GTFO if you don’t have money.”

Mechanics would be very weak in early games because most mechanics were poor.

With the enemies mostly defeated, the rest of the players realized that it was the best time for them to deal extra damage, and they all began to rush forward to attack the army. Maple Moon also started firing. Her sniper scope was equipped with Electromagnetism Detector and aim assist, so almost every shot of hers could hit the Germinal soldiers. She gained momentum, and her damage output became steady.

Although the realistic battle scenes were too gory for Maple Moon, she got used to it quickly as she had experience with gory scenes from other games. Moreover, she could change the game setting to make the graphics less bloody.

Han Xiao shot through Freire’s knees but spared his life. Then, he switched to Red Falcon and started clearing the remaining Germinal soldiers at a rate much more efficient than normal players. One shot, one kill.

The sound of gunfire gradually ceased; the battle had come to an end. Many seemed like they wanted to watch more.

The paralyzed Freire could not be bothered with his own agony but looked at the crowd of spectating players in shock. He had been watching the battle very carefully, and he noticed that many of the players, who were killed earlier on, came back.

“Are they zombies or what?”

Freire was confused.

Han Xiao, clad in full black, appeared. The players started to quieten down despite their excitement.

He stood in front of Freire, squatted down, and stared into the latter’s eyes that were filled with shock and anger. “Where were you all heading toward?”

“Black Phantom, Germinal will never let you off!” Freire was furious.

“You got it wrong.”

Han Xiao expressionlessly dragged Freire into the forest by his collar. Shortly afterwards, bone-chilling screams could be heard.

It was not difficult to imagine that Freire was being tortured, and everyone felt a shiver down their spine.

After ten minutes, the screaming finally ended. Han Xiao reappeared but without Freire.

He wiped his hands clean of blood using a rag. He glanced around and saw that all eyes were on him. Now that he had the information that he wanted, he was free to end the mission.

All the players received a notification simultaneously.

_____________________

[Hunt Down Germinal] has been completed. The Prize-Pool has 520,000 Experience.

Damage Output Ranking:

– No. 1 – Maple Moon (Solo)

– No. 2 – Jade Green Sky (Team)

– No. 3 – SliceYouUp (Team)

– No. 4 …

Reward pool will be allocated 30%, 25%, 20%, 15%, 10% of Experience accordingly.

_____________________

Everyone was shocked. No one expected this ranking.

“She overtook Sky Territory and Kill-all.”

“Hitting the scoreboard with solo output. Incredible!”

“Who is Maple Moon? Is she a professional player?”

“I never heard of this ID before though.”

The crowd was going crazy.

Chapter 133 - Mechanics Are So Powerful

Jade Green Sky and SliceYouUp were shocked.

A solitary player’s output was actually higher than that of a guild. The Experience earned by a team had to be divided equally among the players, but Maple Moon could keep the hundreds of thousands of Experience to herself. What this meant was extraordinary! In an instant, she had exceeded all the players to hold a safe lead, and that included the other novice planets.

Maple Moon was hit with shock by her unexpected success, her face full of disbelief as she stared at the Experience bar on the interface. She had used a sniper rifle with firm and stable output through the battle and did not expect that she would emerge as the top player. She knew her limitations well. This was only possible because she had relied fully on Black Phantom. This was obviously a benefit that came from triggering the secret quest. Maple Moon made up her mind; she had to persist in unearthing the secret quest. Black Phantom was such a powerful aide, so she had to stay on good terms with Black Phantom.

Han Xiao returned to the car, and Maple Moon immediately returned the sniper rifle.

Some players followed them and were surprised to realize that Black Phantom was actually interacting with Maple Moon on close terms.

Jade Green Sky immediately reacted. “There is a secret quest!”

“She is so lucky.”

Everyone stared enviously at Maple Moon. Maple Moon was not used to the attention from the crowd, so she blushed and hid in the car. Han Xiao saw this but did not chase anyone away. Instead, he started driving his car back to Big Horn Village. The players had no choice but to follow on foot.

As he was driving, Han Xiao scrolled through the forum. Suddenly, a new post was pushed to the top of the forum—”A high-ranking NPC’s combat capability!”

Clicking into the post, the battle scene that just occurred popped up on the page. Some players uploaded their recorded videos. The Germinal Organization’s troops were displaying their formidable combat capability. When Seiberre was murdering players, there were a few barrages. The audience felt as if they were present at the scene—they were tensed up with nervousness. However, the next moment, Seiberre was killed in one shot. The shot blew out explosively, and blood was flying everywhere. Then, the portable battery demonstrated its prowess, crippling the Germinal troops in an instant. The scene was even more shocking.

Responses to the post were posted in the dozens every second, and it soon accumulated a few thousand responses.

“That character was so powerful, but he got killed in one shot!”

“Isn’t Black Phantom the advanced NPC from Big Horn Village? What is his level?”

“Mechanic is so powerful. I think there’s great prospects!”

“Damn, I’m in a planet with a magic background; there are no Mechanics”

Scrolling through the responses that were marveling at the scene, Han Xiao smiled to himself.

Faking it… bah, the idea of showing my strength really worked.

The effect was apparent. Once he got to the settlement, the players that had hesitated in switching their Class were now fervently picking up the basics. Prior to this, the entire Big Horn Village had only twenty percent of players choosing Mechanic. After the video went viral online, players’ excitement for Mechanics was just breaking through the roofs. The players swaying precariously between Classes immediately switched to Mechanic.

A hundred, five hundred, then a thousand …

The Experience on the Interface was just piling up like crazy. Han Xiao kept his face straight to not smile. In the short few days at Big Horn Village, he had collected two or three million Experience just by lazing around, and that was comparable to accumulating Experience through four or five missions. This was way safer and more efficient.

The player market was indeed a market with the most potential. The NPC functions were really useful. Imparting skills was allowing him to gain great profit without any cost, and that was only possible because he owned the interface as well as the NPC functions.

Han Xiao knew that you could not be impatient in grooming students, so he only imparted basic skills. The players that were convinced to switch to Mechanic would come to be his key customers in the future. After all, Han Xiao’s was a Mechanic.

After these version 1.0 players gained a deep understanding of Mechanics, they would realize that they had been scammed. By then, it would be too late. Even if they lamented to heaven and knocked their heads against the earth, it would be pointless. They could only choose to continue or start from nothing again. In this way, Han Xiao’s goal would have been achieved—as long as these players wanted to improve their combat effectiveness quickly, they can only rely on him to buy advanced machinery.

You want to become strong?

How can you not spend money‽

Han Xiao took a smoke, and he thought to himself, After a few versions, you will be thanking me…

In this way, he brushed off his sense of guilt.

…

On one side, Jade Green Sky approached Maple Moon and asked politely: “Babe, I wonder if you’re free now.”

Maple Moon looked up doubtfully and saw a group of male players with a look of thirst in their eyes. She stepped back nervously and warned, “What are you up to? I warn… warn you, this game prohibits any sexual harassment!”

The members of Sky Territory were at a loss whether to laugh or cry. Babe, we are curious about your secret quest, not in you!

Jade Green Sky coughed. “I only want to ask how you triggered Black Phantom’s secret quest. Don’t worry, we’ll reward you fairly.”

Maple Moon shook her head, rejecting his request without a pause. She enjoyed unearthing secret quests, but that was not because of the profit, and she did not want Black Phantom to dislike her.

With no alternative, Jade Green Sky could only give up and walk away. Just then, a member suggested, “We could ask around to see if there were other players who overheard the conversation between Maple Moon and Black Phantom.”

Jade Green Sky’s eyes lit up, and he nodded in agreement. And there were really some results. They managed to find out ‘the secret way to trigger secret quests’ from a player.

Han Xiao was sending off the last few players who had come to switch to Mechanic when Jade Green Sky rushed up to him. With the question that Maple Moon had asked in mind, Jade Green Sky asked, “Black Phantom, why are you enemies with the Germinal Organization?”

Oh, someone is rising to the bait.

Han Xiao looked at him. Although Jade Green Sky was the leader of a guild, his potential was not good at all. It was better to answer directly.

“What does it have to do with you?”

Jade Green Sky was at a loss. Why was he getting a different reaction compared to the response Maple Moon had gotten? Was he cheated?

Not willing to give up, he kept on changing his lines. Han Xiao cast his eyes downward and refused to play along with him. In the end, Jade Green Sky could only give up in frustration.

“Unless it depends on the gender?”

This thought suddenly came up in Jade Green Sky’s mind. He stared at Han Xiao’s unattractive face for a long while, and he felt like he was enlightened.

…

The player’s market potential in Big Horn Village had been temporarily exhausted. It was still only the open beta—the players were rather fresh, and their lack of unity resembled a plate of loose sand. With growth, as they completed more missions, Han Xiao would have more opportunities to exploit them.

Han Xiao had a set of ‘commercial’ plans for players, and this was only the initial link. As players advanced, his plan could then be gradually implemented.

He was not in a hurry to go to the next novice village. He had a friendly chat with Freire and fished out some information on the Germinal Organization’s withdrawal route in South Continent. This is a large-scale war, which meant that he could probably get quite a number of A-level missions. With his character, he was sure to get a foot in. What would become of him if he did not try to get involved?

With the wistful gaze of players in the Big Horn Village, Han Xiao drove his vehicle away.

Maple Moon looked at the car driving off into the horizon and told herself that she would wait until she reached LV 20 before she contacted Black Phantom.

Just half an hour after Han Xiao left, Frenzied Sword arrived at Big Horn Village, panting furiously. He grabbed a player and asked, “Where is Black Phantom?”

“He has already left.”

Frenzied Sword’s face turned white. He was late by half a day because the Western Capital was under martial law to search for Germinal spies.

He felt like weeping but had no tears left! How infuriating!

…

The battle video stayed as the top post on the forum. Han Xiao was the strongest fighter the players had seen so far. He could kill a strong enemy in one shot from hundreds of meters away. Not only that, he could also deploy a portable battery turret. Players were very envious of his capabilities. Whenever he appeared, he was like a dark phantom, omnipotent and mysterious. If not for his unappealing look, due to the Facial Simulator, he would have many female fans.

The first player to upload the videos was Mu Chen. He never had received any responses for his posts in the past, but this was his first time experiencing the feeling of having ten thousand people replying to his post. He was reading through the replies enthusiastically.

Ding Dong.

He received a notification from the system.

Mu Chen was puzzled. He had not added any friends. Who would send him a message?

_____________________

Dear esteemed player,

Your video has been selected as promotional material for version 1.0. The reward will be sent to your account within one working day. Do look out for it.

– Galaxy Official.

_____________________

Mu Chen was completely caught off-guard by the pleasant surprise.

Chapter 134 - Finally Found You

The vast majority of players were still busy with missions, but players in teams—essentially serious guilds or professional players—were more purposeful in their actions. They planned their developmental pathway carefully and worked steadily to advance.

But the Guild of Gods was in an awkward situation. Jupiter had dumped all the daily administrative work to the Vice President. He could not give up on the A-level mission. He had been leading a group of people to search high and low for Germinal’s bases but to no avail. Without any other means, he could only focus on the forum to see if any players were in contact with Germinal.

Despite all odds, Jupiter managed to find a lead.

“Andrea Mainland is Germinal’s base camp. Any player who arrives on Andrea Mainland can join Germinal’s side easily.”

But this lead was useless for Jupiter.

The core members of the A-level mission were all in Southern Continent, and Zero was more likely to be in Southern Continent too. However, Jupiter could not possibly bring a team over to Andrea Mainland. Most importantly, they had no access to another mainland.

In fact, they could actually take cruise ships or aircrafts, but none of the players had reached this level.

The most popular post on the forum was the battle scene recorded by the players at Big Horn Village. Jupiter had not seen it before, but he was finally opening it to take a look. He was caught off guard by shock. Just as he was about to close the post, he suddenly had an outlandish thought. He paused the video and scrutinized the scene. He finally concluded that the troop that was attacked had the Germinal Organization’s emblem on them.

He had finally found the organization!

Jupiter almost burst into tears before it occurred to him that the troop had been destroyed. His face changed suddenly. He quickly read through the content of the post, but unfortunately, the user did not elaborate on the details.

Jupiter was eager to find out what had happened, so he had members contact the players in Big Horn Village.

The guild was so efficient that he soon got to know that the troop that had been attacked was in fact an evacuating Germinal Organization unit. He was dumbfounded.

“Evacuate? Why are they evacuating? Where are they evacuating from? What is the scale of this evacuation—a single unit or a full battalion?”

Jupiter gulped nervously. He had an ominous feeling in his gut… Seems like we won’t be returning to the Germinal Organization any time soon.

This A-level mission was such a scam. Jupiter was so frustrated. Before the team could start on the mission, the organization that had issued the mission had run away.

…

In the evening, the setting sun covered the earth in a blood red glow. The outlines the moons were looming in the twilight sky.

In the woods outside Big Horn Village, Frenzied Sword was walking down the path, downcast in despondence.

“I must find him.” Frenzied Sword quickly broke away from his despondent mood and was talking to himself to boost his own spirits.

“Are you looking for me?” A voice came from ahead.

Frenzied Sword looked up. A truck was parked a few meters ahead with a man in black standing by it, staring at him intensely.

Black Phantom!

Frenzied Sword was ecstatic with excitement.

Every cloud had a silver lining!

“You, you… Have we met?” He could not be certain that Black Phantom was in fact Han Xiao. With much worry and fear, he felt like he was almost waiting for a verdict after he had asked the question.

Han Xiao smiled, revealing a tinge of amusement in his eyes. “What do you think?”

That familiar look! The look that made his hair stand on end!

Frenzied Sword was seized by joy; he was certain that this person was Han Xiao!

I’m so glad that I didn’t give up, and I finally found you! Oh, Savior!

“Come with me.” With a faint smile on his face, Han Xiao gestured toward his truck with his head. Trying his best to conceal his excitement, Frenzied Sword followed closely behind and got into the truck.

He did not care where Han Xiao was taking him as long as he could stay with Han Xiao…

Han Xiao smiled to himself. After spending some happy days together, he remembered Frenzied Sword well. But this was not the reason he chose to bring Frenzied Sword along. Frenzied Sword had great potential, and he was worth grooming.

In addition, having a player by his side meant he could send him to check out unknown and dangerous areas. Frenzied Sword would not die anyway, so he could be assured and use him well.

Han Xiao could use Frenzied Sword’s help in his next moves, so when he found that Frenzied Sword was following him, he stopped to wait for him.

Frenzied Sword did not realize that he was being treated as a lab rat again. He was full of excitement, checking out the truck with much curiosity. He remembered that Han Xiao was a member of Stardragon’s intelligence agency during the closed beta. How did he become Black Phantom out of the blue?

But that was not important. As long as he could be with Han Xiao, Frenzied Sword would be content.

“What are we going to do now?” asked Frenzied Sword after his excitement died down.

“Something evil.” Han Xiao took out a tablet and opened the map. He drew a circle around one region and threw it to Frenzied Sword.

Frenzied Sword took a brief look.

“Tedramira River, what kind of place is that?”

“A battleground,” Han Xiao replied calmly. He stepped firmly on the accelerator, and the truck raced off.

…

Tedramira River was a large river in Southern Continent connected to the sea.

In the darkness of the night, a long line of boats was cruising down the river. This was a huge fleet of ships disguised as fishing boats. The boats were actually Germinal warships, well equipped with various weapons, anti-detection jammers, machine gun arrays, and so on.

As a result of the Six Nations’ clean-up campaign, the Germinal Organization’s bases had begun to withdraw. A small number of important personnel was taking the air route. Most of the resources, transportation vehicles, and ordinary armed personnel were evacuating via a water route.

The evacuation was nearing its end. This fleet was the last remaining unit to withdraw from Southern Continent. The outer layer of frigates was guarding the barges in the center that were ferrying vehicles and armed personnel.

The evacuation plan was to go out to the sea along a tributary of the Tedramira River and join forces with other ground troops near the mouth of the sea. The ground troops would then board the ships.

The person in charge, Lin Yu, was the Chief Officer of the largest Germinal base in Southern Continent. Now he had taken the role of a commander and was also within the fleet.

Lin Yu was a middle-aged man, yet he was also an Executive Officer that was combat ready. He was analyzing the map with a solemn face in the command room. There were many links in the evacuation plan. The fleet and the ground troops had to ensure that they arrived at the mouth of the sea at the same time because the fleet could not possibly stay put.

During the evacuation, a large number of Stardragon and Hesla fighter planes were performing aerial reconnaissance. The fleet’s whereabouts had likely been exposed, and fear on the fleet was rising.

Lin Yu knew very well that Hesla and Stardragon would have set up a trap near the mouth of the sea to capture them. Their navy, air force, and army would be waiting to intercept their fleet and capture them all at once.

But from the very beginning, Lin Yu knew clearly that it was impossible to evacuate sneakily. A bitter battle was inevitable. Only by tearing past the blockade line could his troops escape alive.

“As long as we follow along the Tedramira River to the sea, we can get out of this nightmare, but don’t hold the illusion of a smooth passage. Lads, we will be facing a premeditated ambush. The Stardragon and Hesla Navy will do whatever they can to sink us near the mouth of the sea!

“I’ve been through thirteen wars. Some of them were big battles, others small. Some of you may be veterans like me, and some of you may be new recruits. Regardless, our destiny is the same. Break through the blockade line, and we can stay alive. If you are captured, even if you can survive, you will face indefinite imprisonment by Stardragon and Hesla. You can say goodbye to freedom in the sun!

“The Six Nations are a group of hypocritical and insidious villains who speak of peace and freedom but started a war. Don’t forget that your motherland was destroyed by the guns of the Six Nations. Never forget that hatred of blood!

“We have no choice but to fight till the very end!”

These words were Lin Yu’s speech for his subordinates. The armed personnel on board knew that there was going to be a fierce battle ahead, and they were all ready to fight.

There was a number of Germinal Executive Officers in the fleet, and Hila was among them. She was worried and apprehensive about the impending fight. In her opinion, it was a naïve hope to think of breaking through the blockade of Stardragon and Hesla’s ships.

Many of them would perish, and only a small number of people could survive.

However, Commander Lin Yu seemed to have it all worked out. Thus, Hila could only suppress her unease and conceal it from others. On the outside, she seemed the stoic person she had always been.

In fact, for Hila, even if every Germinal member on the fleet died, she could not care less. She hated the Germinal Organization, but she could only survive with the help of these Germinal soldiers.

She knew that her hands were covered in blood, and she had never shunned it. Self-reproach and compassion belonged to good people. These emotions were too costly for her. From the day of her Awakening, she knew that she could never be a good person.

To rule death meant that she was destined to be banished to hell.

But her sister, Aurora, was completely different. She was an angel who used her love for the world to touch everyone she met. The only thing Hila regretted was that she did not protect her sister well, resulting in her falling into the hands of the Germinal Organization.

No matter what, I have to live on…

Only by surviving and demonstrating her usefulness could she help to reduce her sister’s suffering.

Anyone that stopped her would be an enemy.

Staring at the waves of the river, Hila was cold and stoic.

Chapter 135 - Ah, What A Familiar Taste

The Tedramira River branched out into the sea. The fleet of Stardragon and Hesla ships formed a tight blockade, and the riverbed of the estuary was also planted with many mines.

Both countries knew the whereabouts of the Germinal Organization's evacuation troops. Stardragon and Hesla regarded this battle with high importance as it was an excellent opportunity to eliminate an army of the Germinal Organization.

The inescapable net had been laid. In the eyes of the two countries, Germinal was a trapped beast; even if it knew there was a hunter trap waiting, it would have no choice but to approach it.

The battlefield was divided into two areas, and each country was responsible for one of the two areas. Hesla was mainly responsible for the sea blockade, while Stardragon's forces were in charge of land interception. This method of cooperation split the responsibility and prevented command conflicts.

Considering the individual combat effectiveness of the Germinal executives, Division 13 also sent secret agents to act as an emergency team and an assault troop. They would take on special tactical tasks and were waiting at a small dock near the estuary to be dispatched by the army commander.

Zhang Wei's team was among them.

A row of boats meant for assault had docked neatly, and green military tents were hidden in the grove behind the dock.

Despite the two months, the team had not changed much. Zhang Wei was as serious as before, Li Yalin was as sexy as ever, Lin Yao still looked mistreated, and Lambert was as silent as a stone.

The only change was the addition of a young new face.

"Hou Yue, you've been with us for a month now and have been through enough training. This mission is really important, so do not make any mistakes," Zhang Wei instructed the newcomer Hou Yue in the team's tent.

Hou Yue was a thin young man. He had two guns around his waist. With long, flowing hair, he was quite handsome. He nodded and smiled arrogantly. "Leader, you worry too much! During this past month, which task have I not completed successfully?"

Zhang Wei nodded in agreement. Hou Yue was an agent trained in Division 13 and had filled the vacancy of Han Xiao by joining the team. He had been performing well and did not cause Zhang Wei any worry.

Li Yalin hugged her hands to her chest and sat one side with her legs folded. She was frowning and appeared to be in a bad mood.

The truth was, after Han Xiao had skipped town, the agents who had lost their deposits all came to get their money back, and since then, her mood had never been good.

Hou Yue came over and sat next to Li Yalin. He teased, "Beauty Li, what are you thinking about?"

Li Yalin glared at him and retorted, "Are you a curious baby? How is this any of your concern?"

Hou Yue wanted to get close to Li Yalin badly. When he first joined and laid eyes on Li Yalin, he was stunned by her beauty. It pleased him to no end that he was teammates with someone this beautiful. Hence, he frequently tried to strike up conversations with Li Yalin. However, after being fooled by Han Xiao, she had developed a strong dislike toward newcomers. Thus, whenever she saw Hou Yue she would think of Han Xiao, so naturally, she did not have a good impression of Hou Yue.

Li Yalin was so annoyed by Hou Yue that she suddenly smiled menacingly. "You love talking, right?"

While speaking, she clenched her fists and cracked her knuckles. One could almost see the anger fumes rising from within and forming in her fists.

Hou Yue recoiled immediately. He knew that once Li Yalin showed this expression, she meant to beat people up. When he first joined the team, he had experienced it first hand and spent three days in the medical department.

Lin Biao, who was watching from the side, shook his head and feigned maturity. "Little monkey, you are still too terrified. In terms of courage, I only admire Brother Xiao."

"Who exactly is Brother Xiao?"

Hou Yue was puzzled. Since joining the team, he had learned that this team's full strength was six, but there was always one person missing. It was reasonable to cross out those players who were missing, but in this team, the sixth spot was always kept.

Also, he always heard the team speak of 'Brother Xiao'. This made Hou Yue extremely curious about this sixth person.

Li Yalin exploded immediately and fumed, "Do not mention his name in front of me!"

"Do not forget that we still have a mission to complete. You can't punch me!" Lin Biao looked composed, but his legs were trembling.

Hou Yue felt that Li Yalin's reaction was slightly exaggerated. Based on his experience, this was exactly the reaction of a resentful woman who had been abandoned by her man.

On second thought, maybe a heavy debt could result in the same reaction as well.

Zhang Wei shook his head, let out a breath, and explained, "Han Xiao was originally our teammate. However, he left because of some special reasons."

"Special reasons?" Hou Yue used his imagination and probed, "Was he sent to carry out a special mission?"

Zhang Wei shook his head.

"Was he transferred to another team by the superior?"

Zhang Wei shook his head.

"Then where did he go?" Hou Yue was bewildered.

Li Yalin huffed. "He could be dead for all we know."

"Who are you kidding? Why keep his spot if he really is dead? You all speak as if you all hate him, but why do I feel like you all actually miss him a lot?"

Silence.

After a long time, Li Yalin stood and smiled slightly.

"Choose a way to die."

Hou Yue scampered off.

Lambert shook his head and kept his sword sheathed.

…

Stardragon's infantry army was lying in ambush in the valley near the estuary. The goal was to intercept Germinal's infantry troops that had come to converge. Sleepy Winter, Twinkle Fried Rice, and Rainy Kim served as backline support.

The three had joined the Stardragon Army during Beta-testing but had since changed their professions. Twinkle Fried Rice and Rainy Kim were in the martial arts line while Sleepy Winter's character had exploded and awakened his ability using the store's DNA.

As recruits, they were also appointed to act as backline support in this battle. What pleased them was that they managed to spark a Camp-destroyer series quest, [The Battle of Tedramira River].

However, they soon became frustrated. This series had more than a dozen targets. They could only complete the few backline support targets in the series, which were the simplest and had the lowest rewards. Other tasks such as killing ten Germinal soldiers, assassinating a Germinal executive, or destroying transport vehicles were completely beyond their capabilities.

"This does not seem like our level of mission," Sleepy Winter grumbled.

Both Twinkle Fried Rice and Rainy Kim agreed. They had been drawn into a difficult mission that was totally beyond their current level. Looking at their novice level, it was simply none of their business.

The three of them had no idea that the Germinal Organization and the Six Nations had a head-on conflict that happened three months after the beta game. At that time, the players had a basic understanding of the world structure, and they also possessed some combat strength. The conflict between Germinal and the Six Nations started happening on a very small scale, and bit by bit, it enabled players to become involved and have a chance to show off.

However, Han Xiao had completely disrupted the whole process. He had brought forward the conflict between the Six Nations and the Germinal Organization, leaving the current players totally incapable of participating. To be exact, the players had been cheated of their original main quest.

This benefited Han Xiao as it decreased the variables bought by the players.

Whoosh!

Two heavy-duty transport helicopters bearing a Fabian logo landed slowly in a valley. The wind was so strong that the grass at the landing site swayed in all directions like a wave.

"Old Black, we've arrived," Pilot Antonio lazily called.

"I can see. Also, do not call me Old Black!" Han Xiao retorted. "Call Black Phantom if you must—foolishly calling me Old Black will affect my luck."

Antonio removed his earmuffs and puffed out a cloud of smoke. "Forget it, you don't have much luck anyway."

"Get lost," Han Xiao said irritably.

In the past two months, Han Xiao had maintained a good working relationship with the Fabian Company, and Antonio was warming up to him day by day.

Frenzied Sword hid in a corner on the helicopter, shivering while he watched the two 'extremely deadly' godfathers talk and laugh merrily. Frenzied Sword had thought that Han Xiao would drive to their destination, but with just a phone call, two helicopters came to pick them up. At this moment, Frenzied Sword thought even higher of Han Xiao.

Employees from Fabian carried down the supplies from the helicopters, and most of the items were weapons that Han Xiao had deposited with Fabian. He thought that he could use these weapons for this mission. There was also a disassembled truck that Fabian's maintenance team was working on reassembling. All the while, Han Xiao and Antonio were chatting at one side.

Antonio had always thought that Han Xiao was only interested in the bounty and asked curiously, "I heard Stardragon and Hesla are planning to intersect the retreating Germinal Troops in the Tedramira River, but what bad blood do you have with Germinal?"

"How do you know which side I'll be helping?" Han Xiao chuckled.

Antonio held a cigar in one hand while the other tucked in his jeans pocket, and he frowned. "Are you thinking of helping Germinal instead?"

Although the Germinal Organization was big in the underground world, other forces always kept a respectful distance from them. Ultimately, the underground world preferred to coexist peacefully. After all, only a stable situation would lead to profits. The Germinal Organization was seen as a group of bandits who used hatred as motivation.

Han Xiao refused to comment and walked to one side. He took out his phone and dialed another number, and the voice of Blood Pact Society's personnel could be heard.

"Mr. Black Phantom, may I help you?"

Ever since Han Xiao made it to top ten of the killer list, the Blood Pact Society valued him greatly and gave him special treatment; there was someone on standby 24-hours to answer his calls and provide special services.

Yup, decent and proper services.

Part of the status came from his capabilities, and the other part was from his good relationship with Bennett, which was valued by the Dark Net Organization.

"I need the latest movement of both the retreating Germinal Troops as well as Stardragon and Hesla's troops.

"Sure, I'm accessing the documents now. The information will be sent to your computer shortly."

"Ok, I also need a helicopter on call at the small dock near the estuary of Tedramira River."

"As you wish."

Frenzied Sword, who was listening at one side, heard everything clearly. From his tone, he could really feel how powerful and strong Han Xiao was.

After hanging up, Han Xiao noticed Frenzied Sword, who was idling at one side. He thought for a bit and decided to give him a mission that he just came up with.

_____________________

Mission: [Get High!]

Requirement: Dance sexily to brighten the mood."

_____________________

Frenzied Sword's face was full of tears.

Ah, the familiar taste of evil pranks!

Chapter 136 - On the Verge of a Battle

Tedramira River divided into branches flowing through Cloud Valley and eventually reaching the sea.

The location where Han Xiao had landed was on the edge of Cloud Valley. According to the information from the Dark Net Organization, Germinal’s evacuating land troops would converge with their maritime troops after passing through the valley.

Han Xiao’s target was to intercept the land troops. He was clear that the two countries would have planted their land troops in ambush; it was highly possible that the troops were placed within Cloud Valley. If he got any closer, he would be discovered. At this juncture, he did not wish to be in contact with the two countries.

Looks like I’ll have to choose a good spot.

With that thought in his mind, Han Xiao folded his arms and watched Fabian’s team assemble the truck’s front and frame. They also hung up the mechanical equipment in the cargo properly. While they were working, they were shockingly watching Frenzied Sword seductively dancing at one side.

“The item is delivered. I’ll get going now.”

“Alright, send Matthews my regards.” Han Xiao nodded with a smile.

Antonio waved before rising into the sky on his helicopter and disappeared swiftly over the horizon. The Fabian Company was only responsible for the transport of weapons and ammunition and had never taken part in battles.

Han Xiao sat inside the truck and took a look at the detailed map that had been sent over through the Dark Net. He was about to drive off when his phone rang.

“Hello.”

“Black Phantom, you’re joining in the Germinal commotion?” Bennett asked over the phone, surprised.

“Yes, you should come and play, too,” Han Xiao jokingly replied.

“The Dark Net has always been neutral; don’t go overboard. The Germinal Organization is a crazy bunch of old hags; they’ll attack whoever they see. I’m very frustrated because of them,” Bennett said helplessly.

“Don’t worry, I’ve never cheated my teammate.”

Bennett doubted his words. “Forget it, anyway, I will need your help with some matters later on.”

Over these past two months, Han Xiao had often called Bennett to keep in touch since he had Bennett’s number. Furthermore, with Han Xiao’s growing fame, Bennett was more than happy to converse with him. Hence, the relationship between the two of them was good.

After pocketing his phone, Han Xiao shook his head, stepped on the accelerator, and drove along the edge of the valley toward the area of his selected spot.

…

The river flowing through Cloud Valley provided moisture for the fertile soil. The terrain was relatively diversified; there were plains with shallow grasses, forests and hills. The scenery was beautiful; it calmed and relaxed one’s mind, compelling people to put down all their hatred and troubles.

Stardragon had a massive amount of land troops lying in ambush in the area, and they were armed with all kinds of battle equipment—tanks, attack helicopters, a coverage array of medium-distance guided missiles, and also a large number of minefields.

The commander of the land troops was a Stardragon official known as Huang Qiuming who had over twenty years of military service. His style was serious and meticulous. The reason Stardragon’s higher-ups had decided to use him was because they had taken a liking to Huang Qiuming’s stable style. As long as this battle followed the plan, victory is assured.

In the command vehicle’s position, Huang Qiuming looked at the map filled with markings and nodded expressionlessly.

“Everything is in order; the first layer of ambush is a minefield. If Germinal do not come in, they will miss their chance to meet with the maritime forces. Therefore, even if they are aware of the traps, they will still have to advance forward. The armed helicopter troops are always on standby; they can attack the minesweeper enemy troops from above, and the array of missile vehicles is always aiming at the edge of the woods. Once the enemy crosses the woods, we can strike…”

As long as everything went according to the plan, the enemy would have no way to escape.

…

The evacuating Germinal troops in the Southern Continent formed a large fleet with hundreds of different tanks; this huge army consisted of all the survivors of the retreating troops.

Lin Yu was the chief commander while the person in charge of the land troops was a white man known as Ugar.

Ugar was well aware that the troops were about to be ambushed. In order to keep up with the maritime forces, they had to pass through Cloud Valley. Hence, they were unable to avoid this confrontation. However, he had already made preparations for it; the evacuation troops of these bases carried with them new weapons, and some were rather formidable, definitely able to catch the enemy by surprise.

All these experimental weapons were important goods, and they even had some secret weapons who had undergone human experiments, specifically, the [Super Soldier Project].

…

After one big lap, the truck stopped at the edge on the other side of Cloud Valley. The tip-off had shown that this was a route that the Germinal land troops were unable to take as it was very far away.

Han Xiao did not enter the woods and took out a pile of spider detectors, more than forty in fact. They were activated through his tablet computer and started vibrating. They looked like a bunch of troops waiting for orders.

After two months of accumulation, Han Xiao’s skills had improved again; thus, his existing machinery had been renewed and strengthened. The spider detector was equipped with a low-level smart chip that automatically detected threats and fed them back to the computer. Hence, there was no need for Han Xiao to constantly refer to the screen. By adding a new drawing SUI anti-radar detection coating, it could better conceal its tracks, which was suitable for designated surveillance.

Han Xiao sent most of the spider detectors into the woods and left a few to advance in the opposite direction to scout for the Germinal Organization’s arrival.

While doing this job, Frenzied Sword got off the truck and noticed an extra line of words appearing in the status column.

_____________________

You’ve gained [Severe Car Sickness].

30% deducted from all attributes.

_____________________

“What the hell is this?” Frenzied Sword was flabbergasted. The experience feel he set was twenty percent true. He did not fully experience the thrill of the old driver’s driving skills, but the interface showed his physical state truthfully.

“Need me to do anything?” Frenzied Sword asked, thinking he could trigger a mission.

Han Xiao shook his head. “Not at the moment.”

Frenzied Sword’s combat strength was too low for this type of battle. He would only be useful as fearless cannon fodder.

Various minefields and radar detections had been laid in the woods a long time ago. Anyone entering the area would draw attention. Patience, adequate preparation, perfect planning, and calibrating other mechanical weapons were all he needed to do for the time being.

There were still a few days before the arrival of the Germinal Organization’s troops. Han Xiao had been preparing and waiting in the van. Frenzied Sword was by his side, receiving small tasks from him every day.

Even though he thought that Frenzied Sword had potential, he would not groom Frenzied Sword fully. The Experience he gave Frenzied Sword was limited compared to those players in the same period, yet Frenzied Sword was extremely satisfied.

Han Xiao was also reading the forum every day; the players were still as enthusiastic as before. He mainly paid attention to the Aquamarine section to know the progress of the players. It was still the novice phase. After they had grown, there would be a huge event that targeted the players waiting for them, and that was the prelude to the chaos.

Does me disrupting the quest mean that the player’s misfortunes will be delayed… or will they be brought forward?

Han Xiao rubbed his beard stubble, silently pondering. That was the first time the players had raised the attention of major forces on the planet. He still remembered that the previous generations had caused a ruckus that resulted in an extensive discussion, which was highly praised.

…

The moon was covered by dark clouds, and there was a thick fog that made it impossible to make out one’s own hand.

Spider No.1 was in the plains under the night sky, motionless, and faithfully executing the orders in sequence.

Boom!

The ground suddenly vibrated, and Spider No.1’s sensor felt the tremors. The detector immediately charged toward the direction of the vibrations.

A huge fleet of Germinal Troops could be seen in the distance, and Spider No.1 was right in their path.

Spider No.1 loyally transmitted out an alarm signal in the form of electric waves.

The vehicle was nearing, yet Spider No.1 foolishly remained, not knowing to hide.

Whoosh!

The huge fleet rapidly rolled passed, leaving a cloud of smoke behind.

It was not until the smoke and dust dispersed that the appearance of Spider No.1 could be made out.

Its body was covered in dust, yet it was not damaged in any ways; it seemed like the compressed wheels surprisingly did not grind over it at all.

Spider No.1 moved its limbs and turned around before continuing to follow its orders and dumbly following the fleet.

Chapter 137 - A Wild Black Phantom (1)

Han Xiao’s tablet received real-time alerts from Spider No.1. He immediately hopped off the driving seat of the truck and signaled Frenzied Sword, who had been waiting online for two whole days. Han Xiao remembered that the VR-Capsule of this era had yet to perfect the body analysis and nutrients-balancing functions.

No wonder he is a professional player. Guy’s got great kidneys.

“Let’s go,” Han Xiao said.

“Okay…” Frenzied Sword was confused, but following Han Xiao would never be a bad choice.

The pitch-black truck had a layer of SUI anti-radar paint coated over it. Han Xiao came up with this using the basic theory of Spatial Sensing, and it had been effective at reducing the chance of being discovered by radars.

The second the armies from Stardragon and Germinal met each other, a massive war would break out; that would be the perfect time for a third party to take advantage of the situation.

First, they needed to find a suitable hideout to snipe from. It needed to be some distance away from the battlefield. Han Xiao had found a spot long ago, and it was a cliff along the mountainous range in Cloud Valley. That location was perfect for aiming at the barren fields beyond the forest. This meant that the moment the Germinal Organization’s troops stepped out from the jungle, he could start firing away.

The only problem was that he had to arrive at the mountain range fast and avoid getting detected by the army radars in the process. The painted layer could not guarantee evading detection, so there were risks of getting exposed. However, Han Xiao was not too worried because by the time Germinal’s troops drew near, the army in the valley would be too occupied to be bothered with him.

The truck sped into the valley jungle.

…

“Commander Huang! The radar is showing a suspicious target!” shouted a soldier in the Stardragon Strategic Department tent.

Huang Qiuming strode over to the radar display screen, which was showing a flashing light entering Cloud Valley region. The signal was inconsistent and weak, and it seemed that the target had a certain level of anti-radar capabilities. It only showed up because Stardragon army was using an army radar this time, which was extremely powerful.

“Only one target?” Huang Qiuming’s eyebrows were tightly knitted together. He felt that it might be a Germinal scout, but the location of target was very far-off from the path that Germinal was taking.

“Whatever it is, just deal with it first.” Huang Qiuming did not want any unwanted surprise elements to hinder the plan, and he was about to send out a stand-by troop when all the radar detection screens blacked out simultaneously!

“What’s happening‽” Huang Qiuming shouted.

Soldiers rushed to recalibrate but to no avail.

“Reporting to you, Sir. The radars have been deactivated by very strong electromagnetic radiation, which is coming from the direction of the Germinal army. We found the Germinal army’s tracks three minutes ago, and the preliminary conclusion is that they have some sort of advanced device that can destroy radars!”

“They want to take away our sight. Activate the spare radars, mute their electrical signals. Make sure they are powered on randomly once every five to twelve seconds.” Huang Qiuming seemed composed and quickly issued his commands. As for the suspicious target, he could only leave it aside. It was more critical to deal with the huge Germinal army at this point in time.

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a screeching sound could be heard coming from the horizon.

A dozen mid-range missiles were steadily approaching Stardragon camps, leaving fiery trails behind them. These missiles suddenly split into countless bullet heads in midair and started raining down.

…

At the same time, the Germinal army emerged from the jungle region on the edge of Cloud Valley.

Ugar’s face was dead serious. The vehicles were carrying anti-radar equipment, created by the Germinal Organization, that was still in the experimental stages. It was capable of catching radar detection and emitting strong long-distance EM radiation waves that could destroy radars that were in use, all while simultaneously detecting the exact location of the enemies’ radars.

Ugar decided that he had found the enemies’ base, so he ordered for the beehive-type missile assault vehicle to launch attacks, firing the cluster munition missiles, which was a mature weapon that had already gone past the experimental stage.

What he did not know was that he had indirectly done Han Xiao a favor by destroying Stardragon’s radars.

Surely, such attacks could not injure the Stardragon army. Indeed, the Stardragon army aimed and fired their missile intercepting machine guns toward the cluster ammunition, creating explosions and intercepting the bullets in mid-air.

Both sides were ready for the battle. The only question here was: who was more prepared?

“Enemies will soon reactivate their radars. We don’t have much time left; we need to launch attacks now!”

Ugar commanded in a dead serious tone, “Bomb-detecting team, you go first!”

With the vehicles carrying portable bomb-detectors leading the way, the Germinal troops were able to quickly detect where Stardragon had planted bombs and detonate them with their machine gun. Germinal was steadily and safely advancing.

This time, when the anti-radar equipment discovered signals from Stardragon’s radars, it was unable to destroy the radars as Stardragon’s radar would switch off before anything could be done to it. Ugar knew that the real fight would be starting soon.

The helicopters’ rotors were roaring as they flew close to the ground. The Germinal troops had to advance against the merciless firing.

Among the flames and explosions, Ugar commanded in fury, “Fire the graphite missiles!”

A handful of graphite missiles soared through the air, landing among the helicopters. Graphite missiles could cause local short-circuit, hitting the helicopter squad hard, causing many to malfunction. The enemy firepower was reduced significantly.

“Mihawks, after your troop gets out from the jungle, lead the assault troops to fight the enemies head-on! Your task is very important; you have to distract the enemies!” Ugar spoke into the walkie talkie.

Mihawks was sitting in one of the transport vehicles, and he replied with a light grunt. Mihawks was extremely well-built, and he was a master of martial arts. His strategic task was to lead a few teams of elite fighters to assault the enemy camps with bombs. His agile combat style, coupled with bulletproof vest, allowed him to dive smoothly through the bullet storm.

Superhumans were mainly assigned to assault and assassinate on the battlefields.

At the Stardragon base, Huang Qiuming stared at the Germinal army expressionlessly as they trod through the jungle. “Artillery, get ready; armored vehicles, stand by; elite team, prepare to fight the enemy assault team!”

Stardragon’s elite team consisted of the strongest and the best soldiers, including Superhumans who were biologically equipped with skills to fight. Stardragon was very prepared for this battle.

This large-scale battle scene left the logistic team leaders—Sleepy Winter, Flash Fried Rice, and Rainy Kim—in awe. Judging from the intense atmosphere, hazy smoke, and deafening explosions, they knew that the battle was too high level for them to join in.

“Thought I was going to die when the missiles flew over just now.” Twinkle Fried Rice heaved a sigh of relief.

Sleepy Winter laughed bitterly. “Let’s just stick to delivering resources. No way we can handle any battle tasks.”

Rainy Kim’s expression was calm. With a hint of determination, she said, “I want to give it a shot.”

“We only have a few handguns, what can we do?”

“I want to try.”

“Forget it. If we go, we will just court our own deaths!”

“I. Want. To. Try.”

Sleepy Winter and Twinkle Fried Rice made eye contact and relented. “Okay, okay. You’re the boss; you are the prettiest. We’ll follow you. Let’s go together.”

Expressionless, Rainy Kim started walking right away after getting their agreement, and the other two could not do anything but keep up behind her.

…

It was a party of gunfire and explosions. Han Xiao slowly drove his car to the target location on the cliff, where he could see the grand fireworks in the distance in the jungle.

There were spider detectors hidden in the jungle. Some of them had been destroyed, but some lived and were loyally updating the battle situation for Han Xiao. Judging from their location, Germinal troops were going to get out of the jungle and into the open fields very soon.

In the distance, on the Tedramira River, explosions appeared on the surface of the water as well. Han Xiao took out his binoculars, and he could see that the Germinal ships were also getting attacked, and the attack was worse than the one they were facing in the valley.

Germinal ships had yet to reach the straits, and they were already getting bombed heavily by fighter jets. The missiles rained down like a storm, and the machine gun interceptor array would not stop even for a second. Huge fiery explosions lit up the night sky and seemed just like fireworks.

“It’s time to get ready.”

Han Xiao took out a few foldable battery ports, came up with a task with decent rewards, and issued it to Frenzied Sword.

Tasks like setting up traps and stuff were obviously for these fresh, young players.

As Frenzied Sword rushed off to set up the traps, Han Xiao took out a mechanical neck brace and wore it around the back of his neck. It was a soft layer made from unknown material. He turned it on, and a numbing electric shock started to spread from his neck to his brain. Han Xiao shivered slightly and felt adrenaline rush through his body.

_____________________

You have entered [Excitation] mode.

All attributes +5%

Duration: 20 minutes

_____________________

This machine was called [Electromagnetic Pulse Controller]. It was a special piece of equipment that used EM waves to adjust biological conditions and improve the user’s attributes. Han Xiao had gotten this blueprint from talent fusing by accident.

After getting ready, with all the needed attributes turned on, Han Xiao lay down with his Ghost sniper rifle in hand and the Red Falcon lying next to him. His eyes were sharp as eagles, and they were glued to the battlefield.

BOOM!

An area of trees was blown up. The Germinal troops had finally made it out of the forest.

“Come on, baby.”

Han Xiao narrowed his eyes and aimed.

Chapter 138 - A Wild Black Phantom (2)

“Airstrike!”

Stardragon’s missile-carrying vehicles fired mercilessly at the Germinal troops. The missiles approached with high-pitched screeches, adding to the heavy atmosphere

Ugar did not panic; he commanded the troops to close up the gaps in their formation, with the vehicles carrying multi-barreled machine guns at the front, forming an assault formation. This reduced the area of target, and the machine guns destroyed all the missiles in the area in midair, forming a vacuum, allowing the troops to smoothly sail through the explosion waves.

Huang Qiuming paused.

He had just received news that the battle at Tedramira River was at a heated stage; the strategic team had primarily marked out a few locations where Germinal teams could have gathered. The strategic team advised him to change from the original plan to use Plan B. Huang Qiuming made some rearrangements and instructed the interception ring to leave a gap.

At the same time, Rainy Kim and the others made it to the front line. Large number of soldiers gathered with proper attire and equipment, armored vehicles had their engines running, and elite soldiers were standing by.

“How are we going to join in the fight?” Sleepy Winter asked helplessly.

Rainy Kim frowned and thought for a while before nodding. “I don’t know.”

Then why are you nodding‽ Sleepy Winter wanted to bang his head against the floor.

Twinkle Fried Rice suddenly pointed to the battlefield and shouted, “Someone is coming! Oh sh*t! It looks like a high-level player!”

The other two turned to look in the same direction. They watched as a buff man led a team of well-armed soldiers on heavy-armored motorbikes to separate from the main troop. They sped toward the Stardragon base while smoothly dodging all the bullets.

…

Mihawks dodged a series of attacks on his heavy-armored bike, but he inadvertently triggered a mine, and his bike was blown apart. He began to run, at a speed almost as fast as the motorbikes, through the bullets. His task was to deliver the bomb that he was carrying to the Stardragon base.

Superhumans usually fought in assault teams on the battlefields. Mihawks could see that the enemies had sent their elite teams toward them.

He concentrated expressionlessly and adjusted his inner energy to save up for later.

Suddenly, Mihawks instinctively felt that there was imminent danger, he reacted extremely quickly, pushed hard with his legs, and was going to change direction.

But he was not fast enough.

A bullet with blue light trailing behind it hit Mihawks’ neck from the side and caused a huge splatter of blood. He was critically injured. He groaned and spat out mouthfuls of blood. There was absolutely no cover on the fields; his only choice was to keep running forward, but his wound caused him to slow down significantly.

A combat fighter, who could fight through gunfire, had been critically injured by one shot!

Huang Qiuming was shocked.

“That was not us. Who’s the sniper‽”

He remembered the suspicious target that had been detected at the start and felt that this shot seems really familiar. He pondered for two seconds, and his eyes widened.

Only a monster sniper could critically damage a superhuman—the Black Phantom that only recently had become involved in underground activities.

Bullet with blue light, it must be him!

What is he doing here? Why help us?

“Commander, what do we do now?” the vice-captain asked.

Huang Qiuming considered and made up his mind decisively “He doesn’t look like enemy. Don’t care about him; focus on fighting Germinal.”

Usually, snipers’ skills would be of very limited use in this kind of battle, but when super snipers like Black Phantom came into the picture, it would be a completely different story.

The Stardragon did not know why Black Phantom was helping them, but needless to say, this helped them greatly!

…

Ugar was furious.

“One shot to critically injure Mihawks, that must be that damned Black Phantom! Not long ago, he got Freire’s team too. This monster must have joined the fight at Stardragon’s request!

Ugar felt immense pressure when he thought of Black Phantom’s kill statistics that had been circulating on the Dark Web. He had been crowned a ‘Superhuman killer’—way too dangerous. Even though Ugar was stronger than Mihawks, he did not want to have a taste of Black Phantom’s strength.

Mistaking Han Xiao for someone on Stardragon’s side, Ugar angrily commanded, “Team 3, locate and terminate the sniper. Take the test subjects with you; you must at least divert his attention away from us!”

One armored vehicle left the main troop and sped toward Han Xiao’s location.

…

_____________________

You have dealt 1,297 actual damage to Mihawks (LV 40)!

You have critically damaged Mihawks!

_____________________

Mihawks has entered a weakened state. All attributes have decrease 50% for 10 seconds.

_____________________

Wow, this guy is quite tanky. Han Xiao was surprised. This shot’s theoretical damage was 1,600. Taking combat fighters’ body attributes into consideration, it would be about 1,300. This had knocked out Bai Jin, who was LV 48, in one hit, but Mihawks was still up and running. Combat fighters are indeed very tanky.

This time [Flaming Will] was not too good; it only buffed his attack by 148%. His Ghost sniper rifle had been maxed out in all its attributes after the strengthening. None of the Experience earned had gone to waste. Han Xiao either saved the Experience or used it to level up skills, talents, and equipment, which were the key to having strong firepower!

After his first shot, Han Xiao activated a new task.

_____________________

[Tedramira River Warfare (Misc.)]: You have joined in the battle between Stardragon and the Germinal Organization. Since you have chosen your side, see what you can do for your allies.

_____________________

This was a class C mission. The player had to kill Germinal soldiers and prevent them from escaping. Reward would be based on task performance.

The reward Experience shouldn’t be less than three hundred thousand. Han Xiao was satisfied that he could earn Experience by being a busybody.

Han Xiao fired single shots at Mihawks, who could not escape the fate of being swallowed by the explosions and shots. His death was tragic.

This marked the end of a combat fighter who was even stronger than Pan Kuang.

Combat fighters are great in close quarters against few people, but if you want to deal with armies, even if it’s not technologically advanced, you must at least be half as strong as Bennett, Han Xiao thought to himself.

Combat fighting makes use of energy. Everyone wants to be a hero, and combat fighting allows fighters to dominate whenever and wherever, without the need of weapons.

However, even though this style of fighting is very strong, one must have gone through the necessary growth. C class marks this line, the level cap for players of in the 1.0 version.

…

The snipers had greatly weakened the assault team, which had been caught by the counter troops from Stardragon. The assault plan had barely started and was already failing terribly under Han Xiao’s intervention.

At this moment, he noticed that a troop had veered off from the Germinal main troop and was moving toward him. He changed his target and started firing using the Red Falcon sniper gun. Because Stardragon was also present, Han Xiao intentionally avoided using the high-explosive bullets.

A sniper rifle could only deal limited damage to armored cars, so Han Xiao activated the portable battery that had been set up beforehand.

Three hundred meters in front of the Germinal troop, four portable batteries transformed into small multi-barreled machine guns. They fired rapidly, and some of the armored vehicles exploded on the spot. The remaining soldiers had to spread out and launch counterattacks on the portable batteries.

Once the team spread out, the portable battery was a lot less effective because it had to rotate and aim instead of aiming at one spot.

The portable batteries did not have defensive mechanisms, even if Han Xiao used platinum as the surface material, and two out of four were blown to bits very quickly. Overall, the result was good. More than half of the vehicles were destroyed, and the enemies were significantly weakened.

At this moment, the troops did something that Han Xiao did not expect. The opened the rear of one of the armored vehicles. Three humanoids jumped out of the car and ran toward the portable batteries at a speed faster than car. They looked really strange, and Frenzied Sword was taken aback.

“What in the world are those things?” Frenzied Sword wanted to use detection on them but was informed that he was too far away.

The three humanoids were well-built and expressionless. There were large amounts of metallic joints and structures inside the arms, legs, and spinal regions. The metal was fixed into the bones at joints, such as in their knees and elbows. As they were running, the metallic joints would have blood seeping out. There was no doubt that every movement would inflict great pain, but the trio seemed emotionless as if they could not feel any pain.

Moreover, there was a layer of thin armor growing from the skin of the humanoids.

Han Xiao recognized the humanoids the second he saw them.

Chapter 139 - A Wild Black Phantom (3)

Germinal’s super soldier project has been brought forward a year?

Han Xiao raised his eyebrows.

This project was originally intended to create humanoids with battle potential. Through exoskeletons cybernetics, they improved test-subjects’ physical capabilities by experimentation. Through the pure strength of the technology, it supported their physical body, and as a result, warriors with the battle power of super-soldiers could be mass-produced.

However, the technology was still in its infancy. The process was very painful because the exoskeleton had to be directly connected to the nerves, and various mechanical parts had to be implanted into the body to strengthen the physique.

Only experimented Valkyrie specimens whose mental resilience was strengthened could withstand such modifications. At the end of it all, their sense of pain would fade away, and they would only move on instinct.

By the whole of Galaxy’s standards, it was a very undeveloped modification technique and had already been eliminated long ago. But on Aquamarine, the Germinal Organization was able to develop the technique further by neglecting the physical condition of the test-subjects.

The exoskeleton was not only a piece of equipment that could be worn externally, but it could also be infused as a part of the body. Doing so would connect one’s nerves to the armor, giving the person greater mobility. However, the Germinal Organization had yet to develop the technology to maturity. By experimentation, they only managed to develop to infant stages of the technology.

Aquamarine’s major players each held one or a few advanced skills, and [Nerve Integration] was an advancement knowledge that was in Germinal’s hands.

The advanced skill that Han Xiao had learned was only [Advanced Material Composition]. For the players on Aquamarine to obtain the advancement knowledge, they had to have a large contribution after entering the camp. Han Xiao set his sights to the very distant future. Advancement knowledge was very rare on Aquamarine, but in the long term, one could also spend some Aquamarine dollars to obtain it easily. If he were unable to obtain other advancement knowledge from Aquamarine, there would still be other opportunities to do so in the future.

In the original plan, these super soldiers had special effects, but the three experimental super soldiers before him were not yet complete. The bodies even had a large amount of heat armor equipped, and these three were only using the external exoskeletons to strengthen their physiques, which were also incomplete.

Looks like Germinal’s experimental project hasn’t matured yet. Exoskeletons… Come to think of it, when I was escaping the lab, I left a Lightweight Mechanical Arm behind. Seems like Germinal has been using it to experiment.

Han Xiao’s eyes lit up. Such a thought was not without reason. The three test-subjects’ mechanical arms resembled the Lightweight Mechanical Arm. They were very sturdy and even had extendable golden shields embedded that could block shots fired by the portable batteries.

The three test-subjects separated from the vehicles and started spreading out the firepower from the portable batteries. The three successfully drew close to the portable battery, bombarding it with countless attacks using their fists wrapped in exoskeleton armor. The exoskeleton that was rooted to the joints released smoke. As they used more power, they instantly destroyed the portable battery, causing it to fall to its side as it cracked open.

After taking down the remaining portable batteries, the three sprinted toward Han Xiao, each step moving them seven to eight meters ahead, with an overwhelming killing intent completely directed toward him.

Han Xiao’s gaze remained unfazed as he pulled out his tablet, quickly unleashing another hidden weapon.

The trailer shook violently as two Second-Generation Rovers rushed out to Han Xiao’s side. Instantly, they activated [Furious Fusillade]. With both hands, the machine gun released its rounds, as their chests shot out mini rocket missiles, ravaging the three test-subjects. The damage was dealt heavily but was almost entirely blocked by the exoskeleton armor, with only its endurance dropping.

The three test-subjects’ stats were also exposed.

_____________________

Based on your level, you acquired the following information:

_____________________

Super-Soldier Experimental Body (042)

Level: 40

Classes:

– [Special Agent] Level10

– [Low-level Machine Equipment] Level30 (Endurance to Health Conversion Ratio 1:10)

Attributes: 51 S trength, 54 Dexterity, 70 (80) Endurance, 25 Intelligence, 8 Mystery, 4 Charisma, 6 Luck

Energy: 0

Energy Rank: 500

Grade: E

Health Points: 534/650

Status: [Violent Modifications]: Health Point -150, Endurance -10

Abilities:

– Low-level Spiritual Resilience: +3 Psychological Resistance

– Effective Training: +100 Health Points

– Immunity to Pain: Injuries do not affect combat ability

Skills:

– Basic Close-Quarter Combat Level7

– Basic Shooting Level5

– Capture Level3

– Precise Shooting Level1

Equipment:

_____________________

Crane Exoskeleton Arms:

Lightweight Mechanical Arms, equipped with extendable golden shield.

Grade: White

Basic Stats

– Damage: 32–45

– Defense: 20–24

– Power Level: 45

– Endurance: 250

Ability effect: +8 Strength

_____________________

Predator Power Legs:

Lightweight Cyborg Legs increase sprinting speed.

Grade: Gray

Basic Stats

– Damage: 27–31

– Defense: 15–18

– Power Level: 53

– Endurance: 230

Ability effect: +8 Dexterity

_____________________

P-2 Embedded Armor Inserts:

Implanted lightweight gold in the skin, provides some defensive ability.

Grade: Gray

Basic Stats

– Defense: 15–20

– Endurance: 500

_____________________

The three test-subjects’ stats were considered extremely low for LV 40. With such a high level but low-level stats, it meant that they had no potential.

Individually, their health points were very low, but the defense and endurance provided by the exoskeleton was able to reduce the damage to the body to a large extent. Han Xiao did some calculations and realized that this set of exoskeleton armor provided 1,460 endurance points, and nearly 100 defense points. This was the effect due to the equipment. If they only looked at the health points, one would think that it was just a useless clothed armor.

The Second-Generation Rovers fired several rounds, which only took off a fifth of their health bar.

Han Xiao realized that Experimental Body (044) was actually at LV 45, and his stats were at an even higher level that his two counterparts. Perhaps he was the leader of the three.

Meanwhile, Germinal’s vehicle team circled back. With the two rovers’ firepower, it was difficult to monitor both sides. Han Xiao immediately made a decision.

“Take the briefcase with the red-triangle marking from the trailer. I have something I want you to do!”

Frenzied Sword instantly carried out the orders, carrying the briefcase in hand. Inside it was a bomb with massive destructive power. Han Xiao quickly scribbled down the task and tossed it over.

_____________________

[Brave Sacrifice]: Take your unfulfilled dreams and explode into glorious sparks!

_____________________

Frenzied Sword unconsciously gulped down his saliva.

“Go for it, youngster. I’ll leave the stage to you,” Han Xiao casually remarked as he continued to barrage the test-subject with attacks.

“I… I got it…” Frenzied Sword clenched his jaw. The rewards from the task were extremely attractive and could definitely make up for the death penalty.

The strengthened Red Falcon released a series of shots, leaving bullet holes in the three experimental subjects’ bodies. Han Xiao’s aggressive abilities had already reached the maximum level. Through the cracks in the exoskeleton, he dealt damage straight to the flesh. His attacks were on point, restricting the three test-subjects.

Soon, No. 042 was shot in his vitals by the barrage of attacks. His health bar receded to zero as he fell to the ground, dead. The other two, however, were nonchalant to the death of their ally, continuing to charge forth.

On the other side, the other military truck closed in rapidly toward them. Han Xiao redirected the Second-Generation Rover toward it, opening fire against several military vehicles. The tightly packed firing left red streaks amid them, as though it was a rainbow that linked them together.

The rover’s endurance rapidly fell. Seeing that they could not withstand the attacks, Han Xiao commanded the rover to dive into the team and execute the self-destruct function. The enemy, unable to react in time, was enveloped in striking flames that swallowed up several vehicles as a series of explosions ensued.

Both sides were decimated at once.

With the loss of two Second-Generation Rovers, Han Xiao remained unfazed. Technology-based warfare was just like that, money-burning… But he was indeed generous. If it was another player, they definitely could not bear to do such a thing. However, Han Xiao had all the money he needed.

The sniper rifle had a limit to its firing speed. Finally, both test-subject were within fifty meters of him.

Frenzied Sword remembered the contents of the task. Steadying his heart, he leaped forward, lunging onto No. 043 as a fist pierced through his chest. He spat out a mouthful of blood and clenched his teeth as he activated the bomb in the briefcase.

Boom!

A mini mushroom-shaped cloud rose up into the skies. The sweltering wave of hot air mixed with dust exploded, and the fully-equipped Han Xiao was splattered with dirt.

Through the smoke, the debilitated No. 044 Experimental Body rushed over again. In the moment when the explosion took place, No. 043 was ahead of him in the rush and exploded into nothingness. No. 044 immediately dropped to the ground and was still able to move as his gaze oozed with bloodlust.

With only the last ten meters left, in a second, he would be able to lodge his steel fist into that foul sniper!

At that moment, [Flaming Will] finished its cooldown!

Han Xiao suddenly threw aside Red Falcon, reloaded the Ghost sniper as he activated [Overload], reinforcing it with [Flaming Will], and fired.

The bullet, with blue light trailing behind it, disappeared from sight as it shot straight through No. 044’s head. Blood spurted out like an arrow, leaving a thin, long streak of blood on No. 044.

No. 044 took several steps forward without losing momentum. Suddenly, his body tilted, falling to Han Xiao’s feet. Just one more step, and he would have been able to reach Han Xiao. His still eyes had a trace of unwillingness.

This scene was far too familiar to Han Xiao. Fighting with a Mechanic, distance was always the determining factor between a win or a loss. Many other enemies had fallen right before reaching their target, just like this.

It’s a shame. Even if you managed to engage me in close-quarter combat, you wouldn’t have lived.

Han Xiao shook his head. There were still many cards that he had not shown yet. These immature test-subjects were far from his match.

_____________________

[Second Advancement]

Current Progress: 1/3

_____________________

The battle this time could be considered an easy fight. Mass-produced assembly line soldiers were the easiest enemies for him to take on.

There’s still two more.

Han Xiao narrowed his eyes. He only needed two more higher-level kills before he could increase his rank. The interface displayed a sea of Experience, and he was looking forward to advancing his skills.

Frenzied Sword sacrificed his virgin death. Ten seconds later, he was revived next to the trailer. Looking at the quest rewards and enemy kill experience, he could not hold back his grin.

The Germinal team that had come to intercept him had been eliminated. The heated battle grounds were already at the pinnacle of its battle. Stardragon’s and Germinal’s foot soldiers had both been massacred. The battle was at a standstill and in a complete mess. Han Xiao spared a few glances and decidedly knew that he would no longer get a chance to interfere.

After contemplating for two seconds, he quickly made a decision. He beckoned the grinning Frenzied Sword onto the car.

The vehicle continued to travel onward, circling around the heat of the battle, and headed in the direction of the Tedramira River.

…

In the battlegrounds, Sleepy Winter taunted, “Did I see that right? Is that Frenzied Sword‽”

Han Xiao’s battle was very conspicuous. They saw Frenzied Sword’s ID floating above his head and got a shock. Twinkle Fried Rice was at a loss; even the cold, prideful Rainy Kim had her mouth wide open.

Sleepy Winter remembered that even at the internal examinations, Frenzied Sword rejected his goodwill and did not enter the Stardragon Army. So, how could he be on the battleground now? And by self-destructing, he defeated a high-level monster; they saw all of it happen!

“If my eyes didn’t play tricks on me, that black-clothed person he’s following… that was the Black Phantom, who appeared a while ago at Big Horn Mountain,” Rainy Kim suddenly said.

“Are you sure about that?” Sleepy Winter asked.

“I recorded the entire battle just now. Just watch it and you’ll know,” Twinkle Fried Rice said.

Sleepy Winter seemed to be a little depressed. Frenzied Sword and the three of them had started on the same foot, but now he seemed to have gotten way ahead of them. It made Sleepy Winter feel a little pressured… and curious as well.

No wonder he didn’t want to join us during the internal beta. What exactly happened to Frenzied Sword? Why is he with Black Phantom?

Chapter 140 - Backup

The battle was raging on the Tedramira River.

Hesla was responsible for securing the waters. A naval formation was stationed at the estuary, and a huge portion of them were battleships loaded with large-caliber artillery. The Germinal Navy was bombarded from a distance of over ten kilometers away. The cannons firepower could reach ten over miles, piercing through the air at high speed, forming a parabola in the night sky. This brought significant damage to the Germinal fleet.

The destroyers in the formation launched several homing missiles at the beginning of the battle, but they were intercepted by Germinal Fleet’s cannon in the air. They were now useless. All they could do was maintain the defense line.

The command ship, Scyther, positioned itself in the center of the formation.

“The enemy is roughly twelve kilometers away from the water mines near the exit of the sea. Don’t give the enemy any time to break out of the trap.” Scyther’s Admiral assigned the tasks in a swift and decisive manner. “Deer, Carp and Shark units have been preloaded with torpedoes. Await Germinal’s entry and then fire away! Feed them full with a round of firepower.

“As for the offense formation, maintain the intensity of firepower; no change. Sonar scanners take note of the surrounding waters; there could be a chance for Germinal reinforcements to appear. Inform the Stardragon’s men to release some infantry units whenever necessary. Delay the Germinal Navy’s time…

“Transfer this message to Stardragon’s Commander: We need their assault troops to be on standby!”

On the other side, the troops that were deployed to fight the battle surrounded and harassed the Germinal fleet. Using bombs as their main form of attack, this caused quite some trouble for the Germinal fleet. There were bound to be some lucky cannon balls that escaped their intercepting fire, and when this happened, three of their ships sank. As the fleet’s main purpose was to evacuate, their weaponry was not sufficient to wage a war. They were not even able to lock on to the high-speed battleships, let alone trying to deal any damage.

However, Germinal still had a plan of their own!

A fighter jet poured another wave of ammunition, and while the pilot was preparing to make another round, a shroud of dark fog exploded around him all of a sudden. A figure appeared out of thin air. It was a demon with dark eyeshadow and ear studs, with a sharp blade in his hand. He quickly sliced through the pilot’s throat, splashing blood upon the window.

The fighter jet crashed down in the water with the pilot’s corpse. The demon smiled coldly and disappeared, leaving only a dash of black fog.

Teleportation ability! Germinal Organization executive officer, Renette.

…

Hila stepped onto the bow of the ship. The wind was blowing through that red hair of hers. She took in a deep breath, raising both her hands as though worshipping the sun. Gray air slowly flowed through from the fresh dead bodies in the battlefield. It gathered from all directions and tingled Hila’s five senses.

Her face flushed as if she had breathed in God’s medicine. She closed her eyes and then opened them even wider than before. An invisible sound wave rose from her lungs out to her throat, and she screamed.

“Ah—”

It was like a ghost’s piercing scream.

The eyes of the pilots in the sky burst, their ears bleeding. Their brains were shaken into a state of confusion. The pilots fell one after another like broken kites, crashing onto the ground and water. They were fried into balls of fire.

A no-fly zone had formed in the sky, and the fighter jet formation had single-handedly been taken down by Hila! The remaining fighter jets received orders and hurriedly retreated!

This was the horrible threat of military operations. They required people to operate the machines. If the operator was too weak, Hila’s killing threat could disrupt their mind. Aquamarine’s technological advancements did not hold much against Hila’s mental disruption skills.

Only a few reconnaissance drones continued to track and observe the sky.

Renette teleported to Hila’s side, with one hand painfully rubbing his head. His nose was bleeding, and he had a dark, gloomy expression. “Were you trying to kill me as well‽”

Hila gave him a cold shoulder, refusing to answer. Renette could only swallow this breath, not daring to provoke her.

In the command room, Lin Yu did not really pay much attention to the battle. He looked at his watch and whispered to himself, “It’s almost time.”

The Germinal Organization’s infantry had broken through the defense line and was now rapidly approaching their intended destination. Stardragon’s army executed according to plan; they opened the gates to allow water to gush in. They wanted it to be a naval battle. Hila would take over the confrontation after the infantry units had boarded their ships. These infantry units would just be useless in a naval battle; they would also become a burden. They were reducing their death toll but weakening themselves too.

There was a new type of missile up on the destroyer ship that could cruise and split and avoid attempts to intercept it. The very moment Germinal’s fleet and their infantry linked up, they would fire, and one round of it would cause major deaths to Germinal’s fleet. The Germinal troops would then begin to flee. Division 13’s ambush units would then board the ship and slaughter everyone aboard.

That was the next step of the plan.

However, in reality, things never went according to plan. Accidents were bound to happen.

Dududu!

The piercing sirens upon Hesla’s command ship sounded. The radar detected dozens of targets approaching at high speed underwater.

Ghostly torpedo!

Where did it come from!

It was too late to intercept it. A warship near the seaport exploded, fire spurting everywhere.

Hesla’s high-ranking officers had been paying close attention to the battle. The naval formations made them extremely furious.

“Anti-sonar submarines‽ How did the signal not sound anything at all? How far is the enemy’s range‽”

These could only be Germinal’s submarines. Where did they come from? Could it be that Germinal had planned this all along, to withdraw some troops from Andrea? Or was there a secret base on an island nearby‽

No matter the reason, the enemy had reinforcements, and they now needed to deal with the unexpected situation!

“Where are our submarines‽” Hesla’s officers roared. They had planned for several submarines in the vicinity as backup and immediately activated them to search for the enemy’s submarines.

The navy suffered heavy losses and were busy tending to emergency repairs. They could not proceed with the missile strikes. This caused strategic disruptions, and the situation was getting out of hand.

Germinal’s fleet took this chance. They changed their formation. The ship sailed to the shore, opened up, and lowered the slats, providing a bridge for the ground troops to cross. The edge of the stern dragged along the shore of the beach. This method came with a huge risk of beaching the ship. Other ships would throw a hook to link the ship. That way, even if the ship became stuck, it could be pulled back to sea anytime.

The root of Lin Yu’s confidence came from their submarine team. They were reinforcements that Germinal’s forces had called for early on. They relied on this ambush, breaking Hesla’s blockade and strategic formation!

In order to break through Stardragon’s ambush, Ugar had lost more than half of the troops, and when this opportunity arose, he immediately ordered the team to speed up and rush toward the barge ship.

Stardragon’s assault troops, which were on standby, became anxious. They followed Hesla’s plan to launch a round of missiles first before rushing up. If there was no such link, rushing up would simply be equivalent to commiting suicide!

“What shall we do?”

If they waited any longer and the Germinal Organization’s forces manage to link up successfully, there would be no more chances.

The assault troops were all from Stardragon’s Division 13. They were all specialists and elites. They could hear their superior’s command. It was only one word.

“Forward!”

There was no hesitation. The assault teams rushed forward. Germinal’s Navy fired a round of missiles at once, and the ambush troops forced their way through the gunfire. Fireworks lit up beside. Their comrades fell and exploded, but they remained unfazed. They were fearless.

As a soldier, they always followed orders. Even if it was a magma in front of them, they would still have to jump. It was with this steel-like will that Stardragon stood out from hundreds of countries since the beginning, becoming one of the last six winners.

Chapter 141 - Duel

Wearing his power suit, Zhang Wei stood at the front of the battleship as the barrier. Lambert dealt damage by sniping.

This assault boat did not only have Zhang Wei’s team of four—as Lin Yao was not taking part in battle—there were still ten elite fighters.

The battleship surged forward through the waves, surfing through the onslaught of bullets and missiles before it collided into the Germinal ship with a loud bang. The infiltration team jumped aboard and began exchanging blows intensely with the Germinal soldiers.

The infiltration team’s attack strategy only had two goals. The first was to massacre the barge’s attack forces and destroy the land vehicles that were on the boat. The second was to take control of the boat. As Hesla’s backup troop did not arrive as planned, the infiltration team was not in a good position. They were falling into a difficult battle.

The Germinal Organization’s plans were affected, causing their progress to slow down. The Germinal executive officers set out to counter Stardragon’s infiltration team.

Zhang Wei’s team was struggling to get the upper hand on the barge. Suddenly, a strong gale came rushing over without warning, like a ghost. The team’s internal alarms rang on high alert as they hurried to dodge it. However, they still could not dodge the shockwaves of the wind. A strong wave of dizziness overcame them.

Clenching their teeth, they looked toward the direction where the enemy was standing. There, they saw Hila whom they had once crossed swords before.

Hila had a cold expression. She still remembered she had once fought the Stardragon soldiers. Last time, she had taken a small loss because of them. Remembering that, her killing intent was more murderous than before. Both of her hands emitted a dim, gray light, as if they were balls of mysterious, sinister energy that could suck them in. Furthermore, it was continuously growing in size. It would be hard to imagine how frightening the next blow could be.

Hou Yue had a pained expression on his face as he held up both his guns with the intent to aim. But with a light sneer from Hila, her voice carried forth an overwhelming psychological suppression from the Necromastery ability. As if he had taken a hard blow, Hou Yue staggered backward as his nose spurted blood.

Hila did not even spare him a look as she turned her gaze to Li Yalin. Her killing intent was clear. This was the special female assassin that had used the Lightweight Mechanical Arm; she definitely knew Zero’s whereabouts!

Li Yalin had a look of steely determination. She pulled out her Foldable Machete as she lunged toward Hila fearlessly. As the pugilist in the team, she had to initiate battles.

Hopefully I can last the first bout. Li Yalin quietly clenched her jaw. As long as she could hold out till Hila’s next attack, she had confidence that she could close in to restrict Hila’s movements such that she would not have time to release another one of those psychological attacks. Even though Hila’s abilities were strong, she was only using the attack on a superficial level, and every release required build-up to release the skill.

“Naive.” Hila remained expressionless. Flipping both her palms, she was about to use the highly-concentrated Necromancer’s abilities to shock Lin Yalin into an idiot.

However, the next second, a sudden large wave of power surged toward the side of her ribs, causing her to fly off sideways as she collided into the side of an SUV, and her ribs throbbed with pain.

Hila was in so much pain that her face turned ashen. With a deep heave, the Necromancer’s power on her hand suddenly dissipated. In her shock, she turned to look at the source of the attack.

There was a van driving along the shore, staying alongside the boat. From the driver’s window seat, a sniper was hinged on the window as a black-gloved palm held onto this deadly weapon with its muzzle releasing thick smoke.

Han Xiao cocked the gun, and another smoking bullet was released from the muzzle. He sat in the main driver’s seat, and the smart-chip system in the van began driving on autopilot. Driving at a constant speed, it drove alongside Germinal’s boat. When they reached the valley, he had spotted traces that Stardragon might let Germinal troops off the hook. So, Han Xiao drove to the lake beforehand; his target to capture the Germinal executive officers.

He spotted Hila in an instant, then he saw Zhang Wei and the others. Slightly taken aback, he did not expect this coincidence. Seeing his former teammate fall into danger, Han Xiao did not say anything else before pulling out Red Falcon and firing. Hila’s defensive air barrier was weakened to a large extent, and its penetration abilities dissipated, turning into momentum that pushed her away.

The interface displayed Hila’s abilities. After one year, Hila had leveled up from LV 30 to LV 40, and Han Xiao was at the same level as her. He could see her stats, and her two strongest stats were Mystery and Intelligence. Her abilities were described as well.

_____________________

[Necromancer’s Power]: Dictating death and capturing souls.

Potential Rating: S

_____________________

Outsiders could only see the description of the ability. Only the master of the ability could see the specific effects and the extent that it was developed.

Through her basic knowledge, where she used her genes to develop her ability, more applications for her techniques could be obtained.

Even though Hila’s ability potential was high, she was only at LV 40 now. Her strength had yet to be completely used to its fullest potential, but Han Xiao did not have any interest in Hila’s battling methods. Hila’s special abilities seemed to lean toward attacking, but actually, it was actually a versatile ability. From Hila’s abilities, he saw several textbook specialties as well.

_____________________

[High-speed Fusion]: Grim Reaper’s power is able to heal flesh wounds—Under regular circumstances, +500% health regeneration speed. While using energy, +1000%–2000% health regeneration speed

[Vitals Immunity]: Scent of death supports your life—Vitals are immune to critical attacks

[Soul Disregard]: Dictators of Death fear nothing—+20% resistance to negative effects, +30% psychological resistance

[Ignore Sudden Death]: Death is like the wind, always by your side—Will not receive any fatal attacks. When health points are lower than 1%, a special status effect will be obtained

_____________________

Han Xiao was helpless; these abilities made Hila practically impenetrable. No, it should not be described as impenetrable, but rather like a cockroach that would not die no matter how much one hit it, unless one used an extremely strong attack ability to finish Hila off.

Oh, I forgot, she was even immune to instant death. Forget it, I’m probably better off just taking a nap…

Han Xiao shook his head.

As expected of the future big boss, the number of her abilities is almost as high as Bennett’s. The only difference between the main roles is just luck.

Hila, the hardest person to take on, was the first person he had met, but Zhang Wei’s team had fallen into a difficult situation. Since he had the means to help out, he naturally would not stand aside and not lend a helping hand. After all, they had fought together side by side before.

Taking advantage of Hila’s distraction, Li Yalin closed in and slashed at her. Hila, as she staggered back in pain, was infuriated by Han Xiao’s sneak attack. Meanwhile, her wounds’ recovery could be seen by the naked eye. However, her being on the boat meant that she could not take out the sniper on the shore. After all, she did not specialize in speed and could only use a vehicle as a barricade against the sniper.

Yet, once Li Yalin, Zhang Wei, and the others found an opening, they instantly engaged in battle with her, forcing Hila to move out of position, exposing her to Han Xiao’s sniping view.

Even though they did not know who the sniper on the shore was, they knew that he was evidently there to help. So, Zhang Wei’s team took the initiative to launch a cooperative attack.

This strategy was very effective. Hila’s movements were instantly restricted, and with the sniper’s uncanny ability to find openings, he managed to stop her from counter-attacking at the right moment every time. This synchronized perfectly with Li Yalin, Zhang Wei, and the others’ movements. Hila realized that she had actually fallen into a situation where she could not retaliate at all. Thus, she could only stay on the defensive, dodging every attack.

But from Zhang Wei and the others’ perspective, it was a ray of light for them. Originally, the team of four had created a battle strategy. But after Hou Yue received heavy injuries, it rendered him unable to fight and left a hole in their teamwork. But that sniper was able to patch up that gap. At every critical moment, he managed to fire a timely shot to assist them.

It was as if he was someone who had a solid grasp of their fighting style.

Who was he?

Li Yalin and Zhang Wei began to have such thoughts.

Hou Yue, who was still suffering from dizzy spells, could only fend off regular soldiers. Watching Zhang Wei and the others coordinate with the sniper, he suddenly felt as if that sniper was actually a real team member of theirs, and it was he who was only an outsider.

“Hila is held up?” Lin Yu furrowed his eyebrows. Looking toward the van at the shore, he squinted. “Black Phantom? What is he doing here?”

They were almost at the end of the estuary. Just slightly ahead of them was the sea. Lin Yu was in dire need for Hila’s abilities to deal AOE damage. She definitely had to get out of that situation. He ordered, “Ugar, get rid of Black Phantom.”

Ugar had already boarded the ship. Overwhelming with his dark purple aura and without any further orders, he was about to lunge toward Han Xiao, who was in the van. But suddenly, he sensed a wave of energy from someone with pugilist powers that were equal to his. When he turned to look, a middle-aged Stardragon special agent had just stepped onto another ship. His fists, wrapped with a flaming-red aura, slammed into the side of an SUV that was parked on the deck with a force comparable to a steam hammer.

That car instantly deflated as it flew out like a bullet shell. Along the way, it collided with a few of Germinal’s soldiers and another two cars as they simultaneously flew off the ship.

That fist was as strong as a missile!

Chapter 142 - Teleportation Is a Double-edged Sword

“Division 13’s trump card!” Ugar’s face was solemn, and he no longer cared about Han Xiao. He was locked onto the middle-aged man. Both were powerful martial artists, and as their eyes met, it was as though a bomb just exploded.

Both of them were fuming, and their fists collided like two streaks of transverse lightning striking the sky. The scene seemed to freeze while the sky roared. Ripples could be seen on the surface of the river.

“What a chill!”

Martial artists specialized on controlling their own spirit, and it specialized on training body energy.

Division 13 had played their trump card. Lin Yu had no choice but to send out Ugar, who was at the same rank, to fight back. Exasperated, he ordered, “Renette, go get rid of that Black Phantom.”

“Easy,” Renette uttered.

As an assassin with a teleportation ability, Renette believed he was the nemesis of all snipers, even if it was Black Phantom. With a snap of his fingers, the tired Black Phantom would be gone from this world.

Renette had always seen himself as an artist.

The next second, black mist flashed, and Renette was nowhere to be seen. All of a sudden, he appeared in the driver’s seat of the truck and was going to stab the sword through Han Xiao’s head.

“Teleportation?” Han Xiao was alert and immediately activated the full body electromagnetic armor.

However, the sword was unable to reach even his armor. Frenzied Sword had reacted quickly. He had rushed to block the sword for Han Xiao and died on the spot.

Both were taken aback. Eyes filled with bloodlust, Han Xiao reacted within seconds. He grabbed Renette by his hand using one arm while he activated the thermo-electrical incisor gloves on his other hand. Amid the buzzing of the electricity, he slapped the gloves onto Renette’s face, and immediately, a burning smell filled the air.

“AHH!”

The shrill scream was ear-piercing!

Renette was in crazy pain, and he teleported straight back to the ship. As he tried to move his arm, he realized that Han Xiao was grabbing onto his arm. Han Xiao was also brought onto the barge.

Han Xiao moaned angrily and just would not let go of Renette’s face. With his five fingers penetrating Renette’s skull, the damage dealt was increasing at the speed of waterfall. The pain was so unbearable that Renette let out painful beastly cry, and his expression changed. Han Xiao abruptly raised his other hand and gave him a violent slap. The strength of that slap was over fifty points and instantaneously smashed Renette’s brain into a charred lump of meat.

_____________________

You’ve killed Renette (LV 46).

You’ve gained 60,000 Experience.

Target was 6 levels higher than you. Energy expended: 82%

You’ve gain additional 49,200 Experience!

_____________________

[Second Advancement]

Progress: 2/3

_____________________

Han Xiao panted, trying to catch his breath. Teleportation is indeed powerful but can be weak too. He is suitable to be an assassin, but he thought my weakness was close range attacks.

Teleportation was not a bad ability. If the Superhuman was careful enough, they could be unbeatable. In fact, there were small differences in various teleportation abilities. For instance, when one teleported, could another be brought along as well? How big was the range? Was it within visible range, or was it anywhere one could think of? What kind of teleportation was this; was it imagination, or was it the recombination of matter? Was the energy consumption constant, or did it depend on the distance travelled? Was it purely just traveling from place to place, or could it be aggressive too?

It was all in the details. These were the death-causing reasons.

In the past, he had encountered other characters capable of teleportation, such as a guy with recombination of matter type of teleportation ability. Once he crashed into a battleship’s ionizing shield, he would instantly dissociate into powder. One with the imagination type of teleportation ability would teleport all over the galaxy and ended up overexerting his energy and become weak. Renette’s teleportation seemed to be a mix between imagination and recombination of matter. When he grabbed hold of another person’s body, the other party would also teleport together. This belonged to contact type of teleportation and could be dangerous once one was trapped in it.

His sniping seemed to be the reason that led to Renette’s death. This was also an idea that Han Xiao liked to mislead the others. When assassins thought that close-range attacks could kill him, it usually led to their own death. This disguise instantly tricked one teleporter. If it was a normal battle, Han Xiao knew that he would be helpless against Renette.

Han Xiao stood up and finally understood the situation he was in. First, he got brought onto the ship by Renette, and then Germinal troops were all around him, with their weapons all pointing at him and preventing his escape.

Completely surrounded!

Han Xiao’s eyes froze as he covered his chest with his hands.

“Fire!”

Endless bullets drowned Han Xiao.

All of a sudden, with Han Xiao in the center, a strong invisible force was released. Enemies and vehicles within the range of twenty meters all flew out and fell into the river. This area became empty.

Han Xiao was the only person left behind. His chest was not covered by the electromagnetic armor, revealing a palm size big precise device tied to his chest. The device was creaking, and slowly, it became softer, eventually coming to a stop.

_____________________

Field Repulsive Machine

Type: Extraordinary Machine

Quality: Green

Energy Capacity: 110/150 (requires charging)

Effective Range: 20m

Effect: Releases a strong repulsive field and pushes away and objects in the range

Cooldown Time: 6 minutes

Remarks: Get lost

_____________________

After experimenting for two months, Han Xiao had obtained a variety of blue prints and had already started to suit himself up.

Han Xiao pulled out his two third-generation Berserk Eagles, activated his Electromagnetic Hover-boots, and jumped onto another ship.

Since I am here, I might as well kill some people!

With Renette’s blood on his body, Han Xiao started his killing on the barge.

The Berserk Eagles had bullets coming out of them non-stop, and because the recoil was too strong, he was unable to move his wrist. The bullets penetrated through every single Germinal soldier, either through their chest or head shot, leaving the floor full of corpses. It was just like a dark movie, whereby no one could stop him.

Soon enough, he arrived on the ship with Li Yalin.

Han Xiao’s willful actions soon caught the attention of everyone.

Lin Yu was furious. Renette, that idiot, did not just get himself killed but had even brought the monster onto the ship. Their ship was about to leave the estuary, and yet he still made such a mess!

“Quickly, get rid of that Black Phantom!” Lin Yu demanded. As their commander, he could not attack easily. If he did, there would be no one left to observe the battle.

Hila had long discovered Han Xiao, and she was already full of anger. She clapped her hands and created a mental shock to deter Li Yalin and the others. She took a deep breath and gathered all the power of the corpses, turned, and screamed at Han Xiao. She used all the gathered power on Han Xiao, and the air rippled like a sound wave.

This was like an exploding bomb in the brain!

A sudden pain hit Han Xiao. It felt as though someone was using a spoon to stir all around his brain. The sky in his sight seemed to be tilted as he lost control of his body and stumbled to one side. Feeling nauseous, the veins on Han Xiao’s temples seemed to jump vigorously as if they were going to explode.

_____________________

You have suffered 211 mental damage!

You are in a dizzy state!

_____________________

With my intelligence characteristic providing me with a mental defense, I still suffered 200+ damage! If I did not have [Low-Level Strengthened Life], I could have lost almost one fifth of my HP!

On a technologically-advanced new planet, Hila’s combat strength was scary!

Bearing the pin-pricking pain in his head, Han Xiao whipped out a gray grenade from his waist and threw it out. His accuracy was compromised, and the grenade landed ten meters away from Hila.

Hila thought that this was the side effect from him being dizzy and did not pay attention to it. She decided to return with a more impactful one, but out of the blue, the grenade detonated. There was no flame nor shrapnel, only an ear-piercing high-pitched sound that rushed directly into her eardrums.

Hila’s brain started hurting, and she felt the world was turning, too.

“You can make people dizzy, so can I!” Han Xiao gnashed his teeth.

_____________________

Burst Grenade: Uses high frequency sound to disrupt the eardrum.

Range: 50m

Effects: causes one to feel dizzy

Magnitude of affects determined by Endurance.

Chapter 143 - I Will Recognize You Even If You Turn into Ash

Stunning enemies was a tactic commonly used by psychics. Their strong willpower resistance was their strength. However, burst grenades would cause a sense of dizziness at a physiological level because it caused ear fluid imbalances. Therefore, despite the strong willpower resistance psychics possessed, endurance was key in this case. That was the biggest weakness of all psychics, leaving them defenseless.

Hila immediately suffered damage from the attack. Agony was all over her face as she stumbled from one side to another like a wave.

No matter who Hila was, during a battle, she only had one identity—enemy! Han Xiao knew no mercy and continued shooting coldly. The bullets landed all over Hila’s body. Eventually, when the bullets ran out, he set the Electromagnetic Hover-boots to the highest power, and before Hila could retaliate, he kicked Hila. She flew up into the air, knocked onto the railing, and finally fell into the river.

The river was stained with blood as Hila’s body sank. Han Xiao did not believe that Hila would die so easily, and there was no news on the interface. He expected that after all these attacks, Hila would be able to recover soon enough, but there was no need to worry for the moment.

This enemy is so difficult to kill; I can’t just tackle her right now.

As this thought flashed through his head, Han Xiao then had time to think about Li Yalin, a team mate from the past, who was now looking at him with shock.

“Black Phantom?” Zhang Wei asked carefully. He could not help but feel a sense of familiarity.

Zhang Wei did not seem to not recognize him, and that was great. Thinking about the feud between the Germinal Organization and Zero, it was best if he continued hiding his identity. Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled and heard Li Yalin suddenly yelling, “Han Xiao‽”

“Han Xiao? Who is that? I think you’ve got the wrong person.”

“It’s you! Stop pretending! I could recognize you even if you turned into ash!” Li Yalin gnashed her teeth.

Damn, how did she recognize me? Based on my polished acting skills, how could I still be exposed‽

Han Xiao was dumbfounded.

This young lady is really unpredictable!

Members of the troops were stunned. They were doubtful about Li Yalin’s judgement, but at the same time, they were a little convinced. At that moment, Han Xiao, who was in full black, holding Berserk Eagles in both hands, suddenly revealed his own face.

“Oh, that’s what you actually look like…” Zhang Wei murmured as he finally understood why Han Xiao had always worn a mask in the past.

In the past, when they were working together for Division 13, Han Xiao had always worn a mask. Members of the troops never saw what he looked like and never knew Han Xiao’s true identity. At the moment, they thought that the face they saw on the facial simulator was Han Xiao’s actual face. They had expected him to be quite handsome.

No one expected that the famous Black Phantom would turn out to be a former comrade. Everyone was puzzled; had he been that strong in the past? Why didn’t he show that, and why did he want to leave Stardragon to become an assassin? The higher-ups seemed to have acquiesced, too.

Wait, he became the Black Phantom of the Dark Net Organization, and the higher-ups were so ambivalent about it; was this actually a secret mission?

“You got it wrong. No time for nonsense now, the enemies are here!” Han Xiao said sternly.

Li Yalin raged. “It’s no use even if you deny!”

Right! The higher-ups must have sent him for a secret mission; that’s why he cannot reveal his identity! Could it be that Stardragon is going after the Dark Net next?

The crowd was unknowingly forming a misunderstanding about the situation.

The conversation ended quickly. On the battlefield, everyone could only suppress their doubts and focus on dealing with the enemies. It was a fierce battle between Stardragon’s commando squad and Germinal Organization’s troops. Superhumans were found all over the battlefield, launching attacks with their powers. A symphony of cries of agony and gunshots played through the battle.

A Germinal executive headed straight for Han Xiao. Han Xiao pointed toward the executive with his hands forming a pistol and signalled to the Stardragon team to join forces against the enemy. Zhang Wei and his team naturally had no objection and started fighting by his side.

As the Germinal executive rushed over, his body suddenly swelled up like a balloon and transformed into a four-meter-tall white beast. The white beast started running on the deck like a wolf, and his heavy body caused the deck to vibrate. He opened his big mouth and pounced over. This action was full of elegance and strength.

Transfiguration was a common branch from the Esper family. They could take different forms—some weaker, and others stronger. The forms they took on could be so strange that they could even be out of the imagination. It was said to be related to evolution and various gene mutations. Some would transform into an alien creature while some would transform into wild beasts. This Esper branch appeared most commonly on planets that were magic based. This trait could be passed down through blood inheritance or be acquired through training.

Science and magic formed different civilizations, and there were differences in the understanding of certain things. In addition, their methods of experimentation could be different, too, and each had its own unique points in terms of advancement.

The great white wolf hopped around the deck as it tried to attack. Han Xiao, Zhang Wei, and two others joined forces to try to takedown the wolf. Han Xiao felt it was no one of his business. He allowed Zhang Wei and his power suit to act as the tank while Han Xiao stood at the side and tried to launch some sneak attacks. Sometimes he would use his thermo-electrical incisor gloves to slice a piece of meat off the wolf.

Hou Yao also used his Berserk Eagles, and his action was swift as the coursing river. Initially, he was proud of himself. After witnessing how skillful and minimalistic Han Xiao was and how he would never miss a single bullet, Hou Yao felt like he was making a fool of himself.

You really live up to your name, Mr. Black Phantom, such dexterity in handling double guns, Hou Yao admired secretly.

He had joined Zhang Wei’s team mainly because he had received the orders from the high-ups, and he had never ever heard of Zhang Wei’s team being able to produce good results. To his surprise, the extraordinary Black Phantom had actually been part of this team in the past.

The great white wolf was beaten up badly. Realizing that it was beyond its ability to retaliate and other executives were unable to help, it turned and fled the scene. Han Xiao had already expected this, and right then, he fired his Berserk Eagles at the great white wolf’s eyes, activating the [Flaming Will].

This time, the damage was increased by 3.2 times!

Boom!

The great white wolf’s eyes exploded, and it groaned in pain as it fell onto the deck. The whole barge shook for a second. Zhang Wei immediately dealt another blow. With his ammunition emptied, Zhang Wei’s arm armor extended into a golden sword. He leapt as his exoskeleton provided him with the energy and latched onto the great white wolf’s body as he slashed it violently many times.

The others came forward to help and eventually killed the great white wolf together.

Just then, the backup troops finally arrived at the port and let off a signal flare to signal for them to retreat. At that moment, Zhang Wei turned and asked Han Xiao, “Han… Black Phantom, do you want to leave with us?”

“No, thanks.” Han Xiao waved his hand.

“Alright, thanks for your help, I’ll remember this. Stardragon will also remember this!”

Zhang Wei’s speech had a hidden meaning. Together with his troops, he turned and leapt onto the assault boat. Lin Yalin stared in Han Xiao’s direction.

As members of the Division 13 were withdrawing, Han Xiao activated his electromagnetic skating shoes and jumped onto the shore. He rushed for the truck that had been following him around automatically, jumped into the driver’s seat, switched it to manual driving, and left the shore speedily.

Hila, who was wet through and through, climbed onto the ship. Fighting off her dizziness, she glared at the departing truck. She was always the one treating people like that, but this time around, she had actually had a taste of her own medicine.

“Black Phantom, I will remember you!” Hila eyes froze as her body healed quickly.

The Germinal troops arrived at the port and released a torpedo, causing the sea mines to explode. With the water exploding, they successfully entered the open sea.

Hesla’s navy also came by and was not reconciled to not giving chase. Both ships were restricted by each other. In the midst of the firing the cannons, the Germinal ship sank.

Based on the battle strategies, the Germinal’s forces broke free from the attacks and escaped.

However, based on the damages suffered from the battle, Germinal lost seventy percent of their troops while Hesla’s losses were less than ten percent of what Germinal had lost. With that being said, victory was definitely not Germinal’s.

Although they had not been able to stop all the Germinal forces, both nations were able to achieve the battle objective of damaging the enemy.

All in all, the winners of the battle were Stardragon and Hesla.

…

Through the window, Han Xiao glanced at the sea. As the destruction from the sea battle slowly went out of sight, he shook his head.

“The battle is over.”

Han Xiao glanced at Frenzied Sword, who seemed to have revived and was sitting beside him, and wrote him a mission with no requirements. Frenzied Sword had taken a stab for him, and thus, he would give him some Experience even if he did not need to.

The description of the mission was actually the reward for taking a stab for Han Xiao, and that made Frenzied Sword surprised. His action was purely voluntarily as he thought it was okay for him to die but Han Xiao must not. He did not expect any reward, and he became even more determined to protect Han Xiao.

After giving the reward, Han Xiao turned to his own interface and grinned from ear to ear.

_____________________

[Second Advancement]

Progress: 3/3

_____________________

The great white wolf that he had fought against with Zhang Wei was a LV 45 character. As it was a joint battle, the additional Experience obtained was little. However, the requirement for advancement could be said to have been completed, which meant…

I can advance!

Chapter 144 - Reward and Impact

Han Xiao was right in the middle of a battlefield. He decided that it was not an appropriate time for his advancement.

I should get out of this battlefield first.

He decided to look through other information first, such as the results from [Tedramira River Battle]. His final evaluation was a B. He had 450,000 Experience on hand, which was far more than what he had expected, and he had millions of Experience accumulated on his interface as well.

[Fall of the Germinal]—the progress of that level A mission had increased by two percent, and the improvement for automated destruction was even better. The evacuating Germinal troops had been a large force made up of many different troops from different settlements. Therefore, when Stardragon and Hesla crippled the evacuees, he also took a share.

The total gain had reached twenty-one percent. This meant that he had completed the requirements of this quest. The Southern Continent could not offer him any further improvements. He could go to the Western Continent and the Northern Continent next to anticipate a large battle like this again. Then he could earn more Experience. After that, he would have to go to Germinal’s home base on Andrea Mainland.

There would still be more gains he could reap in the future. So, Han Xiao would not cease [Fall of the Germinal] so quickly. Since the minimum standard was twenty percent and he had already completed the task, it gave him some confidence. This meant he could try and get a higher rating the next time around since he was no longer in a hurry to complete the task.

Based on his experience, the ratings from A-level missions would be higher. The reward was special this time around and not limited to experience, skills, expertise, talent points, special equipment, or even direct rewards of attribute points.

Han Xiao arrived at the location where the Dark Net helicopter was stationed. The driver was on standby as he moved the useful machinery up onto the helicopter. He then blew up the truck without leaving a single trace behind.

The truck had cost him a sum of money, but since he had an abundance of funds, he did not feel the pinch at all.

As the saying goes, it is easy to enter the luxury lifestyle when you’re poor, but it is way more difficult to go back to a pauper kind of lifestyle when you’re rich.

Han Xiao was very fortunate to step on the wealthy path. The market was huge, and he need not worry about money anymore.

“Everyone says that a man turns bad when he becomes rich, and that is so true,” Han Xiao mumbled as he smoked a few cigarettes before getting onto the helicopter, instructing the pilot to take off.

The wind from the rotors was strong, forcing Han Xiao to squint.

…

Waves raged on the dark sea surface, and the smell of blood filled the air.

Breaking away from their pursuers, the Germinal fleet sailed in the boundless sea. They turned on anti-detection to prevent themselves from being discovered by the satellites.

There were many satellites orbiting Aquamarine, and many were from the previous civilization who had fallen. These satellites had been taken in by the Six Nations, but some of them had fallen into the hands of other forces. Some became public satellites for some hackers, and others became space junk.

Each ship had been charred by explosions, and the repairmen were busy fixing them, riveting the steel plates and repairing the damaged mechanical components one by one. The rest of the personnel were cleaning the deck and washing away the blood stains.

Breaking through the blockade made them suffer heavy losses, including the lives of 17 executives. Han Xiao alone had killed three. When Lin Yu was reporting back to the commander, he emphasized on these statistics.

Black Phantom’s intervention surprised the commander. It turned quickly into anger as the commander started to feel like the Germinal Organization had seemed to turn into a tiger without teeth. Anyone dared to bully it. At the same time, it also increased his hatred for Zero.

He had disrupted the plan that they had laid out laboriously and also put the entire organization in grave danger. The commander remembered his conversation with Zero before he escaped from the lab. It angered him more whenever he thought of how this traitor managed to fulfil his promise.

The commander then made people add Black Phantom to the watch list as he had no energy to focus on a small assassin at the moment. The main problem on the commander’s mind was the next step of the plan for the organization.

All the sub-bases of three continents had been evacuated. Now that they had lost the ability to be proactive, the Six Nations had no more reservations, and it was likely that they would seize this opportunity to start the war. The commander did not wish to see this happen as it would bring about critical damage to the organization. He needed time for the Germinal Organization to recuperate. They had to eliminate Zero, who could see into the future.

Germinal had been in Andrea Mainland for a long time, and if the six Nations were to start a war with them, there was no other choice but to leave the mainland and fight from the sea.

Release the Intercontinental Nuclear Bomb? Not to mention that there are civilians living on Andrea Mainland, Germinal also had anti-missile facilities. If they were forced to their wit’s end, they could just set the nuclear bomb off and destroy the world… mutually assured destruction. Of course, that would be his last choice; he could not keep that as a trump card. Even if he were to use this as a threat, the Six Nations would never allow Germinal to continue to grow.

Maybe Red Maple, Ordina, and Hesla would come to a compromise at different stages and start to launch sneak attacks behind the scene, but the rash fool from Theseus and the madman from Raylen would not hold themselves back. They would likely reject any form of compromise and would only launch more aggressive counterattacks. They were not afraid to get destroyed together with Germinal if it had to be.

In the original plot, the four continents were the battlefields for the Six Nations. The secret sub-bases bound the Six Nations and affected the war to a huge extent. Only by having luck on their side, would they have been able to break the stalemate.

When the war got fierce, Germinal troops suffered many defeats and were hugely crippled. As there were not many armed forces left of Germinal, some politicians in the Six Nations perceived their goals to be reached and were voting to compromise. From their perspective, the goal of destroying Germinal had been achieved, and the Six Nations had suffered losses too. They had chosen to allow the Germinal Organization to stay on Andrea Mainland. After all, that was a place where no one wanted to be. Although it was impossible to remove the roots, it could prevent their resurgence.

Any hindrance to the Six Nations had been removed. The Germinal Organization had lost their powerful threats to the Six Nations, such as killing of civilians and destroying cities. Only the Andrea Mainland base camp was left for them, and the Six Nations could combine their powers into one, making the situation for Germinal worse than it already was.

The most urgent task at the moment was to divert the attention of the Six Nations, not allowing them to have time and resources to start the war. The commander gave this thought some thinking again, but he could not think of better ideas.

“Commander, Base 13 has something urgent to report. It is regarding a recent successful test subject from the [Genetic Improvement Plan]. This is the observation record.” An assistant handed him a report.

The moment the commander heard the words ‘test subject’, he felt a headache. He was stunned when he looked at the report.

The assistant then said, “Cases like this did not just happen on one person. As you can see on the following list, this phenomenon seems to have occurred on a large scale, and it is spreading like an infectious disease.”

The commander stayed quiet for a while, looking as if he was digesting the information. He then made a sneer under the mask.

“There are weird phenomena, but it seems like luck is on our side. The Six Nations will have to start worrying now.”

…

In a room on the boat, the light was dim and kept blinking. Hila took off her black combat uniform and faced the mirror to count the number of wounds on her body. The most obvious one was a bullet at the side of her rib, and the dark blood clot that had formed was terrifying.

Hila was expressionless as she rubbed the wound to reveal her tender flesh.

She looked at the mirror and remembered how her skin used to be smooth and fair with barely any scars. Unlike now, she had so many marks of serious injuries on her body.

Hila lowered her eyelids, and her long lashes covered her eyes. She put on her clothes again and went out to stare at the sea silently.

She had to live and wait for the next battle.

…

Zhang Wei and his team took the plane back to Division 13. Other than Zhang Wei, who had to write the report, the rest of the team closed their eyes as they were overwhelmed with fatigue from the battle.

“Say… how did Han Xiao become Black Phantom?” Li Yalin suddenly opened her eyes with a confused look.

“What, Brother Xiao is Black Phantom‽” Lin Yao was taken aback as he had not been involved in the battle and did not know about this matter.

Zhang Wei then explained the story to him.

Lin Yao was flabbergasted and could not help but ask, “You couldn’t have recognized the wrong person, right?”

“I could recognize him even if he turned into ash!” Lin Yalin coldly laughed with confidence.

“Are we not going to look for him and bring him back?”

“He was embarrassed when he left. He must be on a secret mission. I will ask the higher-ups when I report to them,” Zhang Wei said as he shook his head.

Lin Yalin could not help but add, “Do help me ask when he is intending to repay me as well…”

Zhang Wei was lost for words.

“Little Lin Lin, you do not seem to be hurt.” Di Susu, who was in the same plane, came over. Li Yalin’s face suddenly slammed down as she turned her head, ignoring her.

Di Susu was not bothered. She pushed the shy Lin Yao aside and sat down beside Li Yalin. With a playful smile, she moved closer to Li Yalin. She then moved further away hurriedly as if Di Susu was the source of a virus.

Di Susu loved Li Yalin’s face of discomfort. She laughed, turning her eyes away, and asked, “Are you guys talking about Black Phantom? I met him once in the past and heard he took part in the war as well.”

Chapter 145 - The Road to BOSS

Li Yalin’s eyes lit up. She was very certain that Black Phantom was Han Xiao. Curious about what happened to him after he left Division 13, she looked past her annoyance with Di Su Su and asked her eagerly, “What was he doing when you met him?”

“At that time, his code name was still Mr. Black, a Scorpion-level assassin, who was involved in a defense mission in Seagull City with the leader of the Dark Net.”

Li Yalin pumped her intently for more information. “Have you heard anything else?

Di Su Su raised her eyebrows. “Why are you so concerned?”

“I’m curious about him,” Li Yalin explained. She felt that there must have been a deeper reason for Han Xiao becoming Black Phantom. He would not have exposed his identity easily.

Curious? Oh no, that would usually be the first step to the beginning of a love story. We must kill that possibility in its cradle. Di Su Su’s eyes froze but her smile remained. She said slowly, “Oh, I got some information about Black Phantom from a female assassin with codename Golden Fox…”

Five minutes later, the listening crowd was staring with glazed eyes, trying their best to process the huge amount of information.

Lin Yao trembled with fear. At some point in time, Lambert stopped wiping his blade.

Lin Yalin mumbled under her breath, “No wonder he had no physical urge when he was touching me…”

Hou Yue swallowed dryly and told himself that he would hide away if Han Xiao ever returned to the team.

“When you meet him next time, be careful.” Di Su Su chuckled, got up, and sashayed away, leaving the group staring at one another.

Zhang Wei coughed. “He is our teammate after all. Don’t discriminate against him.”

Everyone nodded hesitantly in agreement.

Zhang Wei coughed again as he continued to write the report. However, the news was unsettling. He could not ease his mind to focus fully on his report but pushed on nonetheless. As soon as he was done, he got up to look for his Commanding Officer. After submitting his report, he requested to speak to the Secretary.

After a few minutes of waiting, his request was approved, and the video communication was put through. The bald head image of the Director of the Secret Service appeared on the screen. Zhang Wei went straight to the point and said, “We saw Han Xiao.”

The Director of the Secret Service was surprised.

Since the last tip off, Han Xiao seemed to have vanished from the face of earth. He could not be contacted no matter how they tried. Although Division 13 had stopped their search for Han Xiao, they were still very curious about his whereabouts.

The Director of the Secret Service said in a serious tone, “Go on”.

Zhang Wei phrased himself carefully and explained how they had discovered that Black Phantom was Han Xiao.

The Director of the Secret Service had initially thought that Zhang Wei had seen Han Xiao with his own eyes. Little did he know that it was only a speculation without hard evidence. He stared blankly for a moment before he muffled a chuckle and replied, “You… must have confused the two people.”

How could Black Phantom be Han Xiao? One was a super assassin in the Dark Net Organization with an extraordinary level of combat capability. Although Han Xiao had demonstrated his capability previously, he was far weaker than Black Phantom. This guess was just too far off the mark!

The Director of the Secret Service was really amused. He almost blurted out that Han Xiao was Zero, but he stopped himself. The bureau had tight confidentiality rules that prevented him from disclosing Zero’s identity to others.

Even though Han Xiao’s whereabouts were highly erratic and unpredictable and the Germinal Organization was greatly undermined, hence there was probably not much of a need to conceal Han Xiao’s identity, rules were rules.

After all, Han Xiao had been known as a field agent all this while. Concealing his identity could reduce the risk and lessen the trouble. Even though the Germinal Organization knew that Zero was liaising with Stardragon, they had not been able to find Zero all this while. Thus, the Director thought there was no need to let Zhang Wei in on this information.

Zhang Wei had never seen Han Xiao’s real appearance, so he could not have found out that Han Xiao’s true identity was Zero.

“Um, regarding Han Xiao’s real identity… He cannot be Black Phantom.”

Zhang Wei stared blankly. He thought, perhaps, that this was a hidden message from the Secretary, for him to stop being nosy about this issue. So… Han Xiao was most likely sent out by the higher-ups on a special mission, which would explain why he needed to conceal his identity.

“I understand,” Zhang Wei replied with a knowing nod.

The Secretary was puzzled.

What do you understand? Strange…

…

Stardragon’s Division 13 sorted out all the reports and intelligence information and handed the final document to the Seven-Seat Committee. The Committee held a meeting to sort out all the important issues that needed to be discussed, and finally, there was only the issue regarding Black Phantom left on the table. All six knew Black Phantom’s reputation on the Dark Net. The discussion was more focused on how they should treat Black Phantom.

“He offered a helping hand, but it could have been at the Dark Net’s request or because of his own personal decision.”

An elder knocked on the table top and said slowly, “The Dark Net came to us previously. They are going to start the shelter program, so they are requesting our aid. So, this should be a friendly gesture from them.”

The members nodded in agreement. The Dark Net had always remained a neutral party. If this was a sign that they are leaning toward the Six Nations, it would definitely be a good turn of events. The Seven-Member Committee quickly concluded that it would support the Dark Net’s shelter program and approved their request for material aid. This was their opportunity to return the favor and win them over.

After the meeting was over, Gu Hui and Elder Gao pushed open the heavy door of the conference room and walked down the quiet empty corridor side by side, discussing a separate issue in a hushed voice.

“Have you gotten any other news about Han Xiao?”

“He has not been seen ever since he gave us some intelligence two months back.”

Gu Hui shook his head. Han Xiao was the person who provided the information. Division 13 was eager to get in contact with him again, but he was not picking up the calls nor answering any messages. As if he had vanished off the face of the earth, he was completely off the grid. No one was aware of his whereabouts or his plans.

Gu Hui’s heart sank as he recalled Han’s scrupulous nature.

Please don’t be wreaking havoc again…

As for Zhang Wei’s speculation, Gu Hui had only heard from the Director of the Secret Service who briefly mentioned it. Without any real evidence, he would not be too bothered. How could Black Phantom be Han Xiao? His looks and combat capability were just not comparable.

Zhang Wei did not know Han Xiao’s real identity, so he was blindly guessing, but Gu Hui was aware that Han Xiao was Zero. Their intel was asymmetric; that was probably why it caused a misunderstanding.

…

Information was updated on the Dark Net, and some of the information regarding the Battle of Tedramira River was circulated out. Most people were worried about the volatility of the situation, as if the dark clouds of war were looming on the horizon once again.

The information contained news of Black Phantom’s involvement in the fight. Many forces were very concerned regarding the actions of this super assassin. It was apparent that Black Phantom was an extraordinarily powerful Mechanic. There were quite a number of powerful Espers and Pugilist, but Mechanics with high combat capability were rare. Black Phantom should be added to that short list of powerful Mechanics.

“He still made a high profile move.”

Bennett sighed with profound resignation and sipped his herbal potion that was meant to suppress his wounds.

Out of the blue, Wang Yuan received a call. His face lit up with joy and exclaimed, “Stardragon has promised material aid!”

Bennett was surprised. That was not a small sum, but Stardragon had agreed to it so readily. He asked, “What did they say?”

“Well, they said they are very grateful for our help.”

Bennett frowned in puzzlement. “Help? What did we do?”

On second thought, Bennett realized that Stardragon must have thought that they had sent Black Phantom. Black Phantom was seen as a representative of the Blood Pact Society, and his actions were inevitably labelled as representing the Dark Net Organization.

Bennett was at a loss, not knowing whether to cry or to laugh. Black Phantom had unintentionally done him a favor. He would definitely not clarify this wonderful misunderstanding. “Well, I guess I owe him a favor then. Oh, what did Hesla say?”

Wang Yuan pushed his black-frame spectacles. With a flash of contempt in his eyes, he snorted, “They are still pushing away the responsibility.”

Bennett shook his head. He had long known Hesla’s way of doing things, and only Stardragon was easier to talk to. If he really wanted to dig out some material aid from the five other stingy nations, it would not be without some long, tedious negotiation.

“With Stardragon’s assistance, the initial resources are more or less enough. Let’s start the shelter program as soon as possible. The war will break out any time now. The sooner it is implemented, the more people we can shelter.”

…

Sleepy Winter and his group finally completed the Camp-destroyer series mission [Battle of the Tedramira River]. Their evaluation was naturally low, but because it was a Super-Level mission, the Experience they had gotten was considerable.

They should have been very happy with the results, but whenever the three of them recalled Frenzied Sword’s performance, they immediately felt that the reward from the mission was just too meagre. Comparison always made it worse. The feeling of being far behind someone just felt horrible, not to mention that they had in fact started out at the same time. Rainy Kim was rather calm, but Sleepy Winter and Twinkle Fried Rice were really fed up.

Thinking about it again and again, Sleepy Winter finally sent a chat request to Frenzied Sword.

“Frenzied Sword?”

“Sleepy Winter, why are you looking for me?” Frenzied Sword asked in a humble voice.

“I just wanted to ask, did you trigger a secret quest? We saw you on the battlefield…” Sleepy Winter sent out the video message.

“Oh, you guys were there, too?” Frenzied Sword was surprised.

Why does this tone feel so annoying? Sleepy Winter coughed dryly and chatted half-heartedly before asking about Black Phantom. The video showed Black Phantom in action. Sleepy Winter was well aware that Black Phantom was an advanced figure who had been seen around Big Horn Village, and he was very curious about how Frenzied Sword came to know him.

Frenzied Sword kept beating around the bush and refused to talk about the main topic. Sleepy Winter knew that he was unwilling to share information about the secret quest, and he could only bid farewell and hang up the communication sullenly.

“Did he say anything?” asked Twinkle Fried Rice.

“No.” Sleepy Winter shook his head. He was in fact a little envious of Frenzied Sword, but he knew secret quest was something that came with luck. Then, an idea came to his mind.

“Why don’t we try speaking to Black Phantom?”

…

The sky was turning bright near the horizon. It was dawn.

At Han Xiao’s request, the helicopter landed on a hilltop in the wilderness. Han Xiao asked the pilot to stand by, and stepping off the plane, he took a deep breath. The fresh air invigorated him.

After flying through the night away from the Tedramira River, he was getting ready for his Advancement when Frenzied Sword dropped offline.

A player going offline is akin to disappearing. That gave the pilot a shock. Seeing that Han Xiao’s expression had remained unchanged, he suppressed his shock.

Different players had different peculiarities. Although the world had all kinds of Espers that made everyone well accustomed to abnormalities, over time, more and more people would realize the peculiar nature of the players’ community, and there would definitely be some interesting developments. Han Xiao could not wait to see this happening. Then he could validate some of his guesses.

Putting aside these thoughts, Han Xiao focused his attention on the interface—the requirements for advancement had been met, so a level-up would mean an Advancement.

He looked at the Experience that he had accumulated over the past two months. Minus the Experience that he had used up for skills improvement and integration of blueprints, he still had a full 6.1 million Experience left!

Finally, a second Advancement! Han Xiao was secretly leaping in joy. His progress had been as fast as a rocket, especially since he had gotten a huge channel to reap Experience after the players appeared!

After this Advancement, he would officially become the top figure on Aquamarine, and this was only the beginning. This meant that he could set foot in areas that he had previously found to be too dangerous, to acquire those rare Abilities and Skills. Quests that could trigger dangerous situations, Abilities, Skills, and Equipment—all that would have a huge impact on his combat capability.

He was already halfway there to becoming someone like Bennett and Hila who could take on BOSS Level Quests with their template Abilities.

Advancement!

Han Xiao entered his Experience.

_____________________

[Mechanic (Trainee)] Level-Up LV 5

+50 Energy, +1 Dexterity, +1 Endurance, +4 Intelligence!

Attained 3 points Unassigned stat points!

Attained 1 Talent Point!

_____________________

You have completed your second Advancement.

Endurance and Health points ratio increased to 1:20!

Chapter 146 - Skyrocketed!

After the Advancement, Han Xiao’s health point conversion ratio increased from 1:15 to 1:20. It was obvious to him that his body was stronger. He could feel a ball of energy down in his abdomen, invigorating him.

This second Advancement did not unlock as many skills as his first Advancement did. His first Advancement had felt like a complete rebirth, while this second Advancement was way smoother a process than his first one.

Though not explicit as a description on the interface, Han Xiao noticed that his perception had become more acute. The world was more vivid in his eyes.

If he had to describe how the Advancement felt, it would be ‘natural’. He could feel the breeze flowing around his limbs and smell the mix of particles in the air. His senses were amplified by several notches.

The second Advancement was a prerequisite to unlock many skills, and of course, the most obvious benefit was that he could upgrade to LV 60.

He had plenty of Experience on his interface, so he need not stay at his current level to accumulate Experience. He could first take [Night Stalker], which was at Level6, to its highest level. This would bring him a total of 30 Dexterity, 20 Strength, 10 Mystery, as well as 10 Talent points and 20 Unassigned Stats points.

Han Xiao then assigned his Experience to [Mechanic (Trainee)], a main class with an upper limit of Level15. As he progressed, it took more and more Experience for a level-up. He had used up a significant amount of Experience to level it up from Level5 to Level10.

His level skyrocketed by tens of level and rose directly to LV 50!

As his Energy exceeded one thousand points and reached Energy Level 6, Han Xiao received additional milestone rewards.

_____________________

+6 S trength, +8 Dexterity, +6 Endurance, +10 Intelligence, +400 Max. Stamina, +8% Machinery Quality, +8% Production Speed, Energy Stats Strengthened

_____________________

As one’s Energy Level grew higher, the bonus addition became more significant. Levelling up to Level 6 was a significant milestone. He could receive a new bonus addition of Energy Stats Strengthened that made the benefits of his attributes more prominent. To a Mechanic, Energy with magnetic properties could be used for producing and utilizing machinery. He could increase the speed, improve the quality, and amplify the power more easily. The actual effect would be far more useful than the numbers on the interface looked.

Mechanics were not like Pugilists or Espers who would require huge amount of Energy. In the beginning, additional Energy might not be very useful to Mechanics, but once he had the ability to utilize his Energy in this manner, his strength as a Mechanic would be more apparent.

[Mechanic (Trainee)] reached Level 10. To level up further, Han Xiao would need 800,000 Experience. Han Xiao had around 1,300,000 Experience left on his interface. He decided to save half of it as a backup to integrate blueprints and upgrade other skills.

In the last two months, he had occasionally upgraded some important skills, such as [Sniper], [Moving Snipe], [Continuous Gliding Shots]. Not forgetting his blueprints, his core [Magnetically Controlled Retractable Armor]was already at Lv 5. He was already donning on a new set of armor where his Stats were strengthened. He had also upgraded blueprints like[Ranger Robot], [Low Level Smart Chip]. These blueprints were the ones that were relatively useful.

Han Xiao took a look at the Skill List and entered his Experience into [Flaming Will]and[Fine Intensive Modification]. These two Skills had better value for Experience. After his Experience dropped to half of its initial level, Han Xiao stopped the upgrading process. These two skills were each upgraded by two or three levels.

He had accumulated thirty-eight unassigned stat points, and he threw all of them into his Intelligence stat. That was the crude yet simple manner in which Mechanics upgraded themselves.

After all this was done, his combat effectiveness soared. Without even relying on his equipment, his Energy Rank reached the standard of 12,000 Ona!

_____________________

Level: 50

Attributes: 69 S trength, 94 Dexterity, 82 Endurance, 200 Intelligence, 11 Mystery, 6 Charisma, 1 Luck

Health: 2,970

Energy: 1,230 [Level 6]

Power Level: 1213 Ona

Grade: D

[Take on your equipment. You can be a Boss level figure on this planet if you work hard.]

_____________________

Han Xiao was very satisfied with the growth in his strength. Intelligence had become his strongest stat—it had reached two hundred points! He could be way more productive when he utilized his machinery now.

With the speed at which he was gaining Experience, he would rise to LV 60 in a very short period of time. This was the upper limit for a second Advancement; he was at the top among the version 1.0 players.

My combat capability now, combined with my mechanical equipment, means that I am among the top few fighters in Aquamarine.

Even at LV 50, my Stats are very strong. That is partly because of my expertise and partly because my main vocation is at a high level. This means I can take care of most superhumans without too much difficulty.

I can count on my machinery to help me win, but my expertise and skills are too limited. I’m just too far off from someone like Bennett.

Han Xiao had been busy harvesting Experience from players, and he would continue doing so, accumulating Experience and gaining exposure to increase his popularity. He would be travelling to the novice villages beyond Andrea to teach the novice players basic skills first, and after that, he could proceed to teaching the [Energy Forging Technique]. Through this, he would accumulate a great deal of Experience. With this, he was confident that he would be able to invest in rare skills and abilities very soon.

Two months’ worth of Experience was just wiped out in an instant. It would not have been so easy if he was still his old self. He would have wanted to level up the moment he had gotten some Experience. Now, Han Xiao was not too worried about how he could get more Experience.

Players, they were the biggest market!

[Energy Forging Technique] was his trump card. Once he let the news out, it would trigger a frenzy. In fact, any player that had been through their first Advancement would eventually awaken this skill. But most players are unaware of this. As long as he imparted this skill to a player below LV 20, he would be able to harvest a huge amount of Experience.

But there was a condition; he needed to raise his profile so that more players could get to know him.

There are two ways. I could take the initiative to find players or create opportunities for players to find me…

Han Xiao stroked his stubble and was deep in thought.

If he chose to look for players proactively, it would be a trip like his recent trip to Big Horn Village. Other than the novice grounds beyond Andrea Mainland, he could go to the Southern Continent, the Western Continent, and the Northern Continent to harvest some Experience.

It did not seem like he had much of an opportunity to get players to come to him on their own. He could release more tasks after his Advancement, but it was still a drop in the ocean if he looked at the entire player community. There was no way he could attract all the players. He had made a good start at Big Horn Village—quite a number of players thought that Black Phantom could trigger secret quests. But that was far from getting enough players to come to him. He needed a more concrete plan.

After the battle, the Germinal Organization had withdrawn its forces from the three continents and gone into hiding. For the time being, the global situation would remain stable. At the very least, there would be no public declaration of war for some time. The tide had changed. Germinal would not declare war. However, on a second thought, the power had now come to the hands of the Six Nations. It might just bring the eminent war to an earlier date. This was not his original intention.

Resigning to his fate, he could only shake his head.

Nonetheless, the situation was not too bad. If the Six Nations went ahead to start a war and destroyed the Germinal Organization, it would not bring any harm to him. With this thought in mind, Han Xiao was relieved. After all, he was not an egotistical person; he had never felt like he could control everyone. What he had always wanted to do was to make full use of his extraordinary foresight to reap benefits from the power struggles between the different forces.

Even though the situation had deviated from its original track, war was still not avoidable. Han Xiao could not help but sigh. He was powerless as an individual to try to revert the situation. Instead, he was embroiled into the maelstrom. However, precisely because he was whirled into the situation, he could seize opportunities that came his way. This was really energizing for Han Xiao.

For any player to reach LV 20, they will take roughly two months… But now, two months is just nice for me to run a trip to all the novice villages, Han Xiao thought to himself with a smirk.

Having hammered out his next plan of action. Han Xiao began to think about another issue—his own strength.

After his Advancement, he was able to move closer to the upper limit of version 1.0. Of course, there was no real upper limit for him. He was more concerned about his combat capability. Ranks were only a part of his combat capabilities. His capabilities would be more dependent on his skills, expertise, and mechanical equipment. It went without saying that Mechanics were more dependent on their equipment than other classes.

Han Xiao was using his sniper without a hitch. Naturally, he did not want to give up on his sniper. However, he felt that it was time to develop a second combat style to deal with the increasingly complex situations that he would be going in to.

Chapter 147 - Inspiration for Lightweight Mecha

Mechanics were known for having a wide range of tactics. Just like how saints would never fall for the same trick again, mechanics would never rely on a single set of tactics. To develop new tactics, one would only need to develop new tactics centered around a core gadget, just like how the core of Lurker Sniper Flow was the sniper itself. Using additional tools like electromagnetic skating shoes, special ammunition, stealth ability, and so on could further strengthen one’s prowess.

To a mechanic, developing a new battle tactic was a challenging yet fun task. Brainstorming on new ideas and then being able to bring it to life enabled one to achieve a sense of fulfilment, just like role-playing games.

I have quite a few choices, Rovers, Portable Batteries, self-created Mechas. However, the rovers’ attributes and intelligence are weak on their own, and besides, due to their large sizes, they cannot be easily carried around.

Moreover, even if the only model is placed into the robot troop, the outcome will still be unsatisfactory. They are way too expensive.

As for the battery… Even though there is a ‘Portable’ in the name, the pedestal disc is still too large. If I cannot assemble it within seconds, I can’t use it with the flamethrower style. Perhaps, I can only use it as a trap ambush…

There’s also the self-created Mechas…

Han Xiao had a lot of blueprints that he could use for the armor suit, such as K600 Endoskeleton, Smart Chip, Exoskeleton limbs, Electromagnetic Hover Boots, Basic Storage Cube, and other modules. In addition, he had acquired all the basic knowledges, including Bio-engineering, Mechanical dynamics, Assembly, and Energetics. He had already fulfilled the criteria for creating his own armor.

This was not a bad idea; however, some problems might still arise. For instance, to equip the Mecha, he would first need a support vehicle that could repair and replenish the materials. Prolonged battling could weaken the attack power, just like a problem every guy would face.

Besides, he did not want to run around wearing a tin can, and it would be best if he could fly. He did actually develop a jetpack, but it still needed some adjustments. When activated, the jetpack would fly away without the pilot. If the jetpack was secured tightly, one could experience what a hundred times the speed of a Ferris wheel would feel like. Han Xiao did not want to try that for the second time, and as such, apart from the small drone, none of his other machines had a flying ability.

Medium scale and large scale Mechas required advance knowledge of [Heavy Machine Modification], and he was only capable of modifying light Mechas. Nano-Muscle Suits were more classic but required advance knowledge of [Miniature Machine Modification].

Suddenly, Han Xiao had a eureka moment and came up with a new idea.

Almost made a grave mistake. Actually, I do not need armor as my tactic core. I can start from the assisting type of light armor, neglecting the firepower and focusing on my personal attributes…

He had an idea. As he recalled the armor he had used or seen before, he thought that basic light armor looked reliable and would be easy to replicate one.

As for robots and turrets, he decided to give up on them since they were inconvenient to bring around, and it was impossible to always bring along a truck. Even with airdrop support, there must be a transport aircraft, and then there was the money… No planes could fly in a country’s airspace. Even Fabian Company’s planes, which had licenses, had to follow a fixed route, and they were not allowed to fly wherever they liked. It would be alright to fly into the wild, but there would not be stable supply stations in the vicinity, and it would be difficult for airdrops.

As the night faded away, the golden glow of the sun reappeared, turning the sky from pitch black to a light blue.

Han Xiao stretched his neck, and from his collar bones came a cracking sound. He was re-energized and full of enthusiasm, ready for the fresh day. He felt like he could puncture the sky with just one punch.

Of course, that was just an illusion due to his overflowing energy. His senses, after becoming stronger, were also sharper. Han Xiao felt his vision, hearing, and sense of smell had all improved. As such, he was even able to see the details on the rough surface of a tree trunk from afar.

Han Xiao boarded the helicopter and ordered the pilot to take flight.

…

Han Xiao travelled on Dark Net’s helicopter and finally arrived at another new village on the Southern Continent after landing several times in between to refill the fuel. This village was also a place where Vagrant Warlords gathered, and it was called Green Valley Ville.

There was a total of nineteen beginner towns for new players’ on Planet Aquamarine: five in the Southern Continent, four in the Western Continent, four in the Northern Continent, and six on Andrea Mainland.

Green Valley Ville was a land controlled by the Vagrant Warlords and belonged to the Alumera family.

Alumera, a well-known Vagrant Warlord force with family style management, were headquartered on the Southern Continent. They also had a land on the North continent. In addition, they were in partnership with Theseus. The chief in command was called Darryl Alumera. Anyone with the same last name would be his immediate family member. His other top commanders were all strong players that he had been headhunted to join him, like Second Leader Xiao Jin, Third Leader Bi Qi, and so on. The force was formed by surviving members of various extinct states, and hence, they were a diverse people.

The Vagrant Warlords called themselves different names, including ‘Family’, ‘Group’, ‘Financial Group’, ‘General’, and so on. They believed that if they formed groups, they were less likely to be bullied or threatened. When the force eventually became stronger, Alumera took control of the military and became an authority in the wild. Many Vagrant Warlords chose to join them, as after all, the Aquamarine wild was not a safe place for most.

All Han Xiao wanted now was to continue searching for players and earning experience through them. Time was limited; hence, he did not stop after the battles but immediately proceed to new villages to search for players.

There were three scenarios when players went online and offline or respawn. The first was ‘same spot’ respawn. This required some explanation. When one went offline while being on a moving vehicle, then when one respawned, one would not respawn back at the same location, but one would be respawned back onto the same vehicle. For example, if one was travelling in space, but the location one respawned at was not on the spaceship, then that would be crazy.

The second scenario was respawning at the nearest city. That only applied to respawning players and not for those that were logged in. This meant that if one was killed, one would earn a chance to travel to a city for free, and it was either the city that one wanted or the city that one did not want.

The third scenario was binding to a certain respawn location. However, this required special conditions, including affiliation to camps, special items, or through agreements with NPCs. For example, when one joined a secret camp, one could bind to the camp and select it as one’s respawn point, but others would not be able to do so.

Frenzied Sword would come online on the helicopter. As such, Han Xiao had left a phone behind and instructed the pilot to wait. He then trudged through the forest, heading for the Green Valley Ville.

After two hours, the outline of the Green Valley Ville could be seen from a distance away. It was situated at the side of the forest on a flat land. It was fortified and surrounded by barbed wire fence, and there were vagrant warlords patrolling around. As expected, all the players were gathering at the camps outside of the settlement, just like in Big Horn Village.

Han Xiao did not bother to hide himself. The sentry of the Green Valley Ville spotted him from far away and reported right away to the person-in-charge, Balsas.

Balsas was a bald black man, neither tall nor strong. Instead, he was tiny and thin. He had a pair of triangular eyes that seemed gloomy. Upon hearing what the sentry had described, he was shaken. “Sounds a little like Black Phantom.”

Balsas took out his computer and searched for Black Phantom’s photo. Upon getting confirmation from the sentry, Balsas’ expression changed. “Didn’t he just interfere with the battle at Tedramira River. Why is he here? I have nothing to do with him.”

Just the name ‘Black Phantom’ alone made Balsas anxious. Even though Green Valley Ville was heavily armed, he still felt unsafe. Balsas then muttered, “Should we approach him and find out why he is here?”

Since Alumera did not have a previous relationships with the Black Phantom, Balsas thought that it would be impossible to clash with the Black Phantom, and there was also no one who had published a wanted notice on Black Phantom on the dark net. Balsas calmed down and called for an assistant. He ordered his assistant to take his place and approach the Black Phantom as he was afraid to do it himself.

When the assistant headed out of the gate and walked toward Black Phantom, Balsas moved beside the big gate and observed through the barbed wire fence. He seemed really careful.

However, Balsas very soon witnessed a scene that shook him. He saw that the villagers living outside were actually excited and friendly toward the Black Phantom, actually gathering around him.

Balsas was surprised. [How do all the villagers know about the Black Phantom?

…

There were fewer players at Green Valley Ville compared to the number of players at Big Horn Village.

When Han Xiao arrived at the players’ camp, he was warmly welcomed by everyone. It was so crowded, and everyone surrounded him, obstructing his route.

Through the forum, the incident at Big Horn Village had spread across Aquamarine players, and all other new player villages were envious that new players at Big Horn Village had a chance to switch their vocation. With the unexpected appearance of Black Phantom, all the new players from Green Valley Ville were thrilled.

“Black Phantom is here!”

“We are going to be lucky too!”

A player with the ID ‘Bun-hit-dog’ was more exhilarated than the others. He was quite a well-known video game graphic designer, and his ‘XX Adventure’ series, which was humor-based and full of content, had gained him a lot of fans.

Chapter 148 - The Wind Rises

Bun-hit-dog saw Galaxy as a potential television series. As there was limited information online about it, he keenly realized the hidden potential and decided to create a series that introduced and explained Galaxy. Moreover, he himself really liked Galaxy as well.

It was inevitable for many to start a series on a popular game. Normally, as long as the content was interesting, the first person that produced the television series would easily gain popularity through the game.

Wandering around a new player village, Bun-hit-dog had yet to find the starting point for his series. The first episode of a series was the most important, and he did not wish to do it carelessly. It would be great if he could obtain some exclusive information that ordinary players could not get easily.

Han Xiao’s appearance made Bun-hit-dog feel like his chance was finally here.

Since the Black Phantom was a hot topic on the forums, many people would be drawn to his television series if his first episode was about the Black Phantom. Who was not curious about this mysterious high-level character? He would then be able to ride on Black Phantom’s popularity and make the series a successful one.

Bun-hit-dog, who was among the crowd, switched on his video function, panned toward Black Phantom, and started recording. He then added his own explanation and comments into the footage afterward.

Players were clustering toward him due to the event that happened at Big Horn Village, and that helped save Han Xiao some time. Han Xiao thought he might as well not sell any items. After all, he did not bring any with him. Instead, he went straight to releasing the list of skills that he could teach. The only request was to give five reputation points, which meant….

Wish to change your vocation? Give me some money!

“Black Phantom isn’t selling anything? Then how am I supposed to increase my reputation?”

“This… Giving him free money?”

Players were stunned and whispers started among the crowd.

Han Xiao was calm and thought he did not want to go through so much trouble in Big Horn Village, since the players all knew that they could advance through him. His offer seemed like he was trying to scam the players, but in reality, it was just a simple deal: 2,500 Aquamarine Dollars in exchange for a chance for advancement. Deal or no deal, it was all up to them to decide.

Compared to the normal route for obtaining basic knowledges, paying 2,500 Aquamarine Dollars was already considered a cheap price.

At the time, Balsas’ assistant approached and nervously swallowed his saliva. He was trembling with fear every time he took a step closer, and he was afraid of getting too close to Han Xiao.

“What is it?” Han Xian glanced at him.

“Cough cough, may I know why you are here at Green Valley Ville?” The assistant asked as he braced himself.

Han Xiao took a puff of his cigarette and said, “I’m just walking past here. Don’t worry, I’m not here to cause any trouble.”

The assistant heaved a sigh of relief and said, “Oh, Alumera welcomes you, and Balsas wishes to invite you into the city so that he can give you a treat.

“No, thanks, I’ll just stay here.”

Han Xiao declined as it would be inconvenient to communicate with the players once he entered the town. Since there would not be anyone who dared refuse him, he would leave once he had gotten the experience. As such, he did not pay attention to Balsas.

“Al, Alright…” The assistant left hurriedly as his heart raced, and he was dripping with cold sweat. The legendary killer seemed to be emitting a scary aura. The assistant was scared stiff even though Han Xiao was just standing still.

Especially his eyes, they were like those of wolverines wandering around the dark forest. One could get goose bumps just by staring into Han Xiao’s eyes.

This was one of the effects of having Universal Reputation. When dealing with certain forces, there might be additional effects.

When the assistant returned into the village, Balsas asked, “What did he say?”

The assistant then repeated everything that had happened.

“Just passing by?” Balsas frowned and pondered. He suspected that there were some secrets going on between Black Phantom and the refugees outside the village.

After contemplating for a while, he ordered, “Get someone to observe Black Phantom and report to me if anything is weird. Also, go get some information from the refugees outside. I think Black Phantom is here for them.”

On the other hand, all the players had witnessed the conversation between Han Xiao and Balsas’ assistant. A question then arose among the crowd.

Everyone was able to detect and know the name of Black Phantom because they had sensors in place, but why would the Balsas’ assistant know of him too?

Could it be that Black Phantom was a very popular character on the planet?

The players were all still trying to figure out the structure, background, and the power balances on Aquamarine. They were only able to get a glimpse or two of the world through the maps, which was not helpful at all.

Everyone was suddenly curious about Black Phantom’s background.

Exploring the story of the planet and being able to participate in it was one of the joys for this game.

Bun-hit-dog focused on recording the full situation. Hiding his excitement, his instincts told him that this was definitely the best video material. Exclusive information and the identity of Black Phantom could be used as the prelude to the background of this planet.

…

While Han Xiao was getting a windfall in Green Valley Ville, the world situation was quietly changing.

Stardragon, Hesla, Red Maple, Ordina, Theseus, and Raylen—the Six Nations’ wipe out operation against the Germinal Organization had ended, and the subsequent impact was gradually emerging.

The Six Nations had only held three conferences so far. The first was held after the war in the past, when the Six Nations were first formed and the lands were first claimed.

The second conference was held two months after the war. The pollution from the war was affecting living conditions. Since it was a problem regarding the whole planet, all the nations came together to try to come out with a solution.

The third time was five years after the war, whereby the security and defense issues posed by the vagrant warlords were discussed.

The last six ruling nations on Aquamarine did not have a close relationship with one another. If it was not for a worldwide issue, they would never have worked together.

Today, the fourth Six Nations’ conference was held. The topic was about the next step in their plans regarding Germinal and whether they should go to war or not.

The conference was done in the format of a conference call, and the leaders from each of the Six Nations joined in.

In a meeting room in Stardragon Tower, the metal door was locked, and the leader of Stardragon was sitting at the desk. On the other side was a big screen where the other five leaders could be seen.

The corner of the conference room was filled with people. All of them were the elders from the military, and Gu Hui was also among them. The conference had already been going on for two hours.

“So, has everyone decided?”

Ordina’s leader was emotionless in his tone, and no one was able to tell his stand.

The leader of Theseus stood up confidently and said, “I, Raylen, and Stardragon have all agreed to send out our troops. Hesla and Red Maple object.”

Ordina pondered for two seconds. “I give up my vote.”

Everyone looked as if they had expected it.

Gu Hui, who was standing by the side, remained calm. There were two that agreed, two that objected, and one that gave up. He had already expected such results. Theus and Raylen were the toughest while Stardragon had a strong grudge with Germinal, so they would definitely not miss this chance. Hesla and Red Maple were unwilling to waste money on war. It seemed that Ordina was the greatest slimeball, always thinking about other things instead.

The six leaders discussed for another hour and finalized their direction. They all decided that the final decision was to be determined by the military forces of each nation.

The screen turned black; the three-hour meeting had officially ended.

The elders who were listening by the side seemed shocked. During the conference, it was decided that the six nations would conduct a large-scale military operation similar to the previous major war that had uprooted the political balance. The six nations would move forward and retreat together, attack the Andrea mainland from six directions, and finally destroy the Germinal Organization completely.

War is coming!

Chapter 149 - Galaxy Times (1)

The players in Green Valley Ville took a screenshot and showed off the arrival of Black Phantom on the forum, which sparked another round of heated discussions.

“Previously, it was Big Horn Village; now, it is Green Valley Ville. Will he move on to a new location?”

“Is this high-ranking character arranged by the game developer? The times at which he appears feels weird. If he was a mechanic instructor, his whereabouts would be uncertain. Unless he is the planet protagonist who manages the information written on the net.”

“It doesn’t seem like it. I think the planet protagonist and the plot should be related. It is unlikely that we could come in contact so early. Black Phantom should be another type of mysterious character. Since it is difficult to switch vocation, could it be that Black Phantom was sent by the game developers to compensate us?”

“What! Does it mean that in order to switch our vocation, we have to do it now or else we’ll miss this opportunity with Black Phantom?”

The speculation regarding Han Xiao had not stopped, and the commotion in Big Horn Village had not subsided. His popularity had once again been pushed all the way to the top by the players in Green Valley Ville.

Han Xiao read up countless posts about himself with great interest and summed up the impressions that most players had of him.

The first kind—some players thought he was a mysterious businessman who would appear in the early stages to provide benefits to the novices.

The second kind—some thought he was a mechanic instructor.

The third kind—they thought he was an important character who was in charge of handling important tasks. Due to this statement, Han Xiao had to handle a group of players who wished to trigger hidden tasks every day. After reading about Maple Moon’s example, some players thought that by showing hostility to Germinal, they could exploit the hidden quest.

As the statements made by these people were very strange, Han Xiao rejected all of them. However, there were still players who thought they were highly charismatic and chose to explore any backhanded ways to convince Black Phantom. Since there were more female players, the leader of Sky Territory had a post saying that that would be a benefit when they talk to Black Phantom. Han Xiao was then surrounded by female players who were trying to charm him.

Yet he remained indifferent.

You think that just because you have looks, you don’t have to pay? Dream on!

However, some players were very arrogant and even tried to attack him. Han Xiao adopted the responsibility to right them of their baseless arrogance. He would kill any of these players once they resurrected to teach them a lesson. The game would only refresh the number of deaths every six days. This resurrection could also be called anti-addiction mechanism, and players who dared attack him would be forced to go offline.

These kinds of lawless players obviously played more stand-alone games. Unlike other players who were more cautious in progressing in the game, they were risk takers. No one took pity with these players. This game had been released globally, and there would definitely be a rare madman who wanted to challenge the entire game world; they were used to it.

One player after another queued to pass Han Xiao their money, and Han Xiao realized the mechanics department had attracted quite a number of players. However, as there was a request for the gifts to be sent directly this time round, some petty players were rather hesitant. As a result, the queue was also rather sparse.

Han Xiao just went with it and browsed through the forum at one side. Suddenly, a new post caught his attention. The topic was Galaxy Times.

The column is released! Han Xiao’s face changed as he felt the nostalgia.

Galaxy Times was a sub-column, and the content varied. The column talked about the news on Galaxy, including all kinds of anecdotes, stories from professional players, and analysis of the game process. Han Xiao had once been a follower of Galaxy Times, and he would always have the urge to be the first to watch it. Now that he himself had joined the game, he was unsure if the content would have changed.

In the video, a male and a female host were sitting in front of the camera, like a news broadcast. Behind them was the scene of Galaxy, showing the background of the new planets.

“Hello players,” the male host greeted, “this is Galaxy Times, dedicated to sharing first-hand game information. Your gaming career is our top priority.”

“The public beta has been going on for ten days, and the players’ enthusiasm has not changed a bit,” the female host said. “Now let us first review what has happened in the past ten days…”

The first issue of the Galaxy Times was informative, and the next ten minutes was a quick review of the beta players during the ten days, introducing the various planets and the civilization background. Among them, there was a planet with an ancient civilization, where players were mostly wearing amour, carrying swords, spears, and hammers as weapons. Their background looked like a mix of Chinese and Western medieval times. It was obvious this planet was dominated by martial arts and magic. If there was a need to add a subtitle to the plot, it should be ‘World Hegemony’ and ‘I Will Use Your Skull as a Bowl’.

There was also a highly-modern planet called Planet Brighton. The city was like a floating island with ninety-nine towers scattered on the edge of the city, forming a defense, and the main tower in the city center. The large crystal ball at the top of the tower provided magical power to suspend the city. Occasionally, there would be sightings of a dragon across the sky. New players would have a slim chance of survival in this world as it was very easy to hit the death limit.

Of course, there was an even more difficult way to start, and that would be Planet Winterfrost. The base of the Hell Demon Military Troop was also the only one where players could see the Galaxy Starships. Hell Demon Military Troop’s starships were crazy powerful, and this planet was a mix of magic and technology.

The troops themselves had powerful combat power. They could also ride the cosmic creatures into space for a short while, and their level was high. Fortunately, Planet Winterfrost was just a sub-base camp for the troop. Otherwise, the American players who chose Planet Winterfrost as the base camp would not even be able to get out of the novice village.

The richer the resources were for the novice planet, the more challenging it would be at the beginning. In contrast, the difficulty of Aquamarine was moderate, and the technological background was similar to that of many years ago. Unlike other planets where even trash cans on the street could incite the player’s curiosity, there were not many surprises on Aquamarine.

However, the popularity of Aquamarine on the forums was rising, and the main reason was the appearance of Black Phantom. He was the first high-ranking character to interact with the players.

The two hosts then turned around and talked about the Black Phantom.

“Next, we’ll talk about an incident that happened in Aquamarine, and friends who have been active on the forum all know that Black Phantom is the first mysterious high ranking character to appear in front of the players. The players do not have much information about him. Qiu Qiu, what role do you think he plays in the plot of Aquamarine?” the male host asked.

“Based on the current information, Black Phantom seems to have a high position, and his identity is extremely mysterious as well. Furthermore, he and Germinal are enemies.

“Oh, does this mean he’s on the same side as the Six Nations?”

“I am not sure. Perhaps only the developers can answer this question.”

“Alright, after listening to this lame joke, let us return to the topic,” the male host said. “Speaking of the Black Phantom, he seems to be a mechanic instructor and can expose hidden plots. The latest news suggests that Black Phantom has appeared in Green Valley Ville of Aquamarine. Therefore, friends who wish to transfer to the mechanic class should seize the opportunity. The Black Phantom is by far the easiest way to obtain the knowledge.

“However, there has been a different opinion on the forums recently. Some players who transferred to the mechanics department are starting to regret.”

The female host feigned her surprise, “There is such a thing?”

There was a quarrel at this point, and most of the players had been simply choosing their vocation based on which vocation was the strongest. After they had switched to being a mechanic, they found out that mechanics were not up to their expectations and would naturally be full of complains.

Before the topic came to an end with the two hosts, Han Xiao looked at the responses and saw one response at the top. The ID was called ‘Luzman’.

Chapter 150 - <Galaxy Times> (2)

“I am a beta player in Big Horn Village. A few days ago I changed my vocation to mechanics with Black Phantom. Initially, I thought this is a very strong class, but after switching, I realised that being a mechanic is totally different from what I had expected. The skills are trashy and the equipment are easily damaged, but I could only repair them after I have bought the materials. My gun just died like this! I’m so mad!

“The combat power is rather weak too. One public beta test player who was 4 levels lower than me came up for a challenge. He didn’t even have a main vocation, and his sub-vocation was a mere [Hunter]. We fought for 11 rounds, and yet I didn’t win any of them at all! For a main vocation to lose to a sub-vocation, while being 4 levels higher, this mechanic vocation is just a pile of shit.”

… I was fooled by that video of Black Phantom. Damn I was scammed. Those senior NPCs always have NPC templates as bonuses. Black Spirit is not even a player! His combat power doesn’t even have much of a tingle!

… This mechanic vocation is so weak in its early stages. Maybe it would be as strong as Black Phantom’s eventually, but you will be starting way behind others from the beginning. It takes even longer to reach the same level as the rest! What’s more, the mechanic vocation relies on machineries, and the materials used to make the machinery costs a lot of money. This class is perfect for the local tyrants. If you don’t have money, don’t even try!

This mechanic vocation has no future, seems like I cannot use this account anymore. I can only restart another account and retrain. What a trash vocation!”

Luzman’s response was full of resentment. He had even uploaded videos of him losing in battles. Many people had echoed him in the comments, pushing his post to the top of the responses.

After glancing through other posts, Han Xiao realised that most of the posts had traces of Luzman. That guy copied and pasted the comments so many times. Many others found his resentment to be over the top and they argued with Luzman on the forum too.

Han Xiao narrowed his eyes. This was not totally unexpected. The players would realise sooner or later that the mechanic vocation is not suitable for combat in the early stages. Luzman was the first one and he would not be the last. These grievous people only fell for the trap because they were attracted by his video and had simply chose whichever vocation that was strong. The moment they realise that it wasn’t what they had imagined, they would feel deceived and angry.

There were also players who liked the mechanic vocation who ignored these useless arguments and complaints. Some players were in the game for entertainment while others wanted to be the strongest in the game. Luzman was clearly one of the latter.

These negative comments would definitely affect his business, and since there was only one chance to choose a main vocation, players would become more cautious, especially first-time players.

Han Xiao shook his head. He had wanted to attract more players into the pit of mechanic vocation to expand his market.

“Seems like I have to reaffirm players in the value of the mechanic vocation, I can’t just rely on displaying my strength…”

The programme continued running. Off the script, the male MC said, “we have just received the unreleased promo clip on the next version of the game from Galaxy. Do take a look. ”

The screen began to play another video. Just as what <Galaxy> had announced, this promo video focused on the battle scenes of each vocation.

The heavy armoured knight appeared full of energy. The tip of his gun emitted smoke, and it hit a group of iron-shielded guards. The crash was loud like a thunder, and bodies were flying all over.

A tribe with horns controlled the elements around them. Flames slithered and wrapped around their body like a snake.

A magician stood in his cloak, and a web of light appeared beneath his feet as he chanted. Light rays of magic shone out from his fingers.

The bald-headed sorcerer used his mind to manipulate objects around him. He released an invisible strike his opponents around him, causing them to fall one by one with their noses bleeding.

The clips were all very realistic. It was gorgeous!

This was only a demo of the promotional clip. Nothing was finalised. The clips were recorded by new players from every planet, and there were only a few clips from senior players for the time being. They barely got together the battle scenes of the five main vocations. The battle scene for mechanic vocation was a clip of Black Phantom in action. Han Xiao was the first advance player to demonstrate his combat power.

There were a several clips showing the jaw dropping scene at Big Horn Village, as well as scenes of the interception battle at Tedramira River. Sniper, rifles, turrets, squadrons, and even the vicious Fury Blade was featured in the clip.

The players was all engrossed in the scenes. They were all exhilarating moments.

“I didn’t know I got selected to be in the promotional video!”

Han Xiao was a little surprised. He still remembered last season’s promotional video. The scene for the Mechanic vocation was just the process to produce a machinery, and most players assumed that it was a more of a support role. Hence, only a few players switched to the mechanic vocation.

According to the first version, the proportion of players in the mechanic vocation was only 9.7%! This promotional video alone attracted tons of interest from the players. Mechanic vocation wouldn’t be as bleak as before. He wasn’t afraid to risk players complaining and regretting on the forum in exchange for attracting more players over.

This promotional video also improved his popularity, and this was much more effective than word of mouth. Han Xiao was overjoyed. He expected his fame to shoot up in no time.

The next line-up on the programme was about professional players. The male MC said, “Within 10 days of public beta, tons of famous e-sports clubs have shifted to the game <Galaxy>, and according to statistics, Esper is currently the most popular one. This class is a lucky draw, if you get a high level skill, it is equal to 10 million lottery tickets! The future is unlimited!

It is known that the United States, South Korea, France, Japan and Switzerland all have accounts with A-class potential rating, and the various big clubs have offered prices for these accounts, worth millions of US dollars.”

The screen flashed wildly. Almost a million US dollars to buy a novice account? It was simply a lottery! Good luck would mean making a fortune immediately.

“Flashing News: The American Devil Club, Sandstorm Club, France Tulip Club, and the Korean Four Star Club have already bought the accounts. They will be used by the club’s elite players.

And the God-level players will still be using their own accounts… American elite player ‘King and Queen’ has changed to the magician vocation and was rewarded with a rare skill through a hidden quest. French elite player ‘Lost Angel’ has chosen to start at random and he seems to have obtained a opportunity. South Korea…”

Foreign e-sports players all seemed to be performing very well. China’s e-sports scene wasn’t weak either, but only a few managed to hit the top spots. Champions of many events had long been occupied by players from the United States, France, Japan and South Korea. If you coud win a championship, local players would celebrate as though it was a festival. They would be bringing honour to their country.

“Local players are performing rather well. A player by the name of ‘Feng Yue’ completed the reward pool quest on her own, gaining over hundreds of thousands of experience points, becoming the biggest winner. It is extremely beneficial for her future development. Who knows, maybe the advantages would come snowballing in. This task was related to Black Phantom…

A dark horse by the ID of ‘Fury Blade’ was among the professional players. During a meeting at Jiang Cheng club where Fury Blade was at yesterday, they had released a video. It was the battle scene in the promotional clip with Black Phantom, and I believe everyone had also noticed Fury Blade. He seemed to have triggered Black Phantom’s hidden quest…”

The clip of Fury Blade was sent in by Luminous Moon. In order to raise their profile, the club had used it for publicity, just when the Chinese professional players were feeling down about their lack of outstanding performances. This brought Fury Blade lots of attention.

“… This would be the end of this week’s content, we look forward to seeing you next time! The following are details for the lucky draw. During this episode, how many times was Black Phantom mentioned? Please drop a message to the official account. We will draw 10 people…”

Han Xiao couldn’t stop laughing. He then switched off the screen.

Han Xiao’s name came up the most in the entire show. The audience had the perception that that everything good had some kind of correlation to Black Phantom:

Black Phantom = Opportunity!

Han Xiao didn’t expect that his name to appear on the screen so many times. His plan had some good returns. His popularity rose yet again. And more importantly, after the programme was broadcasted, more players would come aboard to change their vocation, allowing him to earn more experience points.

He did a rough estimate, based on this trend, the number of mechanic players on Aquamarine would likely be two or three levels higher than previously.

Chapter 151 - A Small-scale Beast Attack

There were some wild beasts spotted around the Green Valley Ville, and they had been causing problems for the town. Before Han Xiao came, Balsas had used some small sums as a bounty to incentivize the refugees to hunt down the beasts. Slowly, he had noticed something strange: the refugees would be able to hunt down the wild beasts without any casualties. After some observation, he found out to his surprise that these refugees seemed to have revival Espers and would never really die.

Balsas was shocked. It might have been normal for one person to have the revival Esper ability, but it would be a different story for an entire group. Could it be that this ability could be spread, just like the werewolf tribe in myths, where one’s saliva carried the mutated genes and could turn a normal person into another of their kind in one bite?

After some observation, Balsas was excited to find out that the refugees were easily satisfied by small incentives.

If I can get these strange refugees to work for me, their revival trait will make for a formidable army! I won’t have to fear anyone from Black Pine anymore.

Even though these refugees have revival abilities, they had limited combat strength. Balsas had asked them about their origins, but their answers were mostly gibberish. Despite some unresolved doubts about the refugees’ background, Balsas decided it was alright to go ahead and trade with them for their services.

He was about to take action when Black Phantom arrived and was warmly welcomed by the refugees. Balsas was alarmed.

Is Black Phantom here for these refugees too? Does he know about their ability as well?

Black Phantom was not someone to mess with, so Balsas decided to stay put and observe for the moment. However, an accident broke out—the beasts residing near the town attacked.

Countless wild beasts came from the jungle and caused the ground to rumble.

Gray Devil Wolves made up the majority. Their fur was charcoal gray, and they were as big as wild buffalos. There were also giant purple-scaled pythons that were ten to twenty meters long, slithering among the wolves.

Beasts in the wild were common, and they were a threat faced by every town. Balsas commanded for the town to be locked up without hesitation and asked his soldiers to ready the machine guns on the watchtowers to fight the beasts. Players that were left outside the town became the buffer zone for them to hold off the beasts. Balsas was glad that he had refugees that could be sacrificed at no cost.

Mature Gray Devil Wolves were about LV 20. They pounced into the crowd and ripped apart a player in two to three bites.

_____________________

You have started emergency quest [Protect Green Valley Ville]!

_____________________

Besides the normal players, Han Xiao received the emergency quest, too. However, to his dismay, the reward was at a newbie standard at only a few thousand Experience. Han Xiao watched with great interest at one side as the players fought against the beasts.

Balsas realized that Han Xiao had crawled to the top of the town wall while he was not looking and was watching the battle intensely. Balsas was alarmed. Black Phantom was able to silently crawl up the wall when so many people were staring down at the town wall; this meant that he could silently creep up on anyone he wanted to as well. Indeed, he was living up to his reputation as a skilled and accomplished assassin.

The players gave it their all to protect the town. The situation was bloody and violent. The players were not in complete defeat only because of the aid from the town’s machine guns. Han Xiao closely watched the players’ performances. Green Valley Ville consisted mainly of players from two classes—Esper and Mechanic.

He saw many different Espers: Attribute-boosting, Superhuman Strength, Stamina, Speed, Instant Healing, and elemental controls, which included skills such as gathering rocks or fortifying armor using rocks. There was a plethora of Espers, but most were low-level and short-lasting. They were dealing some damage to the wolves, but only a few Esper players were more notable.

The fight between the players and the beasts was a rough one, so some players were live-streaming the battle on the forum.

Han Xiao narrowed his eyes. He decided to join and end this battle quickly. With that, he jumped off the wall.

Activating his electromagnetic hover-boots, he moved as if there was ice under his feet. He dived into the battle like a bolt of black lightning, zooming through the battlefield, straight to a relatively smaller Gray Devil Wolf, which was old and had little fur left. It was the leader of the pack, and Han Xiao noticed it when he was observing just now.

Han Xiao decided not to snipe these beasts. Sniping would limit the area damage, and he had limited ammo with him. It was the perfect chance for him to see what he could do with his LV 50 attributes against these LV 20 beasts.

Beasts were common on Planet Aquamarine. When fighting against beasts in large scales, he would not dive in alone. It would be extremely dangerous because it would be exposing him to high frequency attacks from all sides.

The herd of beasts in Gray Valley Ville was very small in numbers. With only thousands of wolves and snakes, Han Xiao could afford to show off his attributes.

A few strong-built Gray Devil Wolves immediately surrounded the Wolf King. With the howl from the old Wolf King, its guards pounced toward Han Xiao.

Han Xiao was clad full-body in his magnetically controlled retractable armor. He raised his arm to block off the sharp claws of the wolves, and the clashing sound was resounding. He was fighting off wolves, which were four to five times larger than him.

He had 69 points in his Strength attribute, way higher than the LV 20 Gray Devil Wolves. His fingers dug into the flesh of a wolf’s claws and threw the wolf over his head and onto the floor like a ragdoll. But unlike a ragdoll, the wolf landed and created a dent in the ground, whimpering.

Players who saw this scene were shocked. The scene was very impactful. It was as if a dwarf was throwing a normal person over their shoulders.

Han Xiao was elated to find out how strong his body was. His fists landed on a wolf like a pile driver with solid thuds. Every punch was filled with power that dealt damage right into the wolves’ lungs. A wolf was flung away, but it would get up and lunge again, only to be flung away once more. The place that was hit would be marked with a deep purple bruises.

The wolves began to crowd in to protect the Wolf King. Han Xiao’s view was filled with wolves that were attacking him with claws and fangs from all angles. The retractable armor clashed with the sharp claws, and sparks were flying. Han Xiao could barely hold the weight of the wolves off from all sides, let alone move.

It’s indeed very difficult to kill and get through the beast crowd. Han Xiao changed his plan and activated the Repulsive Force Generator, which sent a pushing force out and flung all the surrounding wolves into the wolves at the back.

With his path cleared, Han Xiao pushed with his foot and turned up the speed of his hover-boots. Wind was howling as he approached in the Wolf King at high speed. He blocked off the ferocious attacks from the Wolf King, grabbed the wolf’s head, and twisted it, throwing it to the ground. He pressed his knee tightly against the wolf’s stomach and pressed on its head with his left hand. Clenching his right fist, it landed right on the wolf’s head. The Wolf King’s head was crushed after a few punches. Blood spilled everywhere.

Every time he punched, the power surging through his muscles, tendons, and bones was like a tight bow that stored great strength. It was greatly satisfying to feel at ease and in control of such great strength.

A Wolf’s critical region was their stomach, but Han Xiao preferred attacking the head more.

After a few punches, the Wolf King was only a few breaths away from death. The wolf pack was howling and had all abandoned the enemies to attack Han Xiao. A huge pack of wolves piled on top of him like a small hill. Han Xiao was pressed against the floor.

The pungent wolf smell filled Han Xiao’s nostrils, and his face became scrunched up. He was almost choking. His sharp sense allowed him to identify the components of the smell.

Wolves’ urine, soil, sweat, dried excrement, and… Eh‽

Chapter 152 - A Melee Mechanic Is the Best

Pushing on the ground with both hands, he managed to support the weight of the huge pack of wolves on his back. Each wolf weighed at least eighty kilograms. While it was very taxing, Han Xiao finally spotted an opening and quickly tumbled out, simultaneously pulling out a hand grenade from his clothes and tossing it underneath the pack of wolves.

Boom!

A muffled sound erupted, and fragments of the grenade shot out with the flames caused by the explosion. The pack of wolves howled mournfully as fresh blood gushed out from their bodies. Han Xiao’s armor was also splattered red. Staggering as he stood up, his hand brushed past his side as he brandished a foldable machete that had undergone many modifications. It was newly improved and could be said to be a royal-edition.

Han Xiao nimbly sprinted through the pack of wolves, his blade slashing through his enemies, bringing waves of fresh blood along his path. The venomous poison spat out by the purple-scaled python could not catch up to his footwork. With a flash of his blade, he sliced off the snake’s head. The blade wound where the snake was decapitated was as smooth as a mirror, with fresh blood spurting continuously as the headless snake convulsed uncontrollably on the floor.

All the wild beasts rushed toward him. Purely by borrowing the speed from the Skating Shoes and the defense from the magnetically controlled retractable armor, he could single-handedly massacre the flock of beasts. The players were left to the side-lines as they could only stare in shock and bewilderment as Han Xiao killed every beast that came his way.

He was a Mechanic, so how did he end up in a melee close-range fight?

The players’ eyes were all drawn to Han Xiao’s elegant fighting style. It was undeniable that he was really suave. He was redefining the way most of them viewed Mechanics!

It turned out that it was not true that Mechanics could only fight long-distance. Their close-quarter combat skill was also of note and could be very aggressive. Also, they had a clear style of close-quarter combat that was distinctly different from pugilists.

Frenzied Sword finally came online as he arrived at the outskirts of the town, out of breath. Seeing the situation with the wild beasts, it was also his first time watching Han Xiao display his skills. In that moment, he felt that he had found his guiding light. This was exactly the fighting style that he loved! One can tell just by looking at his ID!

Choosing to follow Han Xiao was definitely the best decision! Frenzied Sword could barely suppress his excitement; he really did make the right choice back then!

Not only Frenzied Sword, but a lot of other players were influenced by what has been going on in the forums. Players who were contemplating on whether to change classes began to take interest in Mechanics again.

After killing however many wolves and snakes, Han Xiao’s field of vision suddenly cleared. He realized that the wolf pack was gradually withdrawing amid whimpers, and the group of purple-scaled pythons fled as well. Soon, the wild pack of beasts had all retreated, leaving corpses strewn across the floors, soaking the ground in bright-red blood.

He exhaled a breath and wiped off the traces of blood left on his armor. With his stats, dealing with such low-level beasts would leave them completely crushed. He still had forty percent of his stamina left.

Mechanics rarely fought their enemies by close-combat. However, doing this occasionally did make him feel refreshed. Rather than using a fighting style that relied on sniping, which would lead to an instant death with each shot, this kind of real fist fighting feeling was much more suitable for destressing.

Green Valley Ville’s guards came out to clean up the battlefield, carrying the dead corpses of the wild beasts back to the town as food supplies. Han Xiao rejected Bashas’ repeated invitation. Under the eyes of the excited players, he returned to his original position indifferently, pretending to rest as he closed his eyes.

The interface indicated that the mission was complete. Also, he killed over a hundred beasts, obtaining more than 20,000 Experience points in total. As his own level was much higher than his massacred targets, the Experience points he gained would be cut down by a lot, but no matter how small it was, it was Experience nonetheless. The almighty Mechanic Han would not mind it at all. The main purpose behind this fight was to test his current reflexes and to have a clearer understanding on his physical caliber. Only by doing that could he take care of smaller details in future battles and perform at his best. Another reason was that he wanted to continue to show off a Mechanic’s abilities. He realized that Esper players often showed off their coolest abilities, but new Mechanic players were still a minority. He guessed that Mechanics would become a class that would be questioned, so he wanted to shift the players’ focus from Espers by showing them how Mechanics could be great players too.

Opening the forum, Han Xiao realized that there were players who had uploaded a video footage of the fight just now. The title was shocking.

“Overpowered! Mechanics can actually fight like this!”

The recording showed Han Xiao almost single-handedly conquering a wild-beast fight. The visuals were very impactful. In the past, he had mainly used sniping, killing his enemies in one shot, or used his turrets’ and rovers’ high firepower, but he had never showed off his individual fighting ability. This time, he highlighted this, and the real-time comments and replies mostly conveyed shock and amazement.

But he realized that below the post, there was a reply that was manually pushed up. Looking at the ID, it was Luzman. His tone was as harsh as before.

“Black Phantom is indeed very strong, I won’t deny that, but Mechanics are really trash. Look carefully at the start of the video. Espers are the central force when fighting with wild beasts, and those players who advanced to become Mechanics can only sit at the side and fire aimlessly without a single use for them.

“I presume this clip was probably recorded by a Mechanic. Other than the Mechanics who can be idling at one side, I guess no other players would have this kind of time in an actual fight…

“Also, stop sharing Black Phantom’s videos, this asshole wants to trick me into becoming a Mechanic again!”

As he continued down the post, the replies split into those who supported Luzman and those who disagreed with him.

Han Xiao smacked his lips. He was a little annoyed. Luzman held onto that point and had been smearing his reputation. This would be a hindrance to his business. The players’ attention was drawn toward this discussion. His display of abilities seemed to be less impactful now. With Han Xiao’s rich experience in discussion, with one look, he could tell that Luzman was a keyboard warrior who posted derogatory comments everywhere to trigger fights online.

Scratching his head, Han Xiao did not really have a good solution to this. This was a discussion that would obviously come up, just like picking between sweet tofu or salty tofu. As long as nobody restricted it, there was no way to stop others from commenting online.

But I’m only an NPC now. Even if I showed off my abilities, it isn’t enough to get more people to believe in Mechanics. There isn’t anything else that I can do either; it’s not like I can go in front of the players and shout ‘I’m actually a player’… Han Xiao felt helpless.

The NPC template was his secret that he did not want to disclose. From the perspective of a player though, seeing an NPC shout “I’m a player” would only cause them to feel curious and amused. Not many would believe it to be true, and most would think that it was an easter egg or a character design, just like Deadpool.

There were some simulation games in the past where fictional characters inside would say that they knew of the players’ existence, but who would believe it to be true? Those who really did believe it had already been corrected by Yang Technologies.

The smell of blood had yet to fade away. Frenzied Sword, who had run over from a distance away, attracted the attention of the players. Galaxy Times had announced his movements, and Frenzied Sword had gained some short-lived fame. He was recognized in a moment.

The players around them began whispering to one another, looking in envy.

“Isn’t that the professional gamer mentioned by the program? He has a picture on the promotional ad.”

“He really does have a special relationship with Black Phantom.”

“I want to unlock a hidden quest with the Black Phantom, too.”

Frenzied Sword waddled over to Han Xiao’s side.

Han Xiao regarded this player, who had some potential, well. It was alright to embarrass Frenzied Sword in front of NPCs, but he did not have the heart to do so in front of the crowd of players. No matter what, Frenzied Sword was also a professional gamer, and his image was very important.

Han Xiao randomly assigned some regular mission. When Frenzied Sword received the mission, his face was overcome with disappointment.

“Collect materials? That’s so boring. You might as well tell me to dance.”

Han Xiao’s lips curved up. Habits were indeed scary.

Just then, a player walked over. The ID above his head read ‘Laughing Blade’. He asked, “Frenzied Sword?”

Once Frenzied Sword saw this person, his face fell as he dryly replied, “It’s you. So, you’re here to play Galaxy as well. Why aren’t you playing Knight anymore?”

“Haha, it’s not challenging enough,” Laughing Blade said half-mockingly.

Some players recognized Laughing Blade.

“Isn’t that the professional gamer, Laughing Blade?”

“I heard he was one of the top three players in Knight; he even won two championships before.”

Laughing Blade enjoyed the players’ surprise thoroughly. His eyes hid feelings of condescension as he looked at Frenzied Sword.

In the past, Frenzied Sword had also been a professional gamer in Knight. In official competitions, he had suffered countless defeats to Laughing Blade, and his fame was far from that of Laughing Blade.

Laughing Blade saw the rewards assigned to Frenzied Sword on Galaxy Times and realized that his old opponent was better-off than him. Feeling green from jealousy, he intentionally came to stir up trouble. After a few words, he pretended to ask casually, “Since we’ve met, let’s have a PVP duel. I’m an Esper, what about you?”

“… Mechanic.”

Frenzied Sword was slightly hesitant. Even though he was under Han Xiao’s mentorship, his current Mechanic abilities were very unsuited for battle. Subconsciously, he wanted to reject the duel.

Unexpectedly, Laughing Blade suddenly said, “Since we’ve known each other for so many years, let’s have a friendly duel. You can’t possibly reject a small request like this, or do you look down on me?”

Frenzied Sword was speechless. Those words made it hard for him to reject. There was no need to have a falling out with someone in the same industry over something small like this.

Laughing Blade laughed coldly in his mind. He had said that because he was afraid that Frenzied Sword would reject the deal. He wanted to have a duel with Frenzied Sword only because he had gained some popularity on Galaxy.

Once he obtained some fame, it made him easy to become someone else’s prey.

If he were to defeat Frenzied Sword, he could probably tone down the latter’s popularity. For a professional gamer who had attended a program to be defeated by him, he could become a little more famous as well.

Laughing Blade was very confident. He felt that an awakened Esper was quite strong. His elementary application was a rock-earth fusion armor that was suitable for defense. It was strong against pistols, so he felt that his chances of winning were quite high.

Even if he were to lose, he could test the gap between them. Anyway, at this point, they would not die. Laughing Blade felt that this deal only had benefits to him, and he would not have any losses.

Also… he looked toward Black Phantom, who was standing at one side, his gaze lighting up.

If Frenzied Sword can unlock a hidden quest, I’ll give it a try too!

Chapter 153 - Controlling Behind the Scenes

Han Xiao watched with interest from the side. Laughing Blade? No impression of him. Probably not important enough in Galaxy.

Frenzied Sword would eventually become a Legendary player in the future, but right now, he was bowing his head to Laughing Blade. This scene left him feeling nostalgic. For some reason, it brought him back to those days in the past, when he first started. Back then, there was a point in time when his power-levelling business was dwindling. To find other ways to get income, he had entered a small office to help them mine gold to earn some rewards. That office often forced him to work over-time and cut his pay. Asking them about pay would only elicit answers that were nothing short of excuses.

The office’s boss took advantage of being a business owner. When Han Xiao asked about his pay for the ninth time and started arguing with him, the boss told him that if he wanted to continue, he could; if he was not going to continue, he could just scram. If he continued to complain, then he would PK him until his level reached 0.

What else could Han Xiao do, he was also very exasperated. All he could do was to use his main account to show the boss why the business was doing so well. For a few weeks, he massacred all the players in the office till it suffered heavy losses and was on the verge of closing down. Then, he earned a reasonably large amount of reimbursement in exchange for his emotional losses.

In-game blackmailing was not illegal.

Aye, the happy times are gone, there’s no turning back. Han Xiao puffed as he smoked. As he overcame his obstacles, he could only appreciate it now because of his past experiences.

Frenzied Sword could only accept Laughing Blade’s request. Currently, he was LV 11, way ahead of average players’ levels. Other than a Mechanic’s repairing and reinforcement skills, he could only use basic shooting and fighting skills.

Han Xiao had complete understanding of Frenzied Sword’s fighting abilities. With a flash in his eyes, he called out to Frenzied Sword. “Come here.”

Frenzied Sword was a little confused as he followed orders accordingly. Han Xiao took off his thermo-electrical incisor gloves, secretly giving them to him.

With a look at the gloves’ stats, Frenzied Sword’s breathing stopped for a moment, his face overcome with shock and surprise.

“I’m only lending them to you; you have to return them.” Han Xiao erased Frenzied Sword’s unrealistic hopes.

Frenzied Sword was still very touched. It was the right decision to suck up to Han Xiao, he could even receive such a benefit! Is it because he’s afraid that I’ll lose, making him lose face?

Putting on the gloves, Frenzied Sword had a greater sense of confidence. Standing fifteen meters apart from Laughing Blade, both of them braced themselves, getting ready to attack.

Nearby, players began crowding around to watch the show. They were mainly curious about Frenzied Sword and wanted to see the difference between a professional gamer who had his name reported on the system and a regular player.

“Even if he is a professional player, he should be about the same level in these early stages.”

“With only a few basic abilities, he probably can’t show off his mechanic abilities as well.”

“I think there’s an advantage in these early stages. Maybe he’s practiced fighting before in real-life, or he’s someone who was in the military. After all, the controls here are so realistic.”

The players murmured to one another.

With a low cry, Laughing Blade made the first move, launching himself forward. With every step, the sand on the ground wrapped itself around his calves and snaked up to his body, forming a sandstone armor covering his body.

His pistol can only fire at most five shots, and my abilities can definitely hold him off. As long as I close the distance between us, he’s definitely finished! Laughing Blade thought.

The players were all new. The level of their control was only at a level where they understood how to use the skills and what they did. Laughing Blade’s decision was correct, but Frenzied Sword’s reaction gave Laughing Blade a shock. Instead of moving back and using the pistol to kite him, he rushed forward instead.

Both people quickly collided into one another. Without thinking twice, Laughing Blade sent his fist, which was wrapped in sandstone armor, flying toward Frenzied Sword, and Frenzied Sword met his fist with his black-gloved palm.

Could this glove be special equipment?

Just as Laughing Blade had this thought, he suddenly experienced a series of burning pains. Stunned, he realized that his health points were reduced to zero in that moment.

His vision turned black as he immediately died.

From the start to end, this duel only lasted three seconds!

On the battlefield, only Frenzied Sword remained. The wind blew up the edges of his clothes. Expressionless, he truly resembled a solitary professional at the top of his game.

The surrounding players watched, dazed, unable to react.

“Was… was that an instant KO?”

“That’s way too fast!”

“Too overpowered! No wonder he could get on Galaxy Times!”

“Could the secret quest really have given him such a huge lead over the rest of us‽”

Everyone was a new player. Technically, their battle power should have been about the same. Using a pistol, it would take at least four or five shots before one would die, and Laughing Blade’s Esper ability obviously strengthened his defense. Some players remembered Laughing Blade’s performance during the wild-beast attack. When he was surrounded by two gray wolves, he was still able to hold them off. But when he fought with Frenzied Sword, he died instantly just by meeting fists with him?

What kind of godly attack power was this?

Everyone stared at Frenzied Sword’s glove, envy showing on their faces.

“That is high-level equipment!”

“Mechanics can make something like that? I thought they could only make guns!”

“I really want one too…”

Not long after, the revived Laughing Blade ran over, his face looking dark as he said unhappily, “Didn’t we agree that it would be a friendly battle? How could you… you…”

He originally wanted to say how could he have killed him, but he felt that saying it would be too shameful.

Having defeated an old opponent, Frenzied Sword only felt refreshed from being able to settle all the discontent from the past as he chuckled. “Sorry, I didn’t know you were so vulnerable.”

This sentence made Laughing Blade so angry that he could felt the heat rising up from his chest.

Calling me vulnerable for dying‽

It was a complete loss for him. Dying once cost him a lot of Experience. Laughing Blade was very upset. He initially thought that once the duel reached a certain point, they would end it, but he did not expect to be an instant-killed, not to mention he could not even blame Frenzied Sword. He was so distressed that he could feel his heart tightening up over this horrible situation.

After the crowd around them had left, Frenzied Sword obediently returned the gloves to Han Xiao, hesitating as he asked, “Han… Black Phantom, are you selling these gloves?”

Han Xiao looked at him from the side of his eye, opening up the shop listing as he added “thermo-electrical incisor gloves” at a fixed price of 80,000 with a reputation of 15 points. This set of gloves was a prize that he had seized from Rose Militant. After learning the basic knowledge upfront, he had instead experimented to create the blueprints to create the thermo-electrical incisor gloves. By spending some Experience, he could make one on his own now.

Frenzied Sword was instantly motivated. Excitedly, he clenched his fists. This close-combat equipment designed for Mechanics was his favorite. “I can’t afford it now, but I will be able to, sooner or later!”

Then, Laughing Blade suddenly inched closer. His gaze lit, he stared at Han Xiao and asked, “Black Phantom, I heard you’re enemies with Germinal. I want to join you.”

In this time frame, the discussion board had all sorts of different guesses as to how one could trigger the Black Phantom’s secret quest. They thought that as long as one showed their intention to become Germinal’s enemies, there was a chance that they could trigger Black Phantom’s secret quest. Many players were guessing the phrase to trigger that. In his short time in Green Valley Ville, Han Xiao had heard several of such guesses and had rejected them all. This led the players to a final conclusion—it was all about possibility when one was trying to trigger Black Phantom’s secret quest.

Laughing Blade was also trying his luck.

Han Xiao raised an eyebrow and said, “Oh… You seem to be not bad.”

There’s a lead! Laughing Blade grinned in surprise.

Frenzied Sword’s heart fell. Getting nervous, he could feel a strong sense of discomfort welling within him for some reason.

“But you don’t seem to be up to par yet.” Han Xiao suddenly changed his words as he waved, rejecting Laughing Blade.

Laughing Blade had not even finished his breath and was left speechless for a while. His expression was annoyed. With his heart full of jealousy toward Frenzied Sword, he muttered to himself in anger, “This guy is really some lucky dog.”

Frenzied Sword heaved a sigh of relief, regaining his composure.

Han Xiao almost laughed aloud upon seeing Frenzied Sword’s reaction, as if he were a guy who had almost been cheated on…

Pfft, what kind of description was that? What would that make me? Han Xiao tossed aside this crazy idea.

On the interface, quite an amount of Experience had accumulated. For players in Green Valley Ville who intended to change their class, they all would have completed that by the next day. Han Xiao would prepare to leave after that.

While he was collecting Experience, someone recorded Frenzied Sword and Laughing Blade’s battle and uploaded it onto the forum.

…

Luzman was a player who came from Big Horn Village. By luck, he had managed to get into the phases of beta-testing and had been saving his money before he switched his class. He wanted to join the strongest class.

When it was time for public testing, he saw Black Phantom’s battle and was captivated. Hurriedly, he wanted to switch to become a Mechanic. Other players tried to complete tasks to improve their relationship with Black Phantom, but Luzman could not wait. He used his money to gain five reputation points with Black Phantom. From the five basic knowledges that Black Phantom taught, he learned [Basic Weaponry Knowledge] as he liked this name the most.

But Luzman quickly realized that Mechanics were not as strong as Black Phantom made them out to be. After losing continuously in the duel, he felt that he had been cheated; this class was way too weak! But he could not bear to abandon his beta-testing account and had asked the customer service if he could change his class, but that was of course not possible, leaving him infuriated.

What a waste of having this opportunity to enter the beta test! This account is useless now!

Luzman had been extremely frustrated. Going onto the forums, he had put up posts everywhere, regardless of topic. He had planned to thoroughly bash the Mechanic class by repeating how trashy it was and let all of the players know that Mechanic was a trashy class!

Players had debated after his comments. Initially, Luzman had been satisfied with what he saw. That was his original intention. He had also enjoyed the feeling of his words being taken seriously by others.

Chapter 154 - Alumera's Searcher

Scrolling through the forum, Luzman realized that he had been tagged. He clicked into the post, and there was a video of Frenzied Sword and Laughing Blade dueling, and people were gloatingly asking him to explain himself.

Luzman had recently gone crazy hard on mechanics on the various forums. His stance was not the most annoying thing; him posting everywhere was what annoyed people the most. He constantly forced people to read his post as if they were not already aware of his comments. This behavior made him loathed by everyone.

“@Luzman, a Mechanic has killed an Esper. Why don’t you come out and explain?”

After watching the video, Luzman immediately retorted, “This is just a rare instance. That Laughing Blade did not know how to play at all!”

“Ha, you’ve suffered consecutive duel losses, but how did someone else win? Just admit you’re a rookie, Luzman.”

Luzman stifled his anger and replied, “Frenzied Sword has triggered a secret quest. He was more advanced in rank and equipment; there is no point in battling!”

“Do you mean the equipment given by NPCs isn’t enough? Then what for are you doing missions for? Taking rewards for what? Collecting money for what? Just admit you’re a rookie and stand still when being scolded!”

Damn it! Luzman was fuming, he straight away came back. “What I said about Mechanics being weak was none of your business!”

“Then why are you posting that everywhere? Think before you speak, won’t you?”

Luzman was exasperated. “Damn you, can you stop barking? Are you that low for you to come and be scolded by me!”

“Finally, your true colors have shown. You’re a troll, stop acting. You chose this profession on your own, how can you say you were cheated? This is hilarious, who do you think you are? Why would the gaming company cheat you? Were you looking for your sense of existence everywhere?”

“I would not have chosen Esper if the Black Phantom did not lie to me!”

“Oh, it wasn’t my fault; it’s the world’s fault. Nobody pointed a gun at you, forcing you to choose your class, did they? Are you that dumb to push the blame to an NPC? If you regret it, open a new account, and stop posting everywhere, you brat!”

“Son of a b*tch…” Luzman was seething.

At this moment, an official message appeared on Luzman’s screen.

_____________________

It was detected that you frequently used insulting terms, hence your forum account will be banned for three days.

_____________________

Luzman was stunned. What the hell!

He was unable to reply. Naturally, the players on the forum soon discovered this and gloated at him.

“Haha, banned for cursing, aren’t you?”

“This is great.”

“Let’s go, he is clearly a troll.”

Luzman could only read and not reply. He was indignant and sullen, itching to smash something.

…

“That’s interesting.”

Han Xiao finished reading the forum’s comments, and his fingers were itching to reply, but sadly, he could not. Thinking back when he was on the forum, he loved to watch people getting into a catfight; that was a great pastime.

However, there were some people who got really angry because of the catfight; these were the people who were too innocent. If you are unable to win an argument, just treat it as something to do for fun. Everything on the Internet is pointless; it is all virtual and will not affect you in real life.

Han Xiao had also once been a despised power-leveler. He had been bashed by other players. When there was nothing to do, he could get into a catfight and treat it as something to lighten up his day.

Looking at the lively players on the forum while he himself could only be a spectator, Han Xiao felt very lonely. He missed the days when he was involved in a fiery verbal sparring… even though he had always felt that the term ‘verbal sparring’ was filthy.

Looking at the time, it was nearing dusk, and the battlefield had been cleaned up.

Han Xiao heard an engine from afar; he raised his eyes and gazed into the distance. There were a few off-road vehicles speeding across the muddy road. Green Valley Ville opened its gates, and Balsas was standing beside the gate to welcome these few vehicles with respect.

A thought flashed through Han Xiao’s mind. The vehicle has an Alumera crest.

…

When the off-road vehicle drove into the town, armed guards got off the bus and guarded a man who was dressed exquisitely.

Xiao Jin, the second leader of Alumera, had sent the emissary Xiao Rui to South Continent to find the Germinal Bounty, Zero. More than half a year ago, the Alumera family had realized that the appearance of this Zero was exactly the same as the missing Han Xiao, so Xiao Jin sent people to look for him. However, they had ended up empty-handed for a long time. Xiao Rui was the leader of the search team.

Balsas was extremely deferential toward Xiao Rui. He led everyone into the main house. The table was set with drinks and piping hot, fragrant barbequed meat. There was a cross-sectional cut on it, and the texture of the skin looked like a wave of an ocean. There was a hint of pink in the middle of the reddish-brown flesh. It was clear that the meat was tender even without biting into it. It was Gray Devil Wolf’s meat that had been collected two hours ago, and it was extremely fresh. Other dishes included some vegetables and mashed potato-like crop.

In this rogue town, the expenses of the dishes were considerable, and Xiao Rui was very satisfied with Balsas’ hospitality.

The group sat down around the food, and Xiao Rui, who was covered in dust, scoffed down the food. He ate three pieces of barbecue meat in one go and only slowed down after he swallowed them. He wiped his mouth and said calmly to Balsas, who waiting at one side, “I will rest for a few days in your territory and continue to find that damn bastard.”

“I’ll get someone to prepare the rooms,” Balsas replied. “Let me know again of any requests.”

Xiao Rui’s status in the family was higher than his, hence Balsas’ posture was awfully low.

“Okay.” Xiao Rui was pleased with Balsas’ attitude. He decided to stay for a few days more in Green Valley Ville. He had spent this last half a year searching for news of Zero in the South Continent, and he had enough of this aimless searching; it was a form of torture.

Ever since Han Xiao’s disappearance, the family thought that he was dead and did not take it to heart. However, after finding out that he had become Zero, everyone was shocked. Alumera did not wish to provoke Germinal. Thus, to find out what exactly happened, Xiao Jin assigned him to bring Han Xiao back to the family for questioning, yet the target had not been found after six months.

Xiao Rui was filled with resentment toward Han Xiao. It was all because of this ‘regenerated’ guy that he could not enjoy his life in comfort at his family’s headquarters.

He had met Han Xiao a few times before; he was weak and hopeless. If not for him being Xiao Jin’s biological son, he would have been sent to clean the toilets. Xiao Rui was an orphan adopted from a war, and there were many orphans like him under Xiao Jin. All of them grew up competing with one another, and each racked their brains scheming to improve their status. Hence, he was extremely envious of Han Xiao as he did not have to struggle as much.

Initially, when he heard that Han Xiao had died, he was secretly very happy during his funeral. He knew that his adopted brothers felt the same way even though they were grieving on the outside.

The first impression Xiao Rui had of Han Xiao made it difficult for him to link Han Xiao and the Zero that was talked about on the Dark Net.

Why didn’t you just die and leave me alone? Why must you give me so much trouble?Xiao Rui had grumbled on more than one occasion. He looked at Balsas and chatted for a while before asking casually, “Is there anything going on recently in this town?”

“Yes, those refugees outside…” Balsas told him about his findings.

Xiao Rui was surprised. “There’s actually such a weird crowd? You have to report your findings to the family.”

“I know… There’s something else. Black Phantom is also resting in this town. His reason is unknown; he claims that it was on the way.”

Xiao Rui’s heart skipped a beat. “Black Phantom is here, too?”

Recently, the Dark Net’s killer list had been updated. Black Phantom’s rank had risen to seventh, and he was very active. To know that this legendary killer was nearby, Xiao Rui was somewhat uneasy.

“We’d better not provoke him,” Balsas replied.

Xiao Rui was undecided as he knitted his brows together in a deep frown. He turned and saw Liu Cheng, his expressionless personal bodyguard who was right behind him. This eased his nervous mood.

Liu Cheng sensed Xiao Rui’s gaze and reassured him indifferently. “Don’t worry. Even if we face Black Phantom, I can still protect your life. He can’t do anything to me.”

…

The sun was setting.

Ever since the off-road vehicles entered the town, Han Xiao had felt a change in Green Valley Ville. The town’s look-out had kept a close watch on him, as if they were worried about his activities. From this small detail, Han Xiao was fairly confident that the person on the vehicle that had entered the town was an important character.

“I don’t have a deep impression of Alumera’s family. It seems like they were not a special group in the original quest… Oh, I’ve recalled. I think in the secondary quest of ‘The Power Struggle of Vagrant Warlords’, this family was the one of the strongest powers. Yes, this secondary quest and Bennett’s refugee quest had a partial conflict. The vagrants and I did not have a lot of interactions, don’t think it will affect this quest.”

Han Xiao had been eyeing Bennett’s quest for a long time. He did not know when it started, but with his good relationship with Bennett, coupled with the positive notes from the Dark Net Organization, as well as his Universal Reputation, there was a high chance that he would be invited by Bennett to participate in the refugee plan, and that would be Aquamarine’s second main quest.

Chapter 155 - Fruit of Face

As a participant in the main quest mission, the mission Han Xiao would receive should be quite different from the other players’, and he was very excited.

Alumera seemed like an indirect enemy. Han Xiao rubbed his chin and muttered to himself, “We’ll see when the time comes. There isn’t any cause for concern now. This is just a small territory.”

The interface showed that he had accumulated more than one million Experience. Aquamarine had nineteen novice villages. Excluding the six on Andrea Mainland and not counting Big Horn Village and Green Valley Ville, this meant that Han Xiao still had eleven chances of earning from teaching mechanic skills to those who switched to the mechanics class. This was more than enough for him to rise till LV 60, after which he could then go to some dangerous places, collecting rare abilities, skills, and machinery. Hence, it was rumored that ‘max level is the beginning’. Although he did not have a rank limit imposed by the version, the quality-price ratio to continuously increase his rank was not the highest.

Since Han Xiao possessed a huge channel of Experience, he used it extravagantly to improve his skills.

Talent points could not be used carelessly, but Experience did not really matter.

He straight away upgraded three skills to the highest level; [Flaming Will], [Overload], and [Moving Snipe]. These three combat skills were all important, and the explosive power was upgraded once again. If [Flaming Will] and [Overload] were to start at the same time, it was even possible for the Ghost sniper rifle to take over two thousand HP. The three skills were fully upgraded, and they brought along three talent points. His accumulated talent points were 24 now, and he saved them so as to not use them unnecessarily.

With the remaining Experience, Han Xiao fused his knowledge together and randomly obtained new blueprints. Fortunately, the fusion this time around was quite good.

[Sunworm Portable Flamethrower], the flame had continuous damage. The important point was that it had a small volume but a large range of impact. It could be carried with you or loaded as a small component on a vehicle or robot.

A player who took the role of patrolling in the town suddenly dashed over and shouted in fear, “I found an army. They are approaching, and they have triggered a mission!”

The players of Green Town Ville became restless and all went to check out their interface.

Han Xiao’s brow jumped momentarily. He actually received a mission too!

_____________________

You have triggered a random mission, [Invasion of Green Valley Ville].

Mission summary: Green Valley Ville, which is controlled by the Alumera family, is very close to the inhabited land, Black Pine, Lu Cheng’s territory. There has been continuous friction between them. Now, Lu Cheng’s troops are once again invading Green Valley Ville. You can choose to help the Alumera family protect Green Valley Ville or help Lu Cheng attack. Please choose your position.

Mission requirements: Tip off Balsas and protect Green Valley Ville. Otherwise, you can choose to join Lu Cheng’s troops and attack Green Valley Ville.

Note: Once you have picked a side, you are not allowed to switch.

Mission rewards:

1. By protecting Green Valley Ville, you will receive 12,000 Experience and 3,000 Aquamarine Dollars.

2. By helping Lu Cheng compete the attack, you will receive 10,000 Experience.

_____________________

I actually received the novice mission as well?

Han Xiao broke into laughter. He did not care about this small reward, but Lu Cheng, who was mentioned in the mission, caught his attention. If he remembered correctly, Lu Cheng was Old Man Lu’s son, a South Continent vagrant who was a big warlord.

Old Man Lu’s four blueprints could only be obtained from Lu Cheng. An idea came to Han Xiao’s head, and he immediately made a decision. As long as he got to interact with Lu Cheng, he would then be able to know when the secret quest would begin.

As for those four uncommon blueprints, he had been eyeing them for a long time.

I will observe for a while, see if the leader is Lu Cheng himself or his subordinate.Han Xiao took out his sniper rifle and oiled it. He idled around and appeared as a sharp contrast to the busy players around him.

This urgent mission resulted in the players taking action, some of them immediately chose to protect Green Valley Ville, which offered a higher reward, and went to tip off the guard. There were still some players surveying the situation first.

Balsas received the information and jumped out of his lover’s bed in shock. He hurriedly threw on his clothes and arrived at the town’s lookout tower with quick steps. The observatory was built with stones and bricks, and the top was spread with weeds as a ceiling.

“Damn it, the bastard of Black Pine came again!” Balsas cursed with a pair of gloomy triangular eyes.

Green Valley Ville was just one part of Alumera, and Lu Cheng was actually a local vagrant warlord from the South Continent. His power was even more tremendous. Lu Cheng’s headquarters were in Black Pine, and Green Valley Ville was located just dozens of miles away. Lu Cheng had eyed this strategic location for a long time and tried to invade several times. No one had expected him to launch an attack today.

Xiao Rui arrived beside Balsas and pointed at the dense mess of surrounding players and assured him, “Don’t worry, don’t we have cannon fodder?”

Balsas’ eyes lit up. With this bunch of unbeatable eccentric refugees, they were able to counteract Lu Cheng’s military advantage!

Balsas called the assistant and ordered, “Go tell that bunch of refugees outside that I need them to ward off Lu Cheng’s army. As long as they completed my mission, everyone will receive money.”

“Don’t give too much,” Xiao Rui added on. “Their lives are worthless.”

“I understand.” This bunch of refuges were the best cannon fodder; they were the trump card to defeating Lu Cheng. Balsas let out a sinister smile.

Luck is on our side!

…

Lu Cheng sat in the middle of a war chariot and looked serious. This unit had more than sixty off-road armored vehicles equipped with machine guns and rockets, followed by hundreds of fully-equipped elite soldiers. They were all trained and qualified soldiers; one soldier could fight at least three enemies, and the soldiers knew how to work together in different formations. They were not a common vagrant of the mob.

Lu Cheng had been coveting Green Valley Ville for a long time. There was a strategic mountain pass between this town and his land, Black Pine. Once he seized the town, there would be no worries in the future.

“We must capture Green Valley Ville this time round.”

The troops were getting closer to Green Valley Ville. Lu Cheng soon noticed the crowd surrounding the town; they wore ragged garments, like a group of refugees, guarding the town.

Lu Cheng’s face immediately darkened, and there was a trace of anger in his eyes. “What a despicable bastard to use refugees as cannon fodder!”

He ordered the military fleet to park a distance away from the town, just outside of the firing range of the machine guns. The smoke and dust quickly dissipated. The ruts left on the muddy road exuded a burning smell, and the heat from the friction somewhat contorted the air.

The players who chose to protect the town all held onto their weapons tightly and waited on high alert. The cold armored vehicles and the compressed gun barrels made many people nervous. They swallowed their saliva with unease. Beads of sweat on their foreheads were reflecting light under the sun.

Many observing players had some doubts. Were they not allowed to choose their camp? It seemed like that they would begin fighting any minute now, and they might have no time to choose a side.

“Balsas, are you thinking of blocking my gunfire with these pathetic fellows?” Lu Cheng took out a megaphone, and his voice travelled out. Everyone in the town could hear his voice clearly. “My men are able to tear them to shreds easily, do you want me to paint your territory with fresh blood?”

Balsas emerged above the wall and smiled coldly.

Lu Cheng frowned and looked at the group of shabbily dressed refugees. He calmly offered, “I’ll give you the opportunity to leave now. There is no need to die here.”

The refugees were restless for a while, but he realized that they did not waver despite that.

“Are these people unafraid of death?”

Lu Cheng was astonished. He realized that there was not the slightest bit of fear on this bunch of refugees’ faces. He hesitated to give the command of attack.

Balsas faintly guessed the values of this group of refugees; what they cared about the most was profit instead of their lives. Seeing Lu Cheng hesitation, Balsas was very proud of himself and was rather scornful of Lu Cheng’s indecisiveness. He ridiculed lowly, “What an excessive tendency to clemency.”

To be apprehensive toward endangering the refugees’ lives would only hinder his battle; Lu Cheng’s choice appeared awfully stupid in Balsas’ eyes.

Balsas grinned evilly and was about to order the refugees to counterattack when he suddenly realized that there was movement from the side-lines.

Black Phantom!

Han Xiao stretched his back and strode unhurriedly to the center of the confrontation. He instantly caught the attention of both sides and the players. He crossed his arms and called loudly, “Give me some face. If you all want to go to war, do it tomorrow!”

His voice was as good as a loudspeaker. Everyone was taken aback.

“Why is he intervening‽” Balsas immediately swallowed back his almost released order.

Lu Cheng froze, sizing Han Xiao up, before exclaiming hoarsely, “Black Phantom‽ Why is this fellow here?”

The commanders of both sides were afraid of the consequences, so they ordered the troops to lay down their weapons. The tense atmosphere of confrontation dissipated immediately.

The players were bewildered. They were not very familiar with Aquamarine’s background. From the mission brief, it was known that Balsas and Lu Cheng were warlords of influence. Black Phantom gave out an order on his own, and the two warlords with armed forces immediately feared the consequences. This roused the players’ curiosity.

With one sentence from Black Phantom, he was able to halt the war. He was able to make the two warlords overlook their feud, who exactly was he?

Just how high was his status to dare say the phrase ‘give me some face’? The most terrifying thing was that the two warlords halted immediately; how much weight does he carry‽

Then the players noticed something else. These NPCs all recognized Black Phantom. Exactly how big was his reputation on the planet? Could it already be to the point where he was able to cut in anywhere he went‽

Is this Red-Hair Shanks’ legendary ability, Fruit of Face 1 ?

Bun-hit-dog, who was secretly videoing the scene, was thrilled. This kind of news material was exactly what he wanted.

Chapter 156 - One More in the Support Team

“Retreat, set up the camp!” Lu Cheng took a deep look at Han Xiao and swept his eyes across the refugees. He let his troops pitch a camp in the distance and eyed covetously.

The players became restless. Some players who had yet to choose their side were surveying the situation. It seemed like the Green Valley Ville’s side had a higher possibility of winning.

The sky became dark.

Han Xiao walked over to Lu Cheng’s camp, and the guards hastily raised their guns when they saw him approaching.

“Relax, I just want to have a short discussion with your leader,” Han Xiao assured them.

The guards continued to hold on to their guns and did not allow Han Xiao to enter the camp.

At this moment, Lu Cheng heard the commotion and walked over. “Let him in.”

If Black Phantom wanted to kill him, there was no need to inform him. It seemed like he had other intentions. He permitted the guards to make way and lead Han Xiao into the newly built tent. Frenzied Sword followed after Han Xiao.

Lu Cheng sat down casually, not worried that Han Xiao might threaten his life. With his hands clasped under his chin, he remarked, “The famous Black Phantom actually appeared in this small place. I don’t know the reason of your intervention—I don’t think Balsas is qualified to hire a killer of your status—so what is you purpose of visiting me?”

Han Xiao got straight to the point. “I’m here to help you.”

“Help me?” Lu Cheng became suspicious. “We have not met before.”

Han Xiao casually made up a reason. “You are more likeable than Balsas.”

Lu Cheng felt strange and paused before commenting, “Balsas … He’s a despicable fellow. He actually let the refugees act as cannon fodder. I really don’t understand, why did this bunch of refugees disregard their lives? What benefits did Balsas give them exactly? Could it be that he detained their family to threaten them? I gave them an opportunity to live, yet they don’t want to leave.”

“They don’t have much combat strength, why don’t you just crush them? With your armed forces’ strength, it would be a completely one-sided massacre.” Han Xiao half-smiled.

Lu Cheng’s face was blank. He declined to comment and changed the topic. “Black Phantom, I don’t know you, and I don’t know why you want to help me. What do you plan to do, kill Balsas? I believe this is an easy task for you.”

“No, I don’t want to kill people,” Han Xiao said perfunctory.

Lu Cheng’s lips twisted. A killer said he did not wish to kill people? This is more ridiculous than saying a navy can’t swim!

“Then how do you plan to help me?”

“You are concerned about the refugees. I can help you resolve that.”

Lu Cheng raised his eyebrows. “You can convince them?”

“Perhaps.”

“… Then what do you want from me?”

Lu Cheng did not believe that a legendary killer, who was a stranger, would help for free. He was certain that the Black Phantom had a motive, but he did not understand what the Black Phantom fancied from him.

“I don’t need a reward.”

Lu Cheng’s eyes darkened, and he stared at Han Xiao’s eyes. What he saw was a dense fog, and he was unable to penetrate Han Xiao’s thoughts. Generally speaking, if one did not want a reward, it meant that the person harbored other intentions and bigger ambitions.

Silence.

Frenzied Sword felt lost as he was listening to their conversation, but that did not hinder him from sensing that the atmosphere had become rigid, and his nape somewhat tightened.

After two minutes of deadlock, Lu Cheng did not say anything at the end. He nodded and said slowly, “Then I’ll count on you.”

…

Han Xiao petted Frenzied Sword’s shoulder while walking out of Lu Cheng’s camp, saying, “I’ve things for you to do.”

_____________________

You triggered the mission [Disseminating of Information].

_____________________

The mission was to disseminate the information of Black Phantom joining Lu Cheng’s camp, using reputation as a form of reward. The greater the number of people who came to know this information, the higher the reward would be, and players were surprisingly counted in as the head count. Frenzied Sword did not doubt him and diligently went to disseminate this piece of information in Green Valley Ville.

Perhaps the ordinary players would be amazed to encounter this type of real-life interaction mission, but Frenzied Sword had gone through Han Xiao’s baptism of love, and hence was not shocked at any kind of mission anymore.

“Next up will be to see how much influence I have,” Han Xiao said.

Frenzied Sword was really efficient, and perhaps because he had a bit of a fame now, the news spread through words of mouth quickly. Very soon, it had spread throughout Green Valley Ville. Then there was a huge commotion among the community of players.

“If we choose Green Valley Ville, does it mean we’ll become enemies with Black Phantom?”

“How is it possible to beat him!”

“Is this a mission guide?”

The players were panicking. The image of Han Xiao ferociously killing the beasts was still deeply etched in their minds. Becoming enemies with Black Phantom would be equivalent to courting death. The situation of the mission was immediately turned upside down. The chances of Green Valley Ville winning had become an all-time low.

Also, choosing to protect Green Valley Ville meant that the players had to attack Black Phantom. That would result in a decline in their likeability with Black Phantom. That was too big a sacrifice for such a small mission. If they were to fight for real, should they attack him or not? If they did not attack him, how could they protect Green Town Ville? This was a thorny problem.

The players who had chosen Green Valley Ville were gloomy. They felt they had no chance of winning. If they want to complete the mission, they could only join Lu Cheng’s camp, but they were unable to re-elect their camp.

Bun-hit-dog was very decisive; he was the first to advance to Lu Cheng’s camp. The mission was second; his main objective was to capture more of Han Xiao’s acts.

The guards had received Lu Cheng’s orders and allowed the refugees to pass. Bun-hit-dog successfully joined Lu Cheng’s camp, and Han Xiao, who was observing at one side, narrowed his eyes as he noticed Bun-hit-dog .

This ID seems familiar… Isn’t he a video master? Han Xiao remembered Bun-hit-dog’s ID; he was a rather famous video master uploader. He had done many seasons of the Galaxy series and was very well-received.

At this moment, Han Xiao had another idea…

Han Xiao strode out and stopped in front of Bun-hit-dog.

“You made a wise choice; I feel that you have potential. Do you want to become my temporary assistant?” Han Xiao asked.

Bun-hit-dog’s eyes became as big as saucers. He was stupefied. Did he just trigger the secret quest?

He never had any extravagant expectations, but he did not expect himself to come upon it!

This is life; you might not get what you want, yet what you don’t want could be gifted to you. This is too unexpected. Bun-hit-dog was suddenly frozen on the spot.

There was an uproar among the observing players.

“He had triggered Black Phantom’s secret quest!”

“How did he do it‽”

“Was joining Black Phantom all it takes?”

“This mission was actually a chance to trigger a secret quest?”

Realizing this, the players who were still observing wasted no time in joining Lu Cheng’s camp. They were enthusiastic, joining the camp like a refugee tide. The camp was filled with players in an instant. It was overcrowded and jam-packed. The guards were stunned; they were unsure whether to chase people away or not.

The players who were done choosing their camps impatiently went to find Han Xiao, wanting to trigger the quest. However, they were faced with rejection.

“Why can’t we?”

“Is it only restricted to the first person who joined the camp‽”

That was the most possible guess; the players who were a step slower wanted to bang their heads on the ground. The pain they felt was as if they were notified of striking a lottery to only be told it was an error.

They had the chance of being the first, but this chance was snatched by Bun-hit-dog, just like that.

A step slower, a golden opportunity missed!

The players were full of regret.

Han Xiao brought the overly-excited Bun-hit-dog to one side and casually issued five reputation points. He secretly planned on how to make full use of Bun-hit-dog.

Bringing along a player who was a game video maker also meant that he was bringing a reporter along. He could then have a channel to disseminate news to players freely. He could choose to give players some news selectively based on what information he wanted the players to know.

After experiencing the baptism of information explosion, controlling the public’s opinion was equivalent to holding a weapon. He was able to defame the opponent, guide the public’s opinion, and shape his image to his benefit.

Looks like my manipulation is getting more and more high-end. Han Xiao was elated. He compiled an accompanying mission that was generous in rewards and gave it to Bun-hit-dog. Next, he took out a mobile that could be used to contact him and handed it to Bun-hit-dog as well. He urged Bun-hit-dog a million times not to lose it, so Bun-hit-dog nodded repeatedly and gripped the mobile seriously.

He had two accompanying players, Bun-hit-dog and Frenzied Sword. The limit of Han Xiao’s mission was adequate.

After advancing the second time, the limit to what he could reward players increased from three hundred to five hundred per level. This also meant that at LV 40, the increment was at around twelve thousand, but after the advancement, it had doubled to twenty-five thousand. Now, the total value had reached up to fifty thousand.

Han Xiao did not think of any news to disseminate, so he first gave Bun-hit-dog his contact as it would inevitably be of use in the future.

Now I have three players that I fancy: Frenzied Sword, Maple Moon, and Bun-hit-dog. The strength is slightly low, I’d need to expand my support team. Han Xiao was thinking ahead. He would rather focus on quality than quantity; he was destined to walk the elite route. If he was able to take in China’s past experts then he would have profited. However, he felt that this possibility was rather uncertain as those ultra-good players all had some strange personalities.

Having only gone to two novice villages so far, he still had ten more waiting for him. Thus, Han Xiao had tons of opportunities left to choose his men.

Chapter 157 - Nemesis!

Balsas arrived hastily at the lookout tower and saw a large number of refugees flooding into Lu Cheng’s camp. He was flustered.

This bunch of refugees are abandoning my town? How did Lu Cheng subdue them‽

It was at this moment Balsas realized that this special bunch of refugees valued profit over anything. The only reason they were easily manipulated by those small profits was because they had not yet been offered bigger benefits. Balsas thought that he was in control of the refugees, but that was just wishful thinking!

I’m doomed… Balsas was frantically running around in circles. These refugees were his trump card against Lu Cheng, and now that Lu Cheng had them, his advantage no longer existed.

Suddenly, he felt something was amiss. Lu Cheng should not have known any special aspects of the refugees!

At this moment, his assistant ran over panicky and reported the news of Black Phantom helping Lu Cheng.

This news was like a thunderbolt hitting him; Balsas was stood motionless in shock. He could not imagine being enemies with Black Phantom as he knew he would die miserably. Every superhuman that died under Black Phantom’s gun was a reflection of his own end.

Black Phantom was of a legendary rank; why would he help Lu Cheng suddenly?

It must be because of Black Phantom that Lu Cheng was able to subdue the refugees. Why does he have so much influence on the refugees? Balsas then recalled that Black Phantom had mentioned he was only passing by.

Liar!

Balsas had the idea of retreating. If Balsas retreated along with the armed forces, there was a high possibility that Lu Cheng would not pursue and attack.

“The battle hasn’t begun, and you’re already thinking of running away. Have you forgotten the Alumera family’s rules?” Xiao Rui arrived at the lookout tower, stood beside Balsas, and frowned.

“But that’s the Black Phantom! Also, half of the refugees have betrayed us…”

“Alumera would never withdraw from a war. Get your men ready for battle.” Xiao Rui’s voice was firm and full of righteousness.

“There’s the Black Phantom though…”

“My bodyguard, Liu Cheng, will prevent him from participating in the battle.”

Liu Cheng, who was standing behind Xiao Rui, stepped out blankly. His calm, confident manner soothed Balsas’ nerves.

Balsas clenched his teeth and hesitated for a while before making a firm decision and calling his assistant. “Mobilize everyone and kick that Black Pine bastard all the way back to his home! We have some of the refugees with us at least; we still have a chance at this battle.”

“Yes sir!” The assistant hurried went to convey the order.

There were only three people left on the lookout tower. Xia Rui turned his head and said lowly, “Prepare the vehicle in case the guards fail. We must ensure that we are able to retreat. Don’t worry, we are on the same side, the family’s side. I’ll vouch for you that we had went all out for this arduous battle.”

Balsas heaved a sigh of relief; having some support steadied his heart. He was afraid Xiao Rui would let this news get to him, but it seemed like he was still rational. Leaving the soldiers of Green Valley Ville behind to resist, this would delay Lu Cheng’s troops and aid them in escaping, and it would also be easier to account to the Alumera Family.

…

In the early hours, the sky was dark, and a thick fog had seeped in.

Green Valley Ville’s guards were waiting atop the wall behind their machine guns in their bunkers. Through the wall fencing, they saw piles of sandbags in position and supporting machine guns. If they broke through the city gates, the battle would begin.

“They have decided to defend till their death, so a fierce battle is unavoidable. Fortunately, the number of stubborn refugees has decreased greatly.”

Lu Cheng put his binoculars down and let out a sigh.

He did not want to massacre the refugees, and Han Xiao had done him a huge favor. Lu Cheng was flabbergasted at the fact that Han Xiao seemed to have such influence on the refugees. It only took him half a night to solve this difficult problem.

As for the refugees who remained in Green Valley Ville, Lu Cheng had given them a chance, and there was also a limit to being benevolent.

“Attack in twenty minutes.”

Lu Cheng gave out a command and took advantage of the time that the troops needed to prepare to find Han Xiao to express his gratitude.

“It was all thanks to you that we managed to solve the issue of the refugees.”

Han Xiao smiled in response.

There was no free lunch in the world, and the more Han Xiao did not mention a reward, the more Lu Cheng felt uneasy. He paused before saying in exasperation, “I really feel that there’s nothing on me that such a character like you would be interested in.”

This sentence was caught by Bun-hit-dog, who was standing at the side. He sensed the hidden meaning.

This kind of character? Another clue relating to Black Phantom’s identity.

Bun-hit-dog thought of a vague outline for the first episode.

“We’ll discuss again after the war ended. These refugees will fight for you,” Han Xiao replied.

“The refugees are not soldiers, and I’m not Balsas; I’ll not let them throw their lives away.” Lu Cheng shook his head.

“Even without your command, they’ll still participate in this battle.” Han Xiao lowered his voice.

Are these people lunatics? Do they not fear death? Lu Cheng expressed his suspicions. However, the time for battle was approaching. He had no time to inquire more. He hurriedly went to command his troop.

Following the fleet of vehicles, a fierce battle began. Gunfire tore the darkness apart; Lu Cheng’s troops launched an intense attack on Green Valley Ville. The soldiers based on the wall and the vehicle carrying machine guns and howitzers were shooting across each other, and the battlefield was flooded with the sound of engines, machine guns, and screams of agony. The night sky was illuminated with the blaze of every exploded grenade and pervaded with the smoke from the guns.

The players also began their fighting at close quarters, Green Valley Ville’s players had clear commands from several small guilds’ leaders. While the players on Lu Cheng’s side lacked cohesion, they had a large number of players.

Han Xiao observed at one side as the situation did not require him to intervene yet. Lu Cheng had a high chance of winning.

Suddenly, a shadow traversed across the battlefield and made a beeline toward Han Xiao along the battlefield’s edge; an artillery shell’s flame and bullets landed on Han Xiao’s body, yet he was not at all injured.

“Black Phantom, I’ll be your opponent!”

Liu Cheng rushed over with giant strides.

“I can’t even mind my own business now?” Han Xiao grudgingly took out and fired a machine gun. Three bullets hit the space between Liu Cheng’s eyebrows, heart, and lower region of his body, but there was no expected blood splattered.

The moment when the three steel bullets hit Liu Cheng, it seemed that the kinetic energy suddenly disappeared. The bullets bounced off Liu Cheng’s skin, and the might was not even as good as a slingshot. Light blue smoke showing the damage dealt could be seen floating above his head.

-0!

-0!

Han Xiao clearly saw the moment when the warhead hit, and the target’s skin rippled with fine corrugation. After which, the bullet lost its kinetic energy.

His eyes darkened.

Kinetic energy absorption?

The interface showed Liu Cheng had reached LV 44. The level was not as high as Han Xiao’s, but Liu Cheng’s ability was very tricky. It was the natural defense against a kinetic energy weapon, and this happened to restrain his machinery.

Han Xiao was unlucky. He just had to meet an enemy who was able to restrain him.

With kinetic energy absorption, one could dissolve the various power exerted on the body. If the power could not breakthrough the ability’s support limit, the power would then be absorbed and transformed into the opponent’s power. Using physical property to attack was ineffective toward this kind of ability. To deal with Kinetic Energy Absorption, using either quantity or mental form to attack was the best choice. The support limit of this type of ability naturally depended on the level and strength. Unfortunately, in general, the support limit would always exceed the combat capability of the same level.

Liu Cheng stopped a few meters away from Han Xiao and said coldly, “Black Phantom, this battle is unrelated to you. Mind your own business.”

A legendary killer was eyeing covetously at edge of the battlefield, so Liu Cheng took the lead to prevent the Black Phantom from participating in the battle.

Han Xiao’s response was simply two bullets going for Liu Cheng’s eyes, and they had resulted in zero damage still. The warhead fell to the ground disappointedly, Liu Cheng’s eyes did not even blink. He was not harmed at all and said indifferently, “You’re Dark Net’s top killer and the Blood Pact Society’s trump card. Others may fear you, but not me. I’ll give you a word of advice, stay away from this battlefield.”

“The Dark Net? Blood Pact Society? What power is that?” The observing Bun-hit-dog had an idea and hastily stored these two important keywords in his heart. He was finally seeing the tip of the iceberg of Black Phantom’s mysterious origin!

Han Xiao’s mind quickly filtered through his equipment at hand. Coming up with a preliminary plan, his feet slammed onto the ground and the Electromagnetic Hover-boots lit up. The exerted power made him recoil rapidly. He touched his waist swiftly and pulled out two Berserk Eagles. In a quick move, he changed to a Hayme bullet and opened fire. The bullets hit the side of Liu Cheng’s feet, and poisonous gas began to rise and pervaded the air.

Liu Cheng detected the poisonous gas and frowned. He held his breath and charged in large strides. While he was traversing through the battlefield earlier on, he had absorbed a large amount of kinetic energy from the crossfire. The kinetic energy shot out from the bottom of his feet as he dashed toward Han Xiao. With every step he took, his footprints formed big pits. He was like an unstoppable tank as he caught up with Han Xiao. He gathered an enormous amount of kinetic energy and directed it at Han Xiao’s chest.

Bang!

As if having a head-on collision with a mad rhinoceros, his body flew out uncontrollably. The remaining power was unstoppable, and he even knocked down and killed several players who were so unfortunate to be in his way.

Chapter 158 - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

This blow made Han Xiao seemed pathetic. However, his Magnetically controlled retractable armor managed to reduce the impact. Hence, it only took 50 HP. He had close to three thousand HP, which was quite good among the other mechanics of the same rank. The power of Liu Cheng’s released kinetic energy was not very strong, but it could easily cause repelling and flying effects, and that was the annoying part.

The interface displayed the insidious effect of the poisonous gas. The Hayme bullets were effective, but Liu Cheng’s HP and resistance were not low too. He could still explode kinetic energy and rapidly get out of the poisonous gas cloud. It was unrealistic to use poisonous gas to deal with Liu Cheng. The effect of using high-explosive bullets was slightly better, but they were the same as the Hayme bullets, unable to win by just using them. Han Xiao did not give chase as the ammunition he had was limited, and there were only three magazines with high-explosive bullets left.

He took a deep breath to increase his blood oxygen content. He stomped his feet and stopped recoiling from the impact. A deep trail could be seen on the ground. He put both his guns away and put his hands in a stance to ward off the charging Liu Cheng with his iron fists. The kinetic energy of Liu Cheng’s iron fists almost smashed open Han Xiao’s stance.

Liu Cheng’s kinetic energy was able to amplify power, and Han Xiao was vulnerable in terms of power.

An artillery shell exploded nearby; there was a glare, and both men were intertwined in a fight, one attacking and one guarding. This posture resembled a paper-cut silhouette drawing, disappearing in a flash.

Liu Cheng roared and slammed his fists onto Han Xiao’s head. The kinetic energy of that action caused a tremor in the air. Han Xiao was beaten to the extent that his head became crooked and his cervical vertebrae cracked bone by bone. He grabbed Liu Cheng’s shoulder and refused to let himself fly out because of the impact of that hit. His other hand started the thermo-electrical incisor gloves and aimed it toward Liu Cheng’s eyes.

“High temperature‽” Liu Ching quickly raised his head in alert. The glove glided across his cheek and left a burn, exposing his flesh. The burn stung his nerves, and in that moment, Lu Cheng exploded the kinetic energy within his body, causing a tremendous force to push Han Xiao out.

Han Xiao panted and removed the mud that was sputtered all over his face. Firearms were useless, and this cost him a chance of surprise kill. In addition, it would only enable the opponent to absorb more kinetic energy. However, he still had other types of weapons such as flames and poisonous gas that both could kill and injure.

Fortunately, he is unable to absorb such energy. Otherwise, I really would not know how to subdue him.

Liu Cheng covered the burn on his face, glanced fearfully at Han Xiao’s gloves, and immediately turned around to run off in another direction.

Han Xiao froze, and his expression changed suddenly. He hurriedly gave chase.

On a war vehicle, a soldier who was controlling machine guns saw a figure rapidly approaching. He instinctively turned the muzzle around to aim at the figure, and the compressed bullets were hitting the target. However, he was stupefied at the discovery that the target, who should have been shot into a sieve, was unscathed. The warheads dropped onto the ground one by one!

“Don’t hit him!” Han Xiao yelled.

It was a pity that the reminder came too late; the surrounding war vehicles fired at Liu Cheng, who absorbed all the kinetic energy. Both of Liu Cheng’s eyes were bloodshot, and the amount of kinetic energy was almost overflowing. Liu Cheng’s muscles were twitching like those of an agitated mouse. He turned around, and the ground that he had stepped on exploded into a big hole. His whole body flew as if it was an exploded artillery shell.

This was the combined kinetic energy of a thousand bullets!

This speed is too fast for me! Han Xiao’s eyes blurred, and he could not avoid it in time. The impact was like hitting a moving train. The scenery in his line of sight fell back quickly, and he resembled a baseball that had been hit for a home run, flying tens of meters. He landed and bounced countless times before falling into a ditch along the sides of the road. His body was covered with mud, and finally, he crashed into a war vehicle, overturning it, before stopping.

He felt really dizzy, and his whole body ached.

_____________________

Magnetically Controlled Retractable Armor’s durability dropped by 132 points!

You received 241 points of damage!

_____________________

The enemy knew how to bring out the advantage of his ability, which in turn made Han Xiao suffer a small loss.

Liu Cheng… I did not hear of his name in my previous life. To think he would be so troublesome to deal with. Ah, he is a Crouching Tiger, a Hidden Dragon; I mustn’t underestimate him… Han Xiao eyes turned cold as he entered into combat concentration mode, spat out a mouthful of blood, and leaped up once again to fight Liu Cheng.

Enveloped in the flames of war, the two fought fiercely on the battlefield. Bullets whistled passed the ears, and flames illuminated the horizon again and again. The area around the two became free of bullets. Soldiers dare not attack Liu Cheng again, but Liu Cheng could always knock himself against the gun muzzle.

This battle is greatly disadvantageous for me.

Han Xiao’s eyes flashed. He abandoned Liu Cheng and rushed toward Green Valley Ville. Just like a shadow, he disappeared in a flash. Avoiding the firing by Green Valley Ville’s guards, Han Xiao glided up the wall with a few steps, opened fire with both of his guns, and killed the guards wantonly.

Bullets penetrated each and every person, and blood was splattered everywhere.

Liu Cheng was alarmed and hastily pursued him.

Green Valley Ville was the fundamental point of conflict. Han Xiao had understood this point and immediately adopted the tactic of avoiding the enemy’s strength and attacking his weakness. Hence, he did not continue to fight Liu Cheng painstakingly. Unless Liu Cheng did not want this town, Han Xiao would only be led by his nose. In the moments between his fight with Liu Cheng, Han Xiao thought of a strategy!

After changing the magazine, he shot down a few more guards. There was suddenly a huge gust of wind behind him, and Han Xiao twisted his body to avoid it. Liu Cheng swept past a few inches away. Having missed the opportunity, he punched the wall and smashed a huge piece off it. Broken bricks and stones spilled over the ground.

Liu Cheng’s body became sluggish, as if he had fully exhausted his kinetic energy.

Here’s my chance! Both of Han Xiao’s hands aimed at Liu Cheng’s head, the high heat from the thermo-electrical incisor gloves warping the air.

Liu Cheng did not show any signs of being flustered. Instead, there was a glimpse of accomplishment.

“You got tricked!”

The strong kinetic energy was surging again, and there were no signs of exhaustion; that was just a feint. This was a long-awaited killing strike that contained eighty percent of his kinetic energy. He soared, and with amazing swiftness, he lifted his knee to knock onto Han Xiao’s chin. Once hit, the impact would smash half of Han Xiao’s face and fracture it.

Han Xiao flew off the wall with his head tilted up.

That didn’t feel right! Liu Cheng was shocked; his knees did not have the feeling of striking a concrete object.

Han Xiao had been vigilant. Just now, in the flash of light, he had used the Electromagnetic Hover-boots to retreat. He was only gently scratched by Liu Cheng’s knee, and he was hardly injured.

While he was in midair, he withdrew his Berserk Eagles, aimed at Liu Cheng’s eyes, and opened fire.

This attack was fruitless. Liu Cheng went stiff for a moment. He could not escape, yet his face did not change. He knew this bullet was ineffective against his ability.

Bang!

When the bullet was about to hit his eyes, the bullet lost its kinetic energy as usual. However, the warhead suddenly burst out a dazzling glare.

Liu Cheng covered his eyes and let out a blood-curdling scream. His vision was a vast expanse of whiteness. The stinging pain in his two eyes affected his brain’s sense of equilibrium.

Flash bullet!

Oh, the thought of it taking effect right on his eyes, what a sweet feeling!

Han Xiao had been mulling over this attack for a long time!

Han Xiao’s hand reached out, and with the help of the wall’s chink, he climbed up the wall once again. Taking advantage of Liu Cheng losing his vision, this was the best timing to launch [Overload] and [Flaming Will]. Han Xiao’s hands suddenly pressed on Liu Cheng’s face. This time around, the attack was definitely the best!

Even if [Flaming Will]’s face was as black as before, the damage later on would still be off the charts!

-423!

-423!

The damage might have seemed worse than the sniper rifle, but the Thermo-electrical Incisor Gloves relied mainly on continuous damages. It was already considered formidable for a sudden explosive force that was able to reach this level. Liu Cheng was not like Han Xiao; his HP was only around two thousand. It easily reduced to eighty percent in just a short while, and the damage was still flooding the interface!

The burning smell was pervasive. Liu Cheng yelled bitterly and got up. He hurriedly exploded his kinetic energy and pushed Han Xiao away. Liu Cheng’s face was severely burned and beyond recognition. His face was a mix of burnt flesh and red blood.

Liu Cheng’s eyesight was damaged, and the light and shadow in his vision was distorted. He could barely identify a direction as he fled, staggering, with his teeth tightly clenched.

Han Xiao promptly gave chase, and Liu Cheng’s heart sank. He was hoping that Black Phantom would attend to the battle and not chase after him. Fleeing was hopeless; he knew that he would not be able to escape death. He fulfilled his last duty as a bodyguard by holding up Han Xiao. If Liu Cheng died, the Alumera family would surely take good care of his family.

The two of them were soon a distance away from the battlefield, and they pursued each other into the woods.

Chapter 159 - Family

About ten minutes later, Liu Cheng slowed down and fell to the ground. He had depleted his accumulated kinetic energy. He turned and realized that Han Xiao was following behind like a demon.

“Kill me.”

The burn on Liu Cheng’s face was a tragic sight as he gave a pained smile.

“I don’t need you to tell me that.” Han Xiao’s face was apathetic. He opened wide his palms and grabbed Liu Cheng’s head, his fingers penetrating his skull.

He only let out a turbid breath when Liu Cheng finally stopped breathing.

He was a formidable opponent, almost causing me to suffer a defeat.

He took one last look at Liu Cheng’s corpse and activated a high-explosive bullet to protect his body from scavengers. After which, he followed the sound of gunfire and returned to Green Valley Ville’s battlefield.

The battle was even more intense. Green Valley Ville’s gates had been blown up, the armed tanks were hurtling past the streets, and machine guns were exchanging fire. Green Valley Ville’s residents had secured their doors and windows, covered their ears, and were trembling in their houses. Lu Cheng’s troops were conscious of the ordinary residents and had avoided them.

Since Liu Cheng had dragged him into the battle, Han Xiao decided to get the battle over quickly. Han Xiao set off to find Green Valley Ville’s commander. He searched for the person giving commands, but he soon realized that no one was giving any commands.

There were vehicle trails on the ground on the far end of Green Valley Ville that hinted to the whereabouts of Balsas and Xiao Rui.

They’ve escaped?

…

The off-road vehicle travelled along in the gloomy forest, and the sound of gunfire in Green Valley Ville gradually became dimmer. Xiao Rui, who was in the back seat, could see the flames behind them peeking through the trees.

“Liu Cheng has died…” Xiao Rui clenched his fists and pressed them on his knees. He could barely restrain his trembling.

Liu Cheng had served the family for ten over years. He was loyal and devoted. Furthermore, he was the best fighter among the family’s ranks. He had many stunning military accomplishments. Xiao Rui had always considered him a strong supporter—to think that he would die at the hands of Black Phantom!

Xiao Rui originally thought that even if Liu Cheng were unable to stall Black Phantom, he would still be able to retreat. However, even though he did not manage to catch Liu Cheng’s last words in the earphones when Liu Cheng was escaping, he knew his supporter was dying!

Balsas and four other armed bodyguards were in the vehicle. Balsas was looking rather nervous.

“Black Phantom is a monster. I told you earlier not to provoke him! You just refused to listen!” Balsas was sweating profusely.

Xiao Rui’s complexion was ashen. “Don’t talk rubbish, at least we’ve escaped!”

“He won’t catch up with us, right?” Balsas repeatedly looked at the rear-view mirror, his heart pounding.

Xiao Rui gulped. “Lu Cheng is currently attacking Green Valley Ville, and the guards in the towns will help us stall the enemy; he won’t have time to chase and kill us.”

He had just finished speaking when a ghost-like figure appeared in the rear-view mirror, tailing the vehicle like a shadow. Everyone in the vehicle was so shocked that they screamed!

“He’s here!”

“Go faster!”

“Accelerate all the way, and don’t let up!”

Everyone in the vehicle was panicking; the off-road vehicle resembled a runaway stray dog, frantically speeding up. They managed to shake off Han Xiao for a moment, but this was not the time to feel relieved. The vehicle somewhat slowed down, and the black-colored ghost, which resembled a hostile force that was difficult to get rid of, appeared in the rear view mirror once again, just like a pressing King of Hell.

Everyone’s adrenaline soared, their hearts practically jumping out of their throats. They were so nervous to the point where their bodies went stiff all over. The horror movie-like atmosphere finally triggered the driver to make a mistake. In the state of panic, the vehicle rolled down the slope and fell to the bottom.

Xiao Rui’s head was spinning as he struggled to climb out of the window. Suddenly, a pair of boots that flickered with blue lights appeared in his vision. He looked up and saw Black Phantom towering over him, looking at him indifferently.

“Don’t, don’t kill me…”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The gunshots sounded repeatedly. Xiao Rui was so frightened that he shut his eyes and discovered that there was no pain. He opened his eyes and realized that the four bodyguards had all been shot and killed—only Balsas and himself were left.

Xiao Rui shivered. He knew that he had to remain calm in this situation. However, his fear of death made it impossible for him to calm down. His frightened emotions were like tides, flooding his heart again and again, so much so that he did not dare look directly into Han Xiao’s eyes. “Black… Black Phantom, spare my life. I can give you tremendous returns.”

Han Xiao’s eyebrow jumped. The reason he had kept Xiao Rui was because Xiao Rui was sandwiched between the bodyguards. Hence, he reckoned that he was an important character.

Balsas regretted having a conflict with Black Phantom but regretted listening to Xiao Rui’s opinion more so. He raised his head and looked straight in Han Xiao’s eyes. “You’re a liar, you had already united with Lu Cheng. You absolutely were not just passing by!”

Whatever Black Phantom had said—that he was not interested in looking for trouble—was all a lie!

Han Xiao stroked his gun and chuckled. “If I said this was a coincidence, would you believe it?”

“Landing in your hands, I already know I won’t be able to live. Kill me!” Balsas suddenly grew a backbone and shook off Xiao Rui’s hand, which was pulling at his shirt’s hem anxiously.

“I don’t know if you’re really asking for death or deliberately displaying your strong-will, but as you wish.”

Bang!

The bullet penetrated Balsas’ temple. He fell, and the pool of blood gradually expanded.

Han Xiao’s eyebrow shot up. It looked like Balsas was not pretending; he really had given up all hope and wished for a quick death. For this type of warlord who operated outside the city, even if he was usually afraid of death, when he was truly confronted with it, he would accept it calmly.

There was someone, on the other hand, who was way weaker. Han Xiao looked over and Xiao Rui was so terrified that he did not dare breathe. His face was pale, and his back was drenched in cold sweat.

Han Xiao squatted and used the gun barrel to tap on Xiao Rui’s face. “You don’t wish to die?”

Xiao Rui frantically shook his head.

“Give me a reason.”

“I… I can give you a lot of money. I can refer you to the Alumera family!”

“Do I look like someone who needs that?” Han Xiao pointed the muzzle at himself.

Xiao Rui swallowed his saliva in alarm as he racked his brains and pondered if there was anything that could move Han Xiao. Han Xiao’s eyes were sharp, and he suddenly caught a glimpse of Xiao Rui’s full and bulging pocket. He reached out and fished out a stack of bounty slip. It turned out to be a wanted poster for Zero—him.

Why is this Alumera man carrying with him my bounty slip?

Han Xiao raised his eyebrows, played with the paper in his hands, and stared at Xiao Rui silently. Xiao Rui finally saw something that aroused his interest. Xiao Rui immediately felt refreshed and hurriedly spilled everything he knew frankly.

“Han Xiao? Zero? Alumera family‽”

After hearing the information, Han Xiao stiffened.

He did not know that his original self came from the Alumera family!

“… You didn’t lie to me, right?”

Xiao Rui shook his head repeatedly. Black Phantom appeared to be interested in Zero; he did not care about the reason, all he knew was he now had a chance of survival. Hence, he did not dare conceal anything and struggled to take out a computer in the vehicle to pull up several photos.

The photo showed Han Xiao’s younger self before he was taken away by the Germinal Organization. There was concrete proof in all kinds of photos from the Alumera family. Han Xiao did not doubt his identity.

So, this means I have a step-father and a bunch of brothers and sisters?

Han Xiao’s feelings were complicated. He had always thought that he had not a worry or a concern in this world; he did not expect to have these connections.

Alumera was his family. Han Xiao took one look at Xiao Rui. This person is my family, too?

Alumera family, the North Continent’s biggest warlord. The second leader in command, Xiao Jin, was my original body’s biological father. Their family was considered powerful…

Han Xiao pondered in silence.

Xiao Rui’s heart was nearly at his throat; he felt like he was a convict waiting for his sentence. This was the longest one minute of his life.

“You can leave,” Han Xiao faintly said.

Xiao Rui did not dare to believe it. He stood up, trembling, and ran two steps away in the opposite direction. He turned his head and saw an aloof Han Xiao. Only then was he ecstatic.

His life was saved!

He did not carry any thoughts of revenge. He did not want to have any further interactions with Black Phantom at all. He stretched his legs and ran for his life.

Suddenly, there was a sharp pain at the back of his head!

Xiao Rui lost his control of his body. He fell with his face down, resembling a dog eating its poop. His pupils dilated, and his face looked bewildered.

What happened to me?

So cold…

This was Xiao Rui’s last thought in this world.

There was a deep bullet hole in the back of Xiao Rui’s head, and blood was spilling out.

Han Xiao put the Berserk Eagle back in his holster, his face emotionless. After thinking for a bit, he had still decided to kill Xiao Rui.

Alumera was the connections that Han Xiao’s original self had, but that unfortunate man had already died. Han Xiao was Han Xiao, not another person. Even if the old Han Xiao had remaining blood relations, Han Xiao would not treat the Alumera family as his family. Anyway, the old Han Xiao had been killed by his big brother.

He would not inherit the relationships that the old Han Xiao had. To him, the Alumera family was a bunch of strangers, and it was none of his concern.

I’ll kill when there’s a need to!

Perhaps Han Xiao could get some support from the Alumera family by using his original identity, but with his current position, he did not need to yield and rely on this kind of power.

The most important point was that he did not wish to do it this way.

My family… is not in this world.

He lit the corpse on fire, turned around, and left. The blazing flame pulled his silent shadow longer and longer.

Chapter 160 - Xiao Jin

In the headquarters of the Alumera family…

“Green Valley Ville on the South Continent was ambushed. We have lost that territory. The last message from them was an hour ago. Liu Cheng died in the battle, Balsas and Xiao Rui have retreated as well. No news has been heard from them yet. I think they may be in trouble.”

The exquisite crystal wine glass was smashed to the ground, and red wine splattered onto the expensive hand-made Ordina carpet, leaving trails of red roses. Darryl, the leader of the family, was breathing noisily as though he was a bear. His body was bulky like a bear, too, hence his nickname—the Alumera White Bear.

This was Darryl’s study. He was rather violent by nature. His bookshelf was not for books but for displaying all kinds of guns. Firearms, ammunition, daggers, swords—his miniature arsenal collection.

“Who attacked our people‽” Darryl snarled.

In front of the desk was a well-dressed, middle-aged man. He was wearing something similar to a suit, but with minor differences in some places. It was way more refined and exquisite. He was wearing a gold-rimmed glasses, and the gold-plated chains of the glasses hanged on his ear. If one overlooked the muscle under his clothes, this person was an archetypal scholar.

He was Alumera’s second in command, Xiao Jin.

Xiao Jin held the tablet with one hand and said, “There are two of them. One is the big warlord of South Continent, Lu Cheng.”

“I have heard of his name. Gather the armed men in South Continent! An eye for an eye! Alumera will seek this revenge!”

Darryl patted the table and asked, “Who might the other person be?”

“He’s the assassin from the Dark Net, Black Phantom.”

“Bring him to…” As he said these three words, Darryl’s tone changed and came to his senses. “How did we end up provoking him‽”

Darryl was very wary about Black Phantom, a legendary killer. He knew it was best not to provoke lone rangers like him. While the Alumera family was big, they were most fearful of legendary killers like him. If he wanted to start a mad killing spree to assassinate the middle-class of the Alumera family, it would be impossible to stop him.

Although Darryl was impulsive by nature, he knew who not to provoke. Dealing with Lu Cheng was an effortless decision; Lu Cheng’s forces were entangled in South Continent, and he was not going to affect the Alumeras’ influence in the North. Black Phantom, on the other hand, was different. He was a lone ranger who could travel up to the North. He had even slain Liu Cheng. Whether the Alumera family ‘s top forces could even hurt the Black Phantom was still a question in doubt.

Furthermore, Black Phantom’s movements were erratic. There were not many reports on him through the intelligence network, and without an expansive intelligence network, they could not track him down. In addition, the organization he belonged to was in fact the world’s largest intelligence network. If they wanted to target someone from the Dark Net Organization and requested help from the Dark Net itself, it would be ridiculous. Darryl was eighty percent sure he would be called a fool.

Therefore, becoming enemies with the Black Phantom was certainly an unwise decision. Darryl could only suppress his anger and find other excuses. “Investigate the reason the Black Phantom is intervening. Don’t provoke him just yet.”

Xiao Jin agreed with an expressionless face. It was hard to know what he was thinking about.

Darryl had always been an impatient man, and now that he was frustrated. He pointed to Xiao Jin’s face and ordered, “Go deal with your son’s business. The war is coming. I don’t wish to deal with any sort of Germinal’s business at this time.”

Xiao Jin adjusted his glasses and said, “He’s my son. Once I find him, he will come back obediently.”

…

Day was about to break, and the gunfire in Green Valley Ville was finally coming to an end. The remaining enemies had all been killed.

When Lu Cheng had conquered Green Valley Ville, he ordered his troops to clear the battlefield and restrained them from harming any residents.

The worried residents who could not sleep for the entire night rushed to the streets and listened to the new master of the town, Lu Cheng, in the square. He promised to safeguard the residents’ lives and property.

For the [Green Valley Ville Invasion] task, players who had chosen to protect the camp had all failed and were feeling dejected.

The battle last night had been very intense, and many players wished it had been longer.

Han Xiao also gained some experience from the task. He held his arm and leaned against a house to wait for Lu Cheng to complete his speech. He had Frenzied Sword and Bun-hit-dog by his side.

Frenzied Sword was in bad mood as he was not able to keep Han Xiao to himself now. He was upset.

Bun-hit-dog went over to Frenzied Sword and said, “I know you. You were featured on Galaxy Times. You are a professional gamer.”

“Oh.” Frenzied Sword reacted coldly.

“Have you always been following Black Phantom?” Bun-hit-dog was curious.

Frenzied Sword did not want to bother with Bun-hit-dog, but as a professional player, he had to take note of his image, and he should not be too cold. He nodded.

“Do you know his origins?”

“His real name is Han Xiao,” Frenzied Sword replied. He came to realization immediately and turned around to see if Han Xiao had heard him. He relaxed. “He used to serve Star Dragon. I’m not very sure about the exact details, but I do know that he is acquainted with someone in the camp called Stardragon Strategic Defense Department.”

Bun-hit-dog’s eyes lit up. The video he wanted to make would be an investigation about Black Phantom’s origin. Frenzied Sword had been his longest follower. He was likely to know things that others did not. He was impressed. He said in a light-hearted manner, “Let me introduce myself. I am a game video producer…”

Frenzied Sword stared blankly. He only recalled now, that Bun-hit-dog’s ID was rather familiar. He was the producer of the series “XX Adventure Diaries”. When he was playing Knight in the past, he had come across Bun-hit-dog’s Knight Adventure Diaries as well. He was a small yet famous video maker.

“It’s you!” Frenzied Sword collected himself up. When he received Bun-hit-dog’s friend request, he immediately accepted it.

Only status and fame would bring one recognition. If he was a plain and dull player, Frenzied Sword would not even have bothered. Thing were different when one was famous.

“I’m preparing to focus on Galaxy and start a series. I’m intending to place Black Phantom as my focus in my first episode. I would like to know more about this person’s origins. I hope you can provide me with some material. You could appear on screen together with me to do a series as well.”

Han Xiao never talked about his origins, so Bun-hit-dog decided to change his focus onto Frenzied Sword.

“Alright, sure,” Frenzied Sword replied. This was a win-win situation. A professional gamer appearing on the program was bound to rise in reputation. This would be good exposure for him.

Listening to the two discussing behind him, Han Xiao did not stop them. Frenzied Sword had limited knowledge about him. Such information could be disclosed and made known, and this would only make more players curious. He wanted to reveal the information bit by bit. This was precisely his intention in bringing Bun-hit-dog along.

After assuring the residents of Green Valley Ville, Lu Cheng handed over the affairs to the deputy and went to Han Xiao’s side. “Black Phantom, thank you for your aid. If not for you, I would not have conquered Green Valley Ville. If only Balsas didn’t escape…”

“Oh, I killed him.”

Lu Cheng’s face went blank, and he felt a tight squeeze on his heart. “I am very grateful, but do… you really not want anything?”

Han Xiao chuckled a little and changed the topic. “Have you discovered the unique aspects of the refugees?”

Upon mentioning this, Lu Cheng was delighted. “This group of refugees can all die and then resurrect. It’s simply amazing! I thought they were simple ordinary people. This world is so big, and it seems like nothing is impossible!”

Lu Cheng originally did not plan for the refugees to join the battle. But as the players took action, he soon realized that they had the special ability to resurrect. He was shocked, and he figured out what Han Xiao had originally meant. These helpers were just too special. He had looked down on them. Now he knew why they were not afraid to die. That was because they simply just do not die.

Bun-hit-dog, who was by the side, felt that something was strange. Refugees? Are they actual players? Why would the NPC think that the players resurrecting is strange? Won’t an NPC not be bothered with that?

Han Xiao pulled Lu Cheng to the side. He did not want other players to hear what he was going to tell Lu Cheng.

“Black Phantom, do you know the origin of these refugees?” Lu Cheng curiously asked.

“I’m not too sure,” Han Xiao replied, “but I do know that they are very diligent. They are extremely profit-driven. Didn’t you destroy Green Valley Ville? You need these people to rebuild the place. These refugees are the best laborers you can find. You can use them to your liking.”

“But some refugees were against me before. They are my enemies…”

“Their assistance to Balsas was not a loyal and faithful one. You can treat them as mercenaries.”

When he said this, Lu Cheng understood it. “I can try… You really don’t know what happened to them? They can all resurrect, is it just their special ability? We don’t know where Balsas found this group of people.”

Chapter 161 - Order Born of Violence

Han Xiao smiled and said, “Time will tell you the answer.”

Lu Cheng nodded, and he decided to suppress his questions regarding the refugees for now. He would get his subordinates to find some information regarding it.

He invited Han Xiao to his territory—the Black Pine Base—for a tour. Han Xiao said that there was no need to pay him back, but Lu Cheng did not dare take his word for it and insisted on offering his services.

Han Xiao did not resist further. His intention was to get to know Lu Cheng better anyway.

Before this, Han Xiao checked on the Dark Net. Lu Cheng was the one of the strongest vagrant warlords in the Southern Continent. Black Pine territory was so huge that small towns like Green Valley Ville would be insignificant placed next to it. Black Pine sat amid the ruins of a small city left from the Old Ages. It had been transformed into a settlement that tens of thousands of civilians resided in. There was a plethora of facilities, including even biological and weaponry research laboratories. Everything was really high end.

Territory owned by vagrant warlord and territory owned by vagrants were completely different concepts. The latter was formed with vagrants who band together against threats from the wild, with a responsible leader chosen democratically. There would rarely be hierarchies.

With vagrant warlords, they would be the leader who would use their resources to build a residential area. The area would be built such that it could take in some vagrants from the outside world, and the leaders could collect protection fees from them. The fees could be paid in the form of tax or labor. There would be purposeful usage of military power, for example to attack other warlords. Most of the soldiers were employed, but there were some who signed on voluntarily.

There were many warlords, and their territories, coming in all sizes, were distributed across every continent. Bennett’s shelter plan was aimed at unifying all the warlords and creating a new mega city that stood apart from the Six Nations and provided shelter for all refugees. Naturally, this would clash with the goals of the warlords. Moreover, it would be a very large and tedious project.

Bennett’s plan would provide help and shelter for all vagrants out there, not just from war but from other natural and wild dangers. It was nothing but ambitious.

Lu Cheng invited Han Xiao into his car and drove toward the Black Pine.

Green Valley Ville’s players could still get quests from the town, and those who chose to defend the base were surprised and relieved to find out that their access to the town did not get revoked. They watched Black Phantom as he left.

…

There was one more person with them now that Bun-hit-dog had joined the team.

The scenery outside the window flew past. Han Xiao made a call and instructed the Dark Net helicopter pilot to wait for him at Black Pine. He told Lu Cheng about this, who acknowledged and ordered for a landing site to be prepared.

They were chatting casually while Han Xiao suddenly asked, “With your military strength, you could have attacked immediately when you came to the town, and the refugees could not have stopped you. Why did you give Balsas time to prepare?”

Lu Cheng shook his head. He had not known that players could revive at that time. He said, “Only people without faith would think that violence is the solution to every problem.”

“Your soldiers’ lives are lives too though.” Han Xiao smiled.

“The strong ought to protect the weak.” Lu Cheng paused and said, “I won’t kill unarmed refugees; no warlord want to see the Tragedy of La Potter repeat itself.

“Tragedy of La Potter? What happened?” Bun-hit-dog questioned, still recording.

Lu Cheng thought Frenzied Sword and Bun-hit-dog were Han Xiao’s followers, so out of respect, he explained, “La Potter was once a huge Vagrant settlement in the West Continent. It was invaded by a Vagrant Warlord and his troops. Even though the military troops were supported by the locals, the enemies were too strong, and they were defeated. The warlord was upset that the vagrants dared fight against him, so he initiated a massacre of the helpless and unarmed civilians, raiding all their supplies and burning everything, killing countless innocent souls.

Bun-hit-dog was unimpressed. Massacres like this had occurred numerous times in history. He probed, “So what happened then?”

“Then, the warlord and all of the few hundreds of his professional soldiers died in one night twenty days after that, killed single-handedly by one superhuman. After that, no warlord had the guts to kill any innocent civilians.”

Bun-hit-dog was puzzled. “Why though?”

Han Xiao answered, unfazed, “Because some people see themselves as heroes.”

If it was the normal world, no one could fight against the cruel authorities. Nothing could be done. However, with superhuman powers, even in lawless lands, those with powers could technically become those in charge of upholding laws. Superhumans could easily kill those that they did not see fit, so what they chose to uphold became the standard law for everyone else on the planet.

So, what would they choose to uphold? It would be the issues that most people would agree on based on their moral compass.

Unless one could carry out genocide or murder on a massive scale without letting any news out, there was bound to be a superhuman to punish the instigator for his evil deeds. This could be seen as moral coercion. The weak had to follow the moral standards of the strong. Even though this in itself was questionable, it gave rise to a rough form of rules for the wild and indirectly protected the lives of vagrants.

Bun-hit-dog recorded all this. He loved this type of stuff that could spice up his content.

Han Xiao stroked his chin. The Tragedy of La Potter reminded him of another wild BOSS.

La Potter was a mess. The burned corpses were left unattended and attracted beasts. A new virus sprouted from the corpses and spread into the soil and water sources. All the beasts in the region mutated, and every once in a while, there would be a Beast King level wild BOSS found there, which could trigger a quest to kill the BOSS and harvest its mutated heart for a research group. This would lead to potions that could add on attributes and might even awaken potential talents.

The players could repeatedly fight the wild BOSS, but the usual process of grinding through quests would be inevitable.

In Galaxy, there were a few types of Instance Dungeons, the first being the special scene where monsters spawned endlessly, such as some magical realms or mock combat rooms in labs. Other than these special realms, in Galaxy’s world, there were also important realms that were protected by military troops. Large-scaled battlefields could also be made into an Instance Dungeon. This type of Instance Dungeon was extremely random and could close anytime.

The second type would be Instance Dungeon Crystal, which was a special item dropped from special quests. Only players could use it, and it would bring the player back in time to a parallel world to experience events that had happened in the past. The Crystal would allow a player to enter different scenes based on the quest that the player came from.

The quests that awarded the Instance Dungeon Crystal would refresh once in a while, making this type of dungeon a readily accessible one. The players could also steadily grind to break the record of the shortest dungeon clearance time and other records.

Upon using the Instance Dungeon Crystal, others would see that the player had suddenly vanished. The player would enter a parallel universe and could not affect the original world. However, they could still obtain rewards from the Instance Dungeon. This type of dungeon was similar to magic teleportation and scientific time travelling. Han Xiao was not sure if he could use the Crystal as well, but he felt that it would be risky because he did not know the principles behind the Crystal. If it were to atomize the body structure, a normal player would be able to revive, but he did not have the luxury.

Some special items could be used by players only, such as the Gene-awakening Elixir that could be purchased from the vendor. A potion would appear out of thin air after purchasing it. There was also the Gene-blending Elixir that Han Xiao received as reward from the Rose Militant Quest earlier on. The Instance Dungeon Crystal fell under a similar category.

Let’s not risk it in trying to get the Instance Dungeon Crystal.

Indeed, it would be a waste of time. He would rather complete main quests and hidden quests.

The car fleet drove on for a few hours, and the silhouette of the Black Pine Settlement appeared on the horizon. It was huge, almost like a small city. The scenery was very exotic; there were bricks, leather, and scrap metal lying around, and there were electric wires crawling along the walls. The path with barbed wire fences on its sides was the only path that led up to the main entrance, and there were many ‘scars’ of war on the metallic door, left behind by bullets and explosions.

Lu Cheng smiled and proudly said, “Welcome to Black Pine.”

Chapter 162 - Grouper Plague and the Grinding

“It’s enormous.” Bun-hit-dog gasped. “This can’t be the place where newbies first enter?”

The main gate slowly opened as the car entered the gates. The first thing that came into sight was the magnificent lookout tower, sandbag barricades, and the barracks. Fully-armed soldiers were standing guard and patrolling the area. Further into the encampment, they arrived at the residential district.

The layout of buildings in the residential district was much sparser and more casual than the structured planning of cities. There were no tall buildings as well. Families were strolling through the streets, and there were even hawkers calling out and making sales. With the lively chatter in the streets, it was like a mini-market.

The car rolled to a stop as several people alighted. Lu Cheng ordered several of his men to prepare a feast. Since he had invited Han Xiao to be his guest, he brought Han Xiao and the other two around for a tour as the host. Occasionally, some residents would greet Lu Cheng. It seemed Lu Cheng was well-respected by his people.

“That’s my weapon factory over there. I have a specialized assembly line to make guns and ammunition.” Lu Cheng pointed to a restricted region that was barricaded with a barbed-wire fence. Behind it were his warehouse, workshop, and weaponry experimental laboratory, and smoke could be seen escaping from the chimneys.

On the other side, there was a second quarantined area. Inside, there were many tents and about a few hundred vagrants living inside them. Their exposed skin was covered in gray ash, cracked like rocks.

“What is that place?” Bun-hit-dog asked curiously.

Sighing, Lu Cheng answered, “The Terminal Quarantine Area. Any resident with Grouper Plague has to stay there to prevent infections.”

Grouper Plague?

Han Xiao almost cried out in surprise. This type of illness was very infectious. In the version 2.0, it had spread and had caused some genetic mutations as well. He did not expect to find it here.

Just as he was about to say something, a sudden commotion could be heard from the Terminal Quarantine Area.

Sprinting in a frenzied manner, an infected resident rushed toward the barbed-wire fence. With all of his limbs, he tried to climb the fence to escape. However, the next second, a gunshot was heard. The security officer at the side reacted at lightning speed, firing at the man with his machine gun, turning this escaped resident into mesh as he fell to the ground. As he lay in his pool of blood, a viscous, yellow liquid could be seen pooling out from the corpse as well.

Several doctors in their white protective suits walked out and packed the corpse into a body bag. On the ground where the corpse was, they sprayed large jets of disinfectant.

The soldier who killed the escaping resident withdrew his gun, expressionless, as if he had just killed a worthless chicken.

The infected within the quarantine area watched this scene in silence, expressionless and numb. A thick atmosphere of despair hung in the air like a dark, heavy cloud.

“It is very hard to cure those who have been infected with this plague. To prevent them from spreading the plague to more people, we can only control it like this,” Lu Cheng explained.

Han Xiao turned to look. Nearby, the residents looked as though everything was as usual, without a single trace of empathy on their faces.

“That’s cold-blooded,” Bun-hit-dog quietly said.

“At first, there were only tens of people who were infected. One infected knew that he couldn’t be treated and escaped from the quarantine region, so the number of people infected increased to more than three hundred,” Lu Cheng said dryly.

Bun-hit-dog was speechless.

_____________________

You have triggered the quest [Origins of the Grouper Plague].

Quest Description: Black Pine Settlement is troubled by the spread of the Grouper Plague. To control this plague, what do you think you can do?

Quest Requirements:

1. Find the source of the Grouper Plague

2. Control the plague from spreading

3. Treat all of the infected

Rewards:

Completed Requirement 1 – 20,000 Experience

Completed Requirement 2 – 40,000 Experience

Completed Requirement 3 – 60,000 Experience

All Requirements Completed –800 Black Pine reputation points, Vagrant Warrior Battle suit

_____________________

Frenzied Sword and Bun-hit-dog both received the quest as well.

However, Han Xiao did not intend to complete this quest. He was still in a rush to find more fools… No, to bring even more new players into the Mechanic Class. He needed to go to about ten or so novice villages, and a large wave of experience was waiting for him. Time was tight, and he had many things to do. How could he afford to slow down his footsteps?

Oh right, if the players complete their quests, can I claim the rewards, too? Han Xiao’s eyes lit up. Looking at Frenzied Sword, who was completely unaware, he suddenly had a new idea.

“My men have prepared a feast.” Lu Cheng sent out the invitation, and the few of them arrived at Black Pine’s Central Building. It was like a mini castle, and the western point was called the Lord’s Hall.

The dishes served in the feast were generous in quantity, meant to fill one’s stomach. Black Pine Settlement had a harvest field where they grew their own crops, and they also had their own butchery, where they raised animals, such as highland cattle, chicken, and the black-haired short-snout hog. The vagrants’ encampment consumed large amounts of resources every day. If they relied only on the Dark Net to obtain their resources, they would not be able to bear the costs, especially because it was extremely expensive. So, the residents learned to be self-sufficient, building their own tiny territory.

At the feast, Han Xiao and Lu Cheng were chatting casually when Lu Cheng eventually diverted the topic to the issue of repaying the favor to the Black Phantom. Dragging it on for so long, he felt very uneasy.

“Just take it as we’ve become friends. In the future, if anything crops up, feel free to look for me, and I’ll help you out.” Han Xiao left his phone number behind. He wanted to maintain his friendship with Lu Cheng so that he could find out when the Four Blueprint Quest began. Thinking for a while, he said, “Come to think of it, I need some help from you. I want to borrow your workshop and some materials to make something.”

“No problem, I’ll make arrangements right away.” Lu Cheng felt more at ease. He felt reassured after Han Xiao finally brought up a request for him.

“Your territory has to deal with the issue of the Grouper Plague quickly, otherwise it might become a disaster. My friends will stay behind to help you out.” Han Xiao suddenly slapped Frenzied Sword’s back, who spat out all of the food in his mouth, coughing non-stop.

“Are you abandoning me?” Frenzied Sword asked disbelievingly.

I’m not interested in being your mom. Han Xiao held back his biting comments as he wrote up a few quests and tossed them out for Frenzied Sword and Bun-hit-dog to complete.

The gist of the quests was to have the two of them remain at Black Pine, resolve the issue of the plague, and improve their reputation in Black Pine. Han Xiao spent 200,000 Experience, splitting it between the both of them. The quests were all long-term ones, and he intended for both of them to stay at Black Pine.

With the remaining journey and tasks at the novice villages, there was no need to bring these two players with him. It made going online and offline inconvenient and slowed him down as well. He might as well just leave them to complete their quests in Black Pine.

For the gifted players he had selected, he was not only going to train them himself, but there was another benefit. That was, they could follow him and gain exposure to high-level fights. Compared to other players, they could expand their maps earlier, which was the main attraction in allowing players to follow him. For now, allowing the gifted players to complete other tasks and train by grinding was useful in developing their individual unique skills. It could allow them to explore and tap into their potential. It also gave him more time to himself to do other tasks.

As for the rewards that these gifted players received, sooner or later, a part of it would come back to him. If Frenzied Sword completed the plague quest, Han Xiao could get some experience as well, and Frenzied Sword would use a portion of the money he earned to buy equipment from Han Xiao.

Not only did he want to earn players’ gold, but through players, he could earn NPCs’ second-hand gold as well!

If Han Xiao was a mother ship, the players that he took under his wing would be akin to a fleet of fighters. No matter how many achievements they obtained, they would still have to return to their home base and repay him. Of course, that was only under the condition of him being able to achieve and attain even greater benefits. On this note, he was still very confident. Other than the players themselves, there was no other person who understood players better than him.

I’m such a genius.

Frenzied Sword could only agree to Han Xiao’s arrangements, and he was actually quite satisfied. Black Pine was a high-level map, and the rewards for each quest were quite generous too. Bun-hit-dog had even less objections. The materials he had looted were already enough. Staying in Black Pine meant that he did not have to worry about losing track of Han Xiao. He could focus on making the first episode of his video.

Lu Cheng felt that Frenzied Sword and Bun-hit-dog’s abilities were very mediocre and could not help much. But on Han Xiao’s account, he expressed his thanks to them anyway.

At the dining table, they settled their plans. After eating, it was already past noon, and Lu Cheng went back to take a rest. The previous night, he had been battling and had not slept. In the morning, they were on the roads, rushing to get back, and he was thoroughly exhausted.

On the other hand, Han Xiao had slept on the car for a while and was in high spirits. He could move about Black Pine freely, so he gave some orders to the pilot of the Dark Net helicopter. Then, after bargaining with Antonio for ten over minutes, he arranged to lease the transport plane from the Fabian Company.

After that, under the Black Pine soldiers’ lead, he headed toward the weapon factory area. The guards there received Lu Cheng’s orders. Accordingly, they opened up the workshop for Han Xiao to use.

Lu Cheng had already arranged for his men to prepare the materials. Han Xiao began his work on the lathe. He needed to make some repairs to the Magnetically controlled retractable armor, and add on a load of ammunition and some Basic Storage Cubes, then create some small parts to be built onto the ‘Sunworm’ Flamethrower he had developed recently.

With its intelligence stat at 200, the machine’s production speed was very fast, and there were other enhancing skills such as Machinery Affinity and Energy Stats Strengthened, which would create even better stats on the device to be created.

_____________________

Sunworm Portable Flamethrower (Mini Flamethrower)

Grade: Blue (Good Quality)

Damage: 27–34/s (Fire)

Overload: 60s

Cooldown: 20s

Range: 7m

Power Output: 92

Fuel Type: HF Liquid Fuel

Energy: 210/210 (uses 1 Energy Point/s)

Weight: 9.4kg

Side Effect: Integration—Through additions to the energy box, it is assimilated with one’s body, convenient to carry.

Side Effect: Concentrated Jet—Raise efficiency of fuel, +33% DMG, +25% range, one tick of Burn Damage per 0.6s and lasting 12s, uses 8 Energy Points/s. After 12 seconds, immediately enters overload.

Side Effect: Adhesive Burning—Extends target’s burn state and increases effectiveness of burns

Remarks: Dancing flames, that is a warmth that is akin to romance.

_____________________

Han Xiao raised his eyebrows. What kind of messed up remark is that?

Chapter 163 - Exchange

Sunworm’s nozzle, duct, and fuel tank were integrated as one. It looked like a heat insulating metal tube, about an arm’s width. It could be tied to the arm or calf. It looked a little like a beetle, and its ‘pincers’ were used to stabilize the leather metal pins.

He tied the Sunworm onto the inner side of his left arm, and it seemed bloated. However, such a load could be ignored for a person with 69 Strength.

Sunworm is most suited to be used as mecha module, and it can be integrated into my self-created lightweight mecha. Han Xiao could not stop thinking of new ideas for his lightweight mecha. Since he already had ideas, as well as Fabian’s transport aircraft on lease, he started fixing his mecha before travelling to the novice village.

At that time, an Asian man whose head was full of white hair walked toward him. He stared at Han Xiao’s High Ghost sniper rifle and curiously muttered, “That’s right. It is an electromagnetic weapon!”

He then turned and asked Han Xiao, “Can you sell this to me? I’m willing to pay 500,0… no, 1,000,000!”

Han Xiao observed him for a second and already had some gut feels. Yet, he pretended to be confused and asked, “Who are you?”

“I am Lei Zhen Yu. Lu Cheng invited me over as his Machinery Engineering consultant. You look like a Mechanic too. You should have heard of my name.”

Han Xiao remained silent.

“Don’t tell me you have not heard of my name. Or are you a self-taught mechanic? So unusual.” Lei Zhen was surprised. He shook his head and said, “I want this electromagnetic sniper; how about you quote a price?”

“Do I look like I’m in need of cash?” Han Xiao pointed at that priceless components that were lying on the truck’s seat.

Lei Zhen Yu then understood. “You are a self-taught mechanic. I can teach you some skills in exchange for this sniper of yours. You definitely need a master like me to guide you. Only through listening to the wise words of your seniors can you succeed. I can tell that deep down inside, you have always wanted to have a master to learn from. Here, the doors are opened for you. This is your chance. If you miss it, you will regret for life.”

He did not know that this electromagnetic sniper rifle was made by Han Xiao. From what he knew, self-taught mechanics were often weak. Hence, he wanted to nab that sniper by teaching Han Xiao some new skills. As a mechanic master, he did not usually go around teaching other people. By giving Han Xiao the chance, he thought that it was worth it to exchange it for the electromagnetic sniper rifle, as long as the other party was humble enough.

Han Xiao’s eyes twitched. It was the first time he had ever met someone who was so shameless and full of himself. With just a bit more, both of their skills would have been on par.

Actually, Han Xiao knew of Lei Zhen Yu’s background. He was a well-known and skillful master mechanic in Aquamarine. So, he was not wrong about saying that he was a master. He belonged to the same era as Old Man Lu and had already retired decades ago. Both he and Old Man Lu did not have the master demeanor and looked disappointing to most.

Han Xiao knew why Lei Zhen Yu appeared at Black Pine. It was related to Old Man Lu’s four blueprints mission, and coincidentally, Lei Zhen Yu happened to be part of this secret mission.

In the past, Lu Cheng abandoned his daughter, who was only a few years old, and left her in the care of Old Man Lu. He ventured into the wild and became a warlord. Because of this incident, he had a fight with Old Man Lu, who was unable to understand his choices at that time. The relationship between the father and son was so tensed that it was as though they were strangers.

Lu Cheng slowly climbed up and became the strongest warlord on the Southern Continent. He was always facing various dangers.

On the surface, Old Man Lu seemed as though he did not want any affiliation with his son. However, he was secretly following Lu Cheng closely and even requested that his old friend, Lei Zhen Yu, move to Black Pine to help and protect Lu Cheng. Lu Cheng knew nothing about the pact. He was shocked as he thought that he had managed to invite a great master all by himself.

This might be the moment for the four blueprints. Lei Zhen Yu had to leave Black Pine due to some other matters. Old Man Lu used another method to help Lu Cheng as he did not wish to meet his son in an awkward situation. He left the blueprints behind and left for the Western Capital, and his current whereabouts were still not known.

Maybe that’s what they call a father. Han Xiao sighed. Why was Zhu Zi Qing’s ‘The View of my Father’s Back’ such a classic? Maybe because people with more experiences would be able to resonate with that story. Even Old Man Lu, a foul old stick, had his own worries.

Han Xiao calmed himself and said, “I can exchange with you. I want advanced knowledge.

Based on past memories, Lei Zhen Yu knew some advance knowledge. Yet, players were unable to acquire the knowledge from him. Even so, Han Xiao decided he want to give it a try.

Lei Zhen Yu earnestly said, “Kid, don’t be too ambitious. You are a self-taught mechanic. Your standard is not enough for you to be able to understand advance knowledge. How about I teach you something else instead?”

“No, I only want advance knowledges.”

“But you won’t understand.”

“That’s even better; you don’t have to worry that I will learn it. I’ll just look at it for an hour. Take it as I am just being curious, okay?”

Lei Zhen Yu was speechless. Advance knowledge was very precious, and it could be considered a secret wild card. It was crucial that the knowledge was highly conserved. Even though he was really curious about the structure of the electromagnetic sniper, it was definitely not worth exchanging it with the priceless knowledge. Even though Han Xiao said he might not understand, he did not want to take the risk at all.

Lei Zhen Yu contemplated for a while and insisted, “I can’t teach you the advance knowledge, but I can use the knowledges to create a weapon in exchange for yours.”

Sure enough, it was not easy to get his hands on the advance knowledge. Han Xiao was already prepared for this outcome and was not depressed about it. Instead, he considered Lei Zhen Yu’s offer. If he could create an item to exchange for another item of the same level, there was nothing to lose.

However, this Ghost sniper had only reached this level through several upgrades. Han Xiao still wanted to use it, so he decided to create a new one to exchange with Lei Zhen Yu.

Han Xiao nodded in agreement and said, “I’ll create a new one for you.”

“You made this sniper‽” Lei Zhen Yu shouted in disbelief. He thought Han Xiao looked like a newbie, and given that he was a self-taught mechanic, he expected the gun to be made by someone else. Unfortunately, it turned out to be the opposite.

All the six nations were secretly trying to invent an electromagnetic weapon, and none had even reached the experimental stage. If it was just creating a stable electromagnetic weapon, Han Xiao and Lei Zhen Yu were of the same standard. Lei Zhen Yu then remembered that he had portrayed himself as a ‘great master’ just now. Even with his old face, he felt ashamed and awkward.

How shameful to flaunt his skills in front of another mechanic of the same level.

Luckily, Lei Zhen Yu had thick skin. He corrected his attitude and treated Han Xiao as an equal.

At that time, the guards rushed over and whispered to Lei Zhen Yu that Han Xiao was also a legendary assassin.

Lei Zhen Yu was dumbfounded. He then observed Han Xiao for a while. Many mechanics were capable of experimenting. However, it was rare to find one who was also capable of fighting. His admiration for Han Xiao rose to an even higher level.

With good skills, one would be valued everywhere one went.

“Please come with me, I will show you my storeroom.” Lei Zhen Yu coughed as he tried to change the conversation topic to avoid awkwardness. The way he spoke to Han Xiao was suddenly more respectful.

Both arrived at the restricted area inside of the arsenal area. This was where the high-ranking researchers lived. Lei Zhen Yu’s home was a spacious suite with all sorts of daily necessities. There were even wine cabinets and bookshelves that were made of high-quality wood—all of which was not cheap. By the corner of the room, there was a small, simple bed. He seemed to be leading a great life.

Lei Zhen Yu drew the wine cabinet open and activated the secret door button. The wine cabinet slide to a side and revealed a secret storeroom. He then called Han Xiao over. Inside, there was a row of glass showcase shelves that stood by the wall and contained various weapons. Lei Zhen Yu headed straight for the innermost showcase shelf.

“I have four items that were created using the advance knowledges. Let me introduce them to you.” Lei Zhen Yu pointed to the glass showcase shelf and started blabbering.

Lei Zhen Yu’s advanced knowledges was geared toward miniature modifications. These four advanced weapons were all related to nano mechanisms.

‘Type I Nurse’ Bio-granule. It looked like a thick black substance, but in actual fact, it was able to divide into special nano-granules. They could then be inserted into one’s body. When injured, poisoned, or bleeding, they would help one recover from the situation either by clearing the poison or speeding up blood clotting. It was a type consumable medical treatment.

U9 Colloidal Bulletproof Membrane. It looked just like ordinary glass on the surface. However, upon receiving any shock, it would briefly become non-solid to counteract kinetic energy and then solidify to trap any object. For instance, when a bullet is shot toward it, the bullet would be trapped, as though it was originally growing from within. Though it looked just like transparent glass, it was highly defensive and not easily damaged. It was most suitable for making bulletproof vests.

Fermi Condensate. It was a weapon that resembled the appearance of shaving foam and could be injected into a weapon to cool it down internally. It would reduce the cooldown time and then quickly degrade so as to prevent jamming up the weapon system. Sunworm’s cooldown time, for example, was twenty seconds. With the use of Fermi Condensate, the cooldown time could be reduced significantly to three to five seconds. The effect was remarkable. It could also be consumed.

PE-0 Nano-synthetic Fiber. Similar to the biological tendons of a living organism, it was a black, shiny, tough nanomaterial. Twisting or stretching it would result in an unbelievable elasticity.

Han Xiao could only exchange the sniper for one of those items.

Chapter 164 - Endoskeleton materials

After pondering for a while, Han Xiao made his choice.

“I want the PE-0 Nano-Synthetic Fiber.”

“Wow, that’s smart. I thought a warrior like you, who likes to battle, would go for the Bulletproof Membrane instead.”

“To create something, I will need sufficient PE-0.”

“Alright.” Lei Zhen Yu nodded. He felt that out of the four weapons, PE-0 Nano-Synthetic Fiber was the most valuable one as this new material could be used for many more weapons. He realized that Han Xiao was indeed a skillful mechanic with keen eyes.

As they confirmed the exchange, Han Xiao returned to his truck and began creating a new Ghost sniper rifle. With the help of the blueprint, everything went well.

I’ve earned so much from this exchange!

The new Nano-Synthetic Fiber would play an important part of his lightweight mecha concept. It could be used as the tendon skeletal system of the lightweight mecha! As compared to the previous K600 skeletal system, PE-0 had huge improvements in almost all aspects. For instance, it was small, lightweight, and stronger. It was a great core material to create an outstanding lightweight mecha.

Python-Lightweight Mecha!

PE-0 should not be judged by its simple introduction. When it was used as the internal skeletal system, it would function just like muscle. Anyone who used it would understand.

As for the other three equipment, two of them were consumable—hence, they were instantly dismissed as options. The Bulletproof Membrane seemed reliable, but it contained Platinum, so it barely qualified for the bulletproof function.

To create a new Ghost sniper rifle, Lei Zhen Yu had also brought sufficient amount of PE-0 Nano-Synthetic Fiber and stored it in a golden metal box.

After the two had exchange the items, Lei Zhen Yu could not help but fall in love with the Ghost sniper rifle straight away. Even though his experimental direction was toward lightweight mecha, seeing how electromagnetic weapons could become the conventional weapon for the next generation, he had decided to study them too.

Back then, Old Man Lu had requested him to come over to Black Pine to help Lu Cheng. Since Lei Zhen Yu owed him a debt of gratitude, he had decided to help him then. Every day was boring to him, except for today, as he had encountered Han Xiao, a mechanic that was on par with him. This cheered him up to no end.

“I still need one thing, but there is no channel for me to buy it. I hope you can help me buy a ‘Bonfire’ Mini Reaction Furnace.” Han Xiao packed his box and spoke once more. This item that he needed was a module related to lightweight mecha.

Lei Zhen Yu was a mechanic master. Hence, he knew many people from the same trade and had many connections. He wanted knowledge beyond [Advance Material Study] to build his gun, so he was using Lei Zhen Yu as a channel to help him find some things.

“That item is not easy to get. Besides, even if I ask my friend from Ordina to sell it to me at cost price, it would still cost two to three million. Not to mention, extra time will be needed to make that item.”

“Money isn’t the problem.”

Han Xiao smirked and was full of confidence.

Lei Zhen Yu was a master in the mechanic world, so he knew many other mechanics of the same level. He was enthusiastic toward Han Xiao and agreed to help to contact the ‘Bonfire’ Mini Reaction Furnace seller for him. To Lei Zhen Yu, it was just a few phone calls.

After exchanging their numbers, Lei Zhen Yu took his Ghost sniper rifle and left, while Han Xiao continued with his work in the truck until midnight. After he was done with his work, he switched off the light and headed for his temporary residence with the guards.

The night was quiet. There was no night life in Black Pine settlement. When night fell, all residents would go back home to rest. In the dangerous wild, one would need to remain vigilant to know what to do in case of any possible danger. Also, entertainment was a luxury. In the wild, there were monsters, sickness, hunger, and various catastrophes. With that, warlords had already developed a vigilant attitude.

Due to certain circumstances, some people were forced into joining the Six Nations after the war, while other remained living in the wild as they could not let go of the hatred and would not give in even though their lives were harder. Some thought that it was foolish of them, while others saw it as a belief or even faith. It did not matter which country these people belonged to—patriotic people were always worthy of respect.

What was more important was that many vagrants had already gotten used to living in the wild. Even though their daily meals were not stable, and they might not know when they would ever be full, they did not have to follow any restrictions or rules. Instead, they were living freely. Despite knowing that joining the Six Nations would mean full meals every day, they were not willing to give up on their freedom.

In the age of peace, many people were numb toward life. In order to survive, they hunted like their ancestors and lived every day to its fullest. Even though most vagrants suffer from malnutrition, their physical fitness was better than that of the urban residents. They were strong and diligent.

The wild was regarded as wasteland. Many abandoned cities, battlefields, habitats of plants and animals, and even radioactive areas caused by the pollution from the war had become restricted areas. The Six Nations did not have any intentions of expanding into the wild at the moment, as the cost was too high, and its value was low. During the first few years after the war, the Six Nations decided to stabilize the situation inside their country first. As such, they did not have extra resources to expand their territory. Wild flora started growing on the abandoned land as a result, and it had become the territory of vagrants, warlords, and large groups of mercenaries. Just like the wind that blew by after destruction, the wasteland after the war was once again revived.

…

After a night of rest in his room, Han Xiao called for Frenzied Sword and Bun-hit-dog the next morning.

“I will be away for some time. You guys can stay at Black Pine, and I will contact you later on.”

Bun-hit-dog was reactionless while Frenzied Sword showed his unwillingness. He had only followed Han Xiao for a few days, and now, he was being abandoned again.

“You guys can think of ways to help solve the plague in Black Pine.” Han Xiao pointed at Frenzied Sword. “I have confidence in you that you will show your true potential during this period of time. Maybe you have the ability to use better weapons.”

Han Xiao took out two newly built large caliber pistols that were suitable for shooting within eighty meters. It was specially designed to strengthen the magazines and the attack damage. It was green quality and twice as powerful compared to the pistols that Han Xiao had sold to the other players. He then presented the pistols to Frenzied Sword, who was looking on with his jaw on the ground.

“Is this for me?” Frenzied Sword asked in disbelief.

Han Xiao smiled and nodded.

Frenzied Sword was overjoyed and could not help but start playing with his two pistols. He did not expect to receive such welfare. Han Xiao actually gifted him some equipment. Bun-hit-dog, who was standing by one side, was also shocked

Is this a benefit of the secret quest? As long as your performance is good, Black Phantom will reward you as and when he likes?

Han Xiao intentionally built these two pistols to aid Frenzied Sword in completing more tasks. To ensure that his workers did their best, they first needed their weapons. When giving rewards, Bun-hit-dog could also film it, and when it is aired, more players would witness the scene. Through that, many people would think that Han Xiao cared a lot about rewards and would be more eager to join his ‘Secret Quest’.

All Han Xiao had to do was gift pistols that he could make easily, and with a little bit of generosity, he would be able to earn even more.

“I think you have great potential in wrestling, you should go learn some close combat skills,” Han Xiao mentioned. Frenzied Sword was gifted in wrestling and should advance to become a Mechanical Pugilist. He naturally hoped that Frenzied Sword could be strong like his previous life, where as a Mechanical Pugilist, he displayed his Martial Artist talent… hopefully.

What Han Xiao said struck a chord with Frenzied Sword. That was something that he was thinking about too.

After making his instructions clear, Han Xiao boarded the Dark Net helicopter and left Black Pine.

“Black Phantom has left,” the helper reported to Lu Cheng.

Lu Cheng nodded as he had a great impression of Han Xiao. He then said, “Take care of his two friends, and take notice of any weird villagers from Green Valley Ville. Find out about their background too.

…

When the helicopter arrived at the Fabian Company, Han Xiao board on the transport aircraft and headed for a new novice village in the Southern Continent. This time round, he would be occupying the aircraft for a long time as he even wanted to fly across the ocean to the novice villages in the Western Continent and Northern Continent. The Fabian Company did not have much power in the other two continents. As such, it would be expensive to occupy the aircraft for such a long time. Even after a friendship discount from Antonio, the price could still be jaw dropping—plain extortion.

His Dark Net’s account still had enough funds, and he had a lot of plans to accumulate more wealth. There was no need for him to worry about the funds.

Once he boarded the aircraft, Han Xiao began building his Mecha. The advantage of building his own mecha was that the different modules could be fixed separately and then combined together afterwards. This would reduce the risk, and the success rate for a self-created Mecha would be higher.

Even though he did not have the blueprints, he had his own ideas. The different functions of the self-created Mecha could be achieved just by mimicking the other Mechas from his memories. [Python Lightweight Mecha] was an advanced, more accurate, and rare piece of equipment. If anyone wished to obtain this blueprint in normal circumstances, one would need to combine four advance knowledges of different groups. Moreover, the conditions were extremely demanding. The prerequisite was that one needed to understand the functions of the various components inside the blueprints. So, all most players could do was try their luck.

Some other blueprints required the players to be able to understand the modules within the blueprints. This was common for blueprints of various robots, Mechas, armor, and transport vehicles.

Chapter 165 - As Unlucky as Usual

Hopefully what I replicated is forty percent accurate—that will be enough.

Han Xiao’s advanced knowledge was insufficient; hence, he could only create a prototype with less functionality, just like the Ghost sniper rifle. However, there was an advantage for the mecha. Even if his version was a castrated version, it would not have various defects that the Ghost sniper rifle had.

Self-creating a mecha was a huge project and could not be completed within a short time. Han Xiao planned to finish his work on the various modules as he moved from novice village to novice village.

In addition, he would have to combine some new blueprints to improve the power of mecha.

The core source of the power would come from the ‘Bonfire’ Mini Reaction Furnace, and Han Xiao needed to wait for Lei Zhen Yu to place an order for him. This was also an advanced machine, so he was not able to build it on his own. Luckily, he had met another mechanic and could use some help from the other masters.

Talking about it, Old Man Lu’s four blueprints were also rare items. The opportunity for the mission would be when Lei Zhen Yu left Black Pine. Hence, he had to wait a while longer. Those four blueprints could be combined to build an attack and defense system, which could be incorporated into the mecha.

The mecha was Han Xiao’s second important piece of tactical equipment, and with the four blueprints from Old Man Lu, he would be able to start on the third. Han Xiao was excited. With three pieces of tactical equipment that complemented one another, all of which would have very strong mechanical stats, there would be no need to worry in battle—even against Bennett.

After finishing the visits to the novice villages and obtaining large amounts of experience, I can finally do some big things.

Han Xiao calculated his time and suddenly frowned.

If I’m not remembering incorrectly, the Alien event should be starting soon.

…

The Southern Continent had five novice villages. Besides Big Horn Village and Green Valley Ville, Han Xiao spent eleven days visiting the other three. Most of his time was spent on travelling. When he arrived at each novice village, he need not do anything; players would quickly crowd around him. Those who wanted to advance would advance, and those who had their own things to do would engage in their own things. It was super effective.

His popularity was all thanks to Galaxy Times and the advertising through the forum. Han Xiao had left a deep impression on the players, and they knew what he was capable of.

Han Xiao did some math—round 25% to 30% of players came to him to advance into mechanics. This ratio was way greater than that in his previous life. Even though there were only three main classes in Aquamarine, the ratio was not even. In his previous life, the ratio had been 30% Esper, 50% to 60% Pugilist, and only about 10% Mechanic. After Han Xiao’s promotion, the ratio was three times greater!

Apart from Basic Knowledges, he also shared [Basic Shooting] and [Basic Combat]. These basic skills had attracted many novice players, and most had approached him to acquire these two basic skills. That was the real money tree!

Han Xiao was making a small profit from each novice player, and these small gains accumulated to a veritable fortune.

Three novice villages had earned him a total of 9.023 million Experience!

The efficiency was shocking!

With these eleven days of gaining experience at a rocket-like efficiency, he had earned an amount comparable to completing ten or so high difficulty missions! Players of the same level from his previous life would have needed to to spend many months to acquire the same amount of experience!

The cumulative effect from the interface and the NPC template helped him improve tremendously. Well, at least he had found himself a steady channel for experience.

The player market had the most potential, and since he was able to monopolize it at the moment, the profit was simply amazing.

With countless experiences on hand, Han Xiao went ahead to level up his class rank [Mechanic (Trainee)] to Level 15!

When his level reached LV 55, he would need to advance in order to continue levelling up. In version 1, the level limit was LV 60, so he was five levels away. However, he was not restricted by the limit in this version. Han Xiao could in fact become the first character in Aquamarine to reach LV 60. Unfortunately, the advancement requirements were a real headache for him.

_____________________

[Mechanic (Trainee)] levelled up to Level 15 (MAX).

+120 Energy, +1 Dexterity, +1 Endurance, +4 Intelligence.

Acquired 3 Unassigned Stat Points and 1 Talent Point!

Advancement mission: Create 5 [Admirable] quality machinery with an energy rating no lower than 60.

_____________________

Damn, am I so unlucky? Out of so many advancing conditions, how unlucky am I to get the most troublesome one‽

Han Xiao was stunned.

Admirable quality meant a grade higher than blue. Since he started building his machinery, his machinery was about 15% to 20% blue, and only 1% to 2% of his machinery might have reached purple.

A machine could be compared with the same type of machinery by its quality. For instance, there would be a huge difference in the stats of a white grade Foldable Machete compared to a blue grade Foldable Machete. The blue grade would have additional effects too. However, a blue type Machete could not be compared to a white grade Rover Robot.

For example, Cold Weapons, Guns, Grenades, Robots… these weapons were based on templates of the same kind. For example, a good quality razor could be used to shave comfortably; however, it could not be used to stir fry vegetables. Different kinds of equipment have their own uses and their own specialization.

The more high-end a machine was, the harder it would be to improve its quality. The intelligence stat affected the quality, and this was also the core attribute of mechanics. High-level mechanics could easily create high-quality, simple machines.

The requirement of ‘energy rating no lower than 60’ for advancement limited the possibility of him using low-level machinery as a shortcut. He had to create a purple machine that fulfilled the quality requirement.

This type of advancement requirement was considered the most difficult requirement. Normally, when one reached the level limit of an attribute, it would not be easy to build a stable machine of sufficient quality. It was either by luck or by improving his skills and achieving new abilities. No matter which route he took, he would need a lot of time.

The frown between Han Xiao’s brows deepened like a great ravine.

Advancement was difficult. Moreover, he would need to use his experience points to level up his skills and fuse blueprints together. This could be a bottomless pit, especially for fusing the blueprints.

Levelling up by five levels had cost him almost five million Experience. As for the remaining Experience, Han Xiao kept two million for blueprints fusion and the rest on levelling up his skills. He levelled up [Mid-Grade Machinery Affinity] and [Molecular Refining] to the maximum.

Among the skills, Mid-Grade Machinery Affinity was a core skill; hence, the cost was higher. The effect was also naturally more remarkable. Since it affected a machine’s grade, it was useful in completing the advancement task.

Experience come easily but goes quickly too.

Han Xiao let out a deep sigh. As he had spent a huge amount of experiences all at once, he felt a great sense of satisfaction.

Han Xiao had completed his visits to all the novice villages in the Southern Continent. Next, Han Xiao decided to visit the Western Continent. The Nations in the Western Continent were Maple and Ordina. He had stayed in the Southern Continent for too long, and he was finally visiting another continent.

On the way, I can also start on the secret quest. The tragedy of La Potter is set in the Western Continent.

…

Because there was a need to cross the sea, the transport aircraft stopped at one of Hesla port cities’ airports to prepare for the long-distance flight and top up the fuel. This was Antonio’s territory. Han Xiao spent a huge sum of money, almost emptying Antonio’s warehouse, and filled up his aircraft with a lot of materials.

“You are going to the Western Continent?” Antonio held a thick black cigar in his mouth. With his bear paw sized hand, he patted Han Xiao on his shoulder. “A person like you—an assassin—will definitely be blacklisted by many nations. The special agents of Maple and Ordina might find you for afternoon tea. You will have no say over there too. Our power in the Western Continent is limited as well. A piece of advice for you: try not to expose yourself.”

“And so?”

“Be careful.”

Han Xiao laughed and exclaimed in feigned surprise, “Oh, you can actually finish that in one sentence.”

Han Xiao patted Antonio’s strong arm and went up the aircraft. “Don’t worry, I won’t go crazy there.”

Filled with fuel, the aircraft took flight and disappeared into the air.

…

As Han Xiao visited all the novice villages in the Southern Continent, it created a huge discussion on the forum. The novice players from the other three continents were all envious and jealous of the players from the Southern Continent. They wished to meet the Black Phantom, too; however, it was not possible for them to cross over to another continent. As such, they could only watch helplessly as players from the Southern Continents boasted about it on the forum. This made them feel terrible, just like seeing photos of fast food in the middle of the night. Even if you were hungry, you could not eat it.

There was no point being envious, so all the helpless players could do was vent their emotions on the forum.

“Ah, I want Black Phantom!”

“I am suffering from a disease. I will die if I don’t meet Black Phantom.”

“Why are there no characters like Black Phantom in the continent that I got into?”

Players from the Southern Continent started giggling as they thought they were fortunate to have a great birthplace. Looking at players from the other continents grumbling about their lack of luck, the players in the Southern Continent felt a sense of superiority.

Man, luck is also part of power. Not that I’m targeting anyone, but I mean everyone here is trash.

By this point, the players from the Southern Continent all had inflated egos.

Chapter 166 - Alien (1)

“The Black Phantom had gone to the Western Continent? Why is he there?” Bennett was shocked.

“I don’t know. He didn’t say.” Wang Yuan shook his head.

Bennett had no choice but to give Han Xiao a call. He did not answer. As Han Xiao was flying across the ocean, the reception on his phone was bad.

Helpless, Bennett shook his head. Stardragon’s material aid had arrived, and Hesla had loosened a little after some work. The shelter plan was about to be rolled out as a pilot project in the Southern Continent. He was planning to gather the strongest members of various organizations as the first layer of protection for the plan. Black Phantom was third on the list of people he was going to invite. However, before he could even invite him, Han Xiao had already left for the Western Continent.

The location of the first shelter had already been decided. It would be located in a large ruined city in the wild.

Bennett suddenly had an idea. “Maple refused to provide material aid, and that group of bureaucrats are not easing up no matter what we do. Luckily, Black Phantom is going to the Western Continent, so he can talk for me!”

…

The enclosed room did not seem to have a single light source and was separated from the outside world by a thick metal door. Through the darkness, there was only a streak of light peeking through a small opening. Electrolux was sitting in a corner, reading his interface in exasperation. His Esper potential rating was Grade A. However, after over 20 days of open beta, when most players had reached LV 8, he was still at LV 1.

The Germinal Organization said they would lock him up for a month, and they meant it. If it was not that Electrolux was reluctant to give up on his high potential Esper ability, he would have changed to a new account. After the members of the club learned of the situation of his account, they had all been very concerned. They told Electrolux to hold on, and they would invest resources into him when the restriction period was over. With that, he was able to persevere and come online every day to wait, hoping for a miracle.

At that moment, the golden metal door started opening slowly, and white light sprayed into the room.

Electrolux looked up and saw a man in white standing by the door. The man’s stared at Electrolux as though he was looking at something precious.

“I want to perform a little test with you.” A man in white smiled freakishly.

…

Cyberlos was joyous.

He was one of the top executives in the Germinal Organization. As a biologist, he had worked on various experiments for Germinal for many years. Before joining them, Cyberlos was a high-level researcher who betrayed Raylen. He was insane, and his mind was always full of crazy ideas. Even as a fellow human, it was impossible to stop his strong urge to dissect other human bodies. He also did not care about principles and would join anyone who was willing to aid him with resources. In the end, he joined the Germinal Organization.

As such, Germinal supported Cyberlos to experiment on his crazy ideas by sponsoring him with materials. He was responsible for Valkyrie, Super Soldier, and Genetic Improvement—all those projects that were totally unethical. There were even other more sinister experiments, and just by mentioning the names, it would make a normal person disgusted and the insane excited. For instance, Cross-Species Hybrid Breeding, Human-Animal Fusion…

Through years of research, Cyberlos had conducted over a hundred experiments and seen thousands of special and gifted human specimens. Among which, Cyberlos was excited about two of these specimens, and both were Espers.

One of them had bone marrow that had amazing healing functions. It could even revive thousands of dead bodies. However, since the souls were absent in these bodies, the bodies would not truly be revived. That was also the first time when Cyberlos discovered the notion of souls. He experimented more, but due to the lack of technology on Aquamarine, he was unable to gather any souls.

The other person had some power that could interfere with destiny. It was also the most incredible thing that Cyberlos had ever witnessed. This person could interfere with the course of an event just by commenting. It was something even more difficult to explain as compared to souls. This special ability could only be used when a person was clear and awake. A test proved that it could not work with hypnotism. This person was locked up around the clock and was made to wear a muzzle, which prevented him from talking. Due to negligence in the past, many scary incidents had occurred, and the most recent incident happened a year ago, when this person commented that a disaster would happen to the Germinal. With that being said, the Germinal Organization had indeed suffered a painful blow.

As for Electrolux, he was the third specimen that Cyberlos was interested in.

Cyberlos re-read and scrutinized the diary.

“Day 1: The subject was sent into the restricted room, monitored around the clock, including using night vision camera monitoring. Fed three times a day at 7am, 11am, and 7pm with no relaxation time given. Subject seemed anxious but has yet to show any after effects from the brainwashing session. Initial observation shows that subject has immunity. Recommended to perform Compliance Test on the subject.

“Day 2: 8am, went through the Compliance Test. Results shown that subject is highly obedient. Passed all the test, and the polygraph does not exhibit any abnormalities. Subject has accepted the new identity from the brainwashing. 11pm, abnormality started showing. Subject has vanished, and no signs of damage were observed in the restricted room. A search was conducted, subject not found.

“Day 4: Subject reappeared in the restricted room, the same location where he disappeared, with no warning. Footage data [Appendix -001]. We controlled the subject immediately and interrogated about the reason behind his disappearance and what he encountered after he disappeared. Subjected seemed confused, and the interrogation was recorded in [Appendix -002]. Increased the monitoring on the subject.

“Day 6: Used hypnotism to check if he was lying, and the subject spoke gibberish. Footage [Appendix -003]. At night, subject vanished again.

“Day 8: Subject reappeared. Interrogated and hypnotized, details [Appendix -004]. At 8pm, surgery was performed to observe the biology, and his physiology seemed normal. Surgery conclusion [Appendix -005].”

…

The observation diary contained observations from 22 days. Some of the vagrants in the Andrea Mainland also appeared to have similar symptoms as Electrolux. As such, this caught the attention of Germinal. They remained quiet and continued to observe secretly.

Immortal, able to resurrect, appear out of nowhere, unknown origin… If it was just one person, there was no reason to worry. However, thousands of people had shown the same symptoms, and this number was still increasing, as though it was spreading like an infectious disease. The leader was concerned and made Cyberlos in charge of conducting various experiments on Electrolux.

Electrolux was pinned down in the middle by the guards and was brought to the surgery theatre. Lying down on the surgery table, he was given the surgery task. The Germinal Organization had brainwashed him. As such, he thought all orders given were compulsory missions and violation would lead to heavy punishments.

Electrolux could only adhere to the instructions, and he was feeling frustrated.

Cyberlos suited up into his surgical gown and started dissecting Electrolux. Electrolux was given anesthesia and was unable to move. All he could do was watch the knife moving about on his body. As he realized he was being dissected, his body system started reacting when the operation started.

_____________________

You died.

_____________________

Electrolux was struck dumb, and he was revived in the room after ten seconds.

What in the world… Was I dissected and experimented on?

Electrolux froze. He had lost one revive for that week. However, his Experience did not decrease, and that might have been due to him dying under special circumstances.

This was the first time he had encountered such a situation. In the past, when he was playing other virtual online games, NPCs did not care about any special abilities that players possessed, which caused many people complained about it. Players who were more creative had even thought of dissecting these people to study them. He could not believe this was happening in Galaxy.

Cyberlos witnessed the whole procedure where Electrolux vanished and then reappeared again. It happened in a split second, and the blood stains could still be seen on the operation theatre.

“You… No, what kind of creature are you?” Cyberlos’ eyes lit up.

Electrolux suddenly felt like pulling a prank. What will happen if I tell the truth?

Chapter 167 - Alien (2)

“The world you live in is just a game. I am just a player…”

To his shock, Electrolux realized that anything he tried to say became gibberish. He was unwilling to give up trying, but he realized that if he wanted to reveal any information about the real world, the system would change his words.

Cyberlos shook his head. “It is the same as the hypnosis record, all nonsense.”

Electrolux was shocked to find out that NPC could tell the uniqueness of a player. This must have been coded by the developer in an attempt to simulate more realistic characters.

It’s so real. Electrolux was shocked. It made him felt as if the NPC was a real person. Galaxy is such a realistic game.

He finally understood the name for Galaxy 1.0 edition. The developer wanted to allow the players to become Adventers, to be the first people to experience another realistic world. Therefore, they did not allow the players to reveal truths of the reality in case they ruined the realistic feeling. He then remembered an old online game. There were also two camps of players, and the players from different camps were not allowed to communicate. It seemed to be called the world of the beast.

“It must be like that!” Electrolux exclaimed.

Even if he knew that the reactions that NPCs gave to the players were simulated, he was very impressed. Aside from his responsibilities as a professional player, Electrolux had formed great interest in Galaxy. He was even anticipating what would happen next. There would be more and more players, how would these NPCs react?

The guards brought Electrolux back, and Cyberlos stayed in the laboratory and collected blood traces on the operating table. The results of the test were so different from ordinary people, causing his eyes to flicker with curiosity.

“Let’s say this occurrence is the appearance of an alien phenomenon. But why is this phenomenon occurring here, and why has it spread? Most of the aliens appear out of thin air, and there are no database records, unless there is a birth of a new civilization? Could there be a projection from another intelligent species?”

Cyberlos turned on his computer and brought up a highly confidential file. He verified using his fingerprint, his iris, and a password, which was changed on a daily basis, before opening a document—The Universal Treaty (7th revised edition). Aquamarine came into contact with the Kedolas civilization and had attained more knowledge. The Germinal Organization had a copy of this treaty as well.

It was stated on the treaty that a projection from a high-level civilization would occasionally interfere with a low-level civilization. The special characteristics of not dying was similar to the description of the projection technique on the treaty. If this was true, this would be the invasion of an advanced civilization. No, for the entity to invade, it would not be so troublesome. A logical explanation would be Aquamarine had become a testing ground for a certain civilization. Cyberlos was not angry at all. In fact, he was very excited by the unexpected phenomenon.

If the number of aliens continued increasing, the pattern of Aquamarine would have a drastic change with this characteristic of not dying.

The aliens can be brainwashed and are very subservient, but when asked about their place of origin, they talk nonsense, and this could be an instinctive reaction for them. This definitely requires more experimental evidence.

The transmission of this alien phenomenon was unknown, and it was impossible to determine if it was contagious or not. The results of the test were normal, and the occurrence for this phenomenon could not be explained—it could be an unique ability, disease, or genetic mutation.

The interesting thing was that no abnormal sleeping habits had been observed. From time to time, the disappearance could be the ‘sleeping mode’ of the aliens. Some aliens had other abilities, their strength was weak, and they seemed to have potential for other unknown reasons.

Is the appearance of aliens long term or short term? Will the numbers continuously increase? Is there a possibility of the beast infecting the aliens? In the long run, there seems to be some danger with this alien phenomenon, and it is necessary to implement some preventive measures as early as possible.

Writing down his conclusion, Cyberlos handed the report over to his leader. His leader’s worldview was also slightly affected, but fortunately, he was determined. Due to a huge variety of Espers around, even the average person was very resilient, so they were used to all kinds of strange phenomenon.

“The Six Nations will notice the aliens sooner or later. With this phenomenon occurring, the fact that they are our enemy is not as important. They will definitely contact the interstellar civilization to ask for the reasons of this occurrence and will have no time to set off a war. Which means, we’ll have time to breathe.”

The leader was very curious about the appearance of aliens, but he was unable to contact the interstellar civilization. However, he noticed an important problem—the aliens could actually be brainwashed, and they were very obedient!

Thus, he reached the natural conclusion.

“They are natural cannon fodder!”

Andrea mainland was the territory of the Germinal Organization, and the leader ordered people to bring back research specimens to brainwash. There were also aliens appearing in the other three continents. It was a pity that the sub-bases had been uprooted, and no one was around to capture them. The leader only realized now that they had lost an opportunity all because of Zero. He was so angry that his teeth ached, and he even wanted to make use of the ‘Son of Destiny’ to lock onto the position of zero, but he had not yet made the decision to take the risk.

I don’t know how the interstellar civilization views this phenomenon, is this rare or common?

…

There were four new novice villages in the Western Continent, and public beta had been open for more than twenty days. The average level of the players had also reached LV 10, so Han Xiao was prepared to include the [Energy Training Technique] into the list of skills. The asking price was 10,000 experience and 3,000 Aquamarine Dollars. Some players were able to afford it.

The plane had landed in Fabian’s main base on the Western Continent, and as the climate of the Western Continent was very cold, Han Xiao felt uncomfortable when he first breathed in the air.

These few days, he created the parts of the python armor using the skeleton formed by the PE-0 Nano-Synthetic Fiber. It looked like thick black tights, and the outer layer was like muscles. Han Xiao tried it on once, and it was light. He had found his physical attributes improved. For example, when throwing a punch, the fibers would stretch and twist in the direction of the punch, increasing the strength of the attack. It was similar to getting a new set of muscles and tendons, but this was more flexible, and the user could do whatever they wanted.

In the debugging stage, it was necessary to prevent the loss of power with other materials. Han Xiao had spent quite a bit of experience, using [Advance Materials Science] with other knowledge, to attain certain materials.

The power system was the most critical for the mecha frame. The ‘Bonfire’ Mini Reaction Furnace was another equipment for advancement. The seller seems to be in the Western Continent, so Han Xiao had chosen to come here.

A mecha was a quick way to improve combat power, and as long as he could create the Python-Lightweight Mecha, his combat power could increase by a huge jump.

I’ll go to the novice village and collect some experience first.

Han Xiao marked the location on the map and handed it to the driver. At that instant, his cell phone buzzed. He opened it and turned out to be a message from the Blood Pact Society.

“Black Phantom, this is a reward from the Dark Net. Your mission is to sneak into the residence of a few Maple officials and leave certain documents there. Someone will meet you at the Western Continent and give you the documents you will need, including the specific information of the location and some Maple officials.”

Han Xiao raised an eyebrow and called Bennett. “Hey, what are you up to?”

It was beneficial to know someone on the top as one phone call across could get him information.

“Maple does not want to provide assistance, and it is because these few officials are getting in the way. You know the situation over in Maple—we would be touching the treasury of these officials, so they are fiercely opposing us.”

“What assistance?” Han Xiao raised an eyebrow as he had an inclination.

“I have yet to mention to you, but the organization is planning a large-scale project—shelter. There was originally a year to plan, but as the war is about to start, we can only push forward with the plan and request aid from all the countries. Only Maple has rejected.”

Han Xiao’s eyes lit up. The shelter plan had started early. With his relationship to the Dark Net, he was confident in the plan and asked an obvious question, “What is the shelter plan? Do you need my help?”

Chapter 168 - Novice Guides?

“I will tell you the details when you return to the Southern Continent, and yes, I need your help…” Bennett paused. “Stardragon first promised to render their help, and the reason was you taking part in the battle of the Tedramira River. I owe you a favor.”

“Just give me a few small benefits.”

Bennett laughed. “This is exactly what I expected from you, let’s talk more when you return to Southern Continent.”

After ending the phone call, Han Xiao read the reward detail and triggered the mission.

_____________________

You triggered Level C mission [Deterrent intimidation]!

Introduction: Some of Maple’s officials are corrupt, and it is time to let them know that holding on to the money bags will only get them bullets. We are not robbers, but we do not mind occasional guest appearances.

Mission Requirements: Enter the residence of five targeted officials and the evidence of the Dark Net.

Rewards: 120,000 experience, 500 Dark Net reputation

_____________________

Without the special reward, it is just an ordinary task. I’ll just get it done and over with. Han Xiao nodded.

The transport plane took off with Han Xiao after a refueling. A few hours later, they arrived in a new novice village. It was not easy to find the airport in the wilderness. However, as the gyroscopic engines were equipped on the wings of the transport aircraft to provide vertical lifting power, it was safe for the plane to take off on the runway. The pilot was a veteran as well.

If Han Xiao did not have the discounts as an old customer, the price of chartering flights would have been several times more expensive. This connection was very important as it saved him a lot of money.

After using the Electromagnetic Hover-boots for a while after he alighted from the plane, Han Xiao soon reached the novice village. The players there were doing their missions passionately, and upon seeing the Black Phantom, they were stunned and gushed toward him.

…

Poseidon, a member of the Guild of Gods, hummed a song as he scanned through the forum posts. President Jupiter did not bother too much about the Rank A mission, and the development of the guild was on the right track.

In the second issue of Galaxy Times, the group had invited a beautiful e-sports player, the head of the rainstorm club, Rainy Kim. She shared her experience on the show and introduced Stardragon.

She had joined the Tedramira River Battle, so she revealed some information, including news of the Germinal Organization. After Jupiter learned that the Germinal troops from the Southern Continent had disappeared, he lost hope for the A-rank mission. Dark Crow Valley Base had also been removed; thus, he concentrated on coordinating the guild and expanded toward Southern Continent’s side.

In the second episode of Galaxy Times, professional players from different planets were invited for an interview, and these players had joined different camps on the map, allowing the players to attain more knowledge of the different planets. The conflict between the Six Nations and the Germinal Organization revealed the main plot to the players of Aquamarine.

Since the start, Poseidon had never approved of the Germinal A-rank mission; he felt that it would distract the group. Fortunately, Jupiter turned his back and gave up on the A level mission. In turn, the professional guild saw this mission and allowed the players to challenge this difficult task, thus handing over the task to the team.

After the discussion, they selected a player from Andrea Mainland to find the Germinal Organization and trigger the A-rank mission. The guild also provided resources and intelligence support to help the player complete the task. If anyone succeeded, the guild could have one more potential account, and there no losses even if they do not succeed.

The players were the face of the guild, and their status was higher than that of the guild. The first-line player was also famous as Poseidon asked him for a few signatures, which made him very happy.

The guild was pleased with the A-rank mission they triggered during the novice period and gave away some prizes.

The guild had passed the unlucky period, and Poseidon was in a good mood.

Speaking of the development of the guild, the Black Phantom could not go unmentioned. Since most of them were born in the Southern Continent, with the support of the Black Phantom, they benefited in one way or another. The Black Phantom only appeared in the Southern Continent, which gave the players a huge advantage, and the guild benefited a lot.

Many opponents were born in other continents, and with the guild in front, the situation was very good.

Looking at the jealousy and envy that the old player had, the members of the guild had a sense of superiority.

Suddenly, the forum started having lots of new posts published by Aquamarine. The content could be summarized in one sentence.

“Black Phantom is coming to the Western Continent!”

Poseidon snorted and hurriedly clicked and viewed a post. After reading it, he began sweating.

Don’t tell me Black Phantom is running around every single Novice Village.

If this was to be true, everyone simply had to wait patiently, and the advantages of being in a guild would vanish.

Poseidon hurriedly informed the president and other core members in the channel. They were equally shocked.

Jupiter was extremely calm. “We can’t say things like that. We learned some skills earlier than others and were able to finish quests much earlier. There are bound to be some advantages for joining us. NPC’s actions can’t be controlled. Don’t try to force things.”

Upon hearing what the president had said, everyone calmed down. Poseidon glanced at the forum again and suddenly screamed, “What the… come look at this post!”

“What?” Jupiter doubted the post. It was a screenshot of Han Xiao’s skill list, and the focus was on an [Energy Training Method]. Seeing the skill’s effect, everyone was stunned.

“Magical!”

Energy was a key attribute. It directly affected combat strength. And with the novice players’ energy being so poor, they were usually unable to support an Esper’s consumption. Espers needed this skill for sure!

Jupiter was an Esper. He turned jealous and suddenly realized a serious problem. “Wait a moment. When we were in the Southern Continent, Black Phantom did not teach us this skill!”

Everyone stood silent.

Could it have been that when the Black Phantom was going to the Novice Village, he would give better things to them? In that case, wouldn’t players in the Southern Continent be disadvantaged?

This isn’t advantageous at all! It’s way more unlucky!

Among the core members of Guild of Gods, there was a player named Eggtama.

This unlucky feeling… Why is it so familiar…? It’s returning! Everything is returning!

…

On the forum, Western Continent players were as if they were dogs that had eaten Spring medicine, jumping up and down, posting their videos, and showing off. They, who had been always on Southern Continent for so long, finally had something to show off. It was now the Southern Continent’s players’ turn to suffer. What they originally thought was exclusively theirs was actually given to everyone.

In particular, seeing the new skills taught by Black Phantom, the [Energy Training Method], the Western Continent players were extremely overjoyed and made the Southern Continent players very tired and uncomfortable.

What goes around comes around, and it was time for the players on the Southern Continent to watch in jealousy.

“Such luck, why didn’t Black Phantom have this skill before?”

“I want to learn it so much.”

“Isn’t he a mechanic instructor? He has such awesome skills! Even though I’m an Esper, I’m tempted, too!”

Beyond the posts that were either showing off or complaining, Black Phantom appeared in the Western Continent, and this had gotten all the players to start guessing. He seemed to aim to go through all the novice villages. Could Black Phantom actually have been the official novice guide? But other novice planets did not have one. The guesses were endless. Furthermore, there were players from other novice planets coming over to Aquamarine’s forum to complain of unfairness. The novice guide broke the levelled playing field for many, but their voices would soon be overwhelmed by the everyone else.

Players from the Northern Continent and Andrea were the ones that greatly supported this statement. Looking at the movements of Black Phantom, they could very well be the next one, and they could not wait to bring themselves in front to the Black Phantom.

Do you see the huge anticipation in these small eyes of ours? Come on, hurry!

The Western Continent’s players were almost celebrating like it was a festival; some of them who were about to leave the novice village to explore the map immediately reverted back to where they were upon hearing the news of Black Phantom. They hurriedly returned to their villages, waiting for the Black Phantom’s arrival in great excitement.

[Energy Training Method] became a craze. Not only were some players wanting to change class, even Esper came to learn the skill. While the asking price was very high, this magical skill was worth selling one’s every asset for!

Esper players desperately needed to increase their Energy, and to them, the [Energy Training Method] was like a Viagra pill. It allowed them to last much longer, and the difference was between that of a three minute and three second gap. Whilst short, the concept was totally different. This was the difference between one and many, between Heaven and Earth!

Chapter 169 - First Episode of Galaxy's Exploration Journal

Han Xiao had already foreseen this type of situation; in the first advancement, everyone would learn [Energy Training Technique]. However, the players were unaware that for players at LV 8 or 9, this was a magical skill. The added strength exceeded whatever the player received for their upgrade. Also, some players did not advance in their main class; hence, they would need a skill that provided energy even more.

Aquamarine was the main planet for all the Chinese players. Han Xiao imparted a skill that all players were bound to learn, and while it might seem like he was scamming the players, that was not the case. It was important to note that obtaining a slight advantage in the early stages would enable one to snowball and grow stronger.

In other words, Han Xiao allowed the LV 10 players to acquire the skills that were only available at LV 20. This way, his actions were equivalent to a win-win situation.

Not only did he earn extraordinary amounts of Experience, he also enabled the Chinese players to gain an advantage over other planets’ players.

Perfect.

Han Xiao was pleased with his plan. Why would he scam the players? All those perceptions were people’s prejudices and misunderstandings toward him. He really loved his motherland; thinking back to the past when his father almost named him Patriotic Xiao, but under the authority of the tigress in the house, his father changed to his current name, Han Xiao.

[Energy Training Technique] required 10,000 Experience to learn, and the thought of the potential profits made his heart beat wildly. Only when the players advance for the first time would he then be able to impart [Energy Training Technique] and reap the profits. This was kind of a reckless deal; he would take whatever he could. Looking at the player’s degree of enthusiasm, Han Xiao felt that the Experience he received in Version 1.0 would be an astronomical number.

While he was busy with the Western Continent novice village, Bun-hit-dog finally released the first episode in the forum.

Galaxy’s Exploration Journal: Black Phantom (1)

…

Bun-hit-dog had a bit of a reputation, and the moment the video was released, his die-hard fans and curious passersby immediately clicked into it.

“Finally, this should be spicy!”

“A surprise release!”

“The subject is Black Phantom. Is Bun-hit-dog on his team now?”

The program was released in the forum’s video section. The forum was not for tasteless gossiping only—it had other functions. In order to allow the players to pass the time while playing the game, the video traffic was huge, and with the addition of old viewers watching, the number of viewers increased quite a lot.

The opening titles consisted of the promo edit and some screenshots of the scenery before the video began. The first thing that appeared was the third person’s perspective of Bun-hit-dog. This was the game’s pre-installed viewing function, which could also be used to examine the exterior. The background was Black Pine Settlement. Bun-hit-dog waved in the direction of the camera, and his opening line was a soliloquy.

“The everlasting world produced Yin and Yang, the Yin and Yang that comes of all living things. The country’s benefits are at the cost of my life, and every moment of spring is precious. Welcome to Galaxy’s Exploration Journal, I am Bun-hit-dog.”

The barrage was filled with ridicule.

“What is this dumb soliloquy‽”

“I read a line of the poem at that time, if…”

“How confident I am in unifying my country is just like how the sun rises from the East, divine toad requires a thousand years to learn!”

Bun-hit-dog continued in the show. “There hasn’t been a new upload in a long time. Being the first episode of the Galaxy series, I’ll video a character’s perspective and let everyone have a taste of my expedition. This character left a lot of impressions on the players—Mechanic Master, Novice Leader, Mysterious NPC, Secret Quest. Presumably, the audience in front of the screen is curious about the identity of this character. That’s right, he is the person in the title—Black Phantom!”

“Wow, awkward talking time, I salute you!”

“Finally…”

“That’s what we came for!”

The lens switched over to show Bun-hit-dog’s perspective. The official content began now.

The video content consisted of clips recorded by Bun-hit-dog, and it became different segments after rounds of editing. The special effects and the narration were then added on later. Bun-hit-dog used a humorous style, explaining the first encounter with Han Xiao where Han Xiao resisted a pack of wolves in Green Valley Ville and stopped the confrontation between two warlords. Bun-hit-dog showed the first person’s point of view while the narration began to analyze Han Xiao’s influence.

“In one sentence, Black Phantom exhibited his influence by moving the two warlords away with just his words. Before I begin with the analysis, I would like to introduce the identities of the two warlords…” The scene changed and arrived at Black Pine Settlement. Bun-hit-dog introduced Lu Cheng, who was the leader of this large-scale settlement. He possessed a huge army and tons of war chariots. Then, the topic changed.

“Lu Cheng possesses such great power, yet he was afraid of Black Phantom. Then, where exactly did Black Phantom’s influence originate from? Listen carefully to what I, Brother Bun, have to say.” He used Lu Cheng as bait to further the intrigue the audience had toward Black Phantom. The results were outstanding.

Frenzied Sword acted as an esteemed guest and appeared on this show. He analyzed Han Xiao’s identity in their conversation and slowly touched the tip of the iceberg of Han Xiao’s mysterious origins.

First, both revealed Black Phantom’s name, which seemed to be Han Xiao. Initially, in Stardragon Intelligence Agency, this was information that no one knew of, and in a flash, it captured everyone’s attention. The barrage became very sparse, and everyone was reading the content seriously.

Frenzied Sword had sucked up to Han Xiao during the beta-testing, but he was unaware of Han Xiao’s real identity. He only understood that Black Phantom belonged to Six Nations’ side. However, due to some reason, Black Phantom left Stardragon and joined the two organizations, the Dark Net and the Blood Pact Society. This information came from the [Extremely Fatal] powerful enemy—Liu Cheng. Even though he did not know the particulars of these two powers, he knew that they were huge backers, and they belonged to the high-ranking powers that players were unable to interact with currently. They were also among Black Phantom’s origin.

Bun-hit-dog and Frenzied Sword also thought that the crucial reason that people were afraid of Black Phantom was because of his capability. With the players’ current rank, they were unable to see the high-ranking characters’ exact stats. However, they had witnessed Han Xiao killing other [Extremely Fatal] NPCs more than once, and based on that, they felt among the NPCs, Black Phantom’s capabilities were at the peak!

Becoming enemies with Germinal was Black Phantom’s current biggest displayed goal. Due to the lack of clues, they were unable to understand the reason behind Black Phantom and Germinal’s conflict. Frenzied Sword actually divulged the situation of the beta-testing. From beta-testing to public-testing, the game went through more than three months, and Han Xiao had taken on a new persona and become Black Phantom. The moment this information was released, it immediately evoked the audience’s curiosity.

What exactly did he experience that made him the Black Phantom today?

Everything was just assumptions without evidence. The show was unclear, and Bun-hit-dog’s real intention was to toss out this question to act as the show’s hook to attract the audience’s curiosity.

Continuing on, Bun-hit-dog and Frenzied Sword discussed the Black Phantom’s actions of scouring novice villages and agreed that this was decisive evidence that Black Phantom was a novice leader. After twenty or so days of amusement, the players realized that the NPC’s actions and thoughts were very ‘real’, and Black Phantom would shock players consistently. For what reason would the Black Phantom interact with the players frequently and also involve himself in obvious plans? There had to be a reason, yet the show only mentioned it in passing.

Bun-hit-dog expressed that both he and Frenzied Sword had triggered Black Phantom’s secret quest, proving that he was able to shadow and report on Black Phantom. Also, he conveniently introduced all kinds of material benefits that they had received from Black Phantom, showing the scene where Han Xiao gifted Frenzied Sword two high quality firearms. They also followed Black Phantom and arrived at Black Pine, a map that was higher-ranked than a novice village and would issue missions with generous rewards.

The barrage was full of the material benefits being flaunted and the audience envied them to no end. Those who were able to trigger Black Phantom’s secret quests were the luckiest people!

“To hell with you, bastard!”

“Sigh…”

“I heard that holding your breath allows you to take in some of that luck. I…”

During the show’s ending, Bun-hit-dog said, “Black Phantom’s series currently only has one episode. The next episode might be of other content. After all, Frenzied Sword and I have been left behind in Black Pine. However, you don’t have to worry. I’ll continue to pursue and explore Black Phantom’s past life. Until then, I’ll see all you Dog Viewers in the next episode!”

The audience, who finished the episode in one breath, had just one thought.

Exciting!

The scene was Bun-hit-dog’s first-person perspective of exploring while the side explanation cut into Black Phantom’s angle, which introduced a lot of information that ordinary people were unclear of. It tossed out a lot of the world’s background and knowledge, and this answered many perplexing problems.

Furthermore, the style was relaxed, and the content was mind-blowing. It provided all kinds of interesting assumptions, and the audience was fully satisfied. They went on to recommend it on other forums, allowing more players to join in.

The subject matter of Bun-hit-dog’s first episode was well-chosen. Coincidentally, it was when Han Xiao visited the Western Continent and allowed everyone to know of his existence. It was a hot topic; Bun-hit-dog’s video became extremely popular, and the viewer count surged.

The first episode went completely viral!

Bun-hit-dog was pleasantly surprised. His choice of this episode’s subject proved to be a correct decision.

The video became popular because of Han Xiao’s popularity, and not only that, it added greatly to Han Xiao’s reputation.

Everyone’s impression of Han Xiao in their hearts gradually moved from a Mysterious Merchant and Skills Trainer to an influential NPC. Guessing his origin gradually became an everyday topic.

Chapter 170 - Trading Storm (1)

Other than the reconciliation of interests, some players had another mindset toward NPCs, which was admiration and adherence. This mindset came from the love toward a certain character, the popularity of the character, or players being fascinated by what the character had been through, which formed a group of fans for these NPCs. The classic examples of these are ‘Dragonborn’, ‘Chloe von Einzbern’, ‘Medivh’, ‘One Punch Man’, ‘Kratos’, etc.

By gaining admiration and love from players, the players might behave in a biased way toward the characters when making certain decisions, such as refusing to accept missions from the enemy camp or following popular NPCs to war. Ladies, weirdos, and overly powerful characters had congenital advantages in such things—Han Xiao was confident in that.

However, without real benefits, this kind of relationship based solely on admiration would not have any real meaning. To have players fight for him, perks and benefits were a crucial requirement. He knows how the players behaved; they might help out an NPC out of enjoyment, but only for a short period and would leave sooner or later if the player did not get any benefits from it.

Luckily, his plan consisted of both benefits and popularity, killing two birds with one stone.

Han Xiao has also watched Bun-hit-dog’s video, which was exactly what he had hoped for—to gain the curiosity and interest of players by sending out a video with some clues in it.

The information flow between players and NPCs was restricted; they both had a different set of intelligence at hand, so leaking out his real name was not an issue.

The Germinal Organization knew that he was Zero and might even know the original name of his body, Han Xiao, but they did not know he was Black Phantom and Han Xiao

Stardragon knew that he was Han Xiao and Zero, but they were not sure if he was Black Phantom.

Players knew that he was Black Phantom, his name was Han Xiao, and he served the Stardragon before, but they did not know he was Zero.

Oh, players have yet to receive any information on ‘Zero’.

Dark Net only knew him as Black Phantom.

Every organization only had a fraction of the information, and if his true identity was exposed one day, he would just have to change his face, and nothing would happen. He could even increase his legendary level by the time he was strong enough and choose to reveal all his identities.

Since the official launch, Han Xiao’s name had always been on the top of the Planet Aquamarine forums, which made him quite well known. Just like celebrities, the more people that knew him, the easier it was for him to strengthen his impression on people.

The situation was going great for him, from what he had done and the help of various videos, his popularity was continually growing at a fast pace. But Han Xiao always has the habit of planning ahead. He had already started to feel an imaginary ceiling on the path of his increasing popularity.

Although the functionality of the game was praised by the players, it lacked interactive storylines, and the only way that could make players actively want to interact with him was through the main storyline. Therefore, Han Xiao decided to take on one of the main storylines from Bennett.

After going to two more novice villages, Han Xiao decided to take some time off so that the players could get some money, and he could have some time for himself to do other stuff. At the top of his ‘to do’ list would be to get the Bonfire Mini Reaction Furnace.

He called Lei Zhenyu to ask where the seller wanted to carry out the deal, and he gave him the seller’s number

“Greetings,” the person on the phone said. It was an electrical generated fake voice, so he could not figure out the age nor the gender—it was very confidential.

“How are we going to carry out the deal?” Han Xiao was very straight to the point.

“In three days. In a moment, I will send you the location. Bring your money, and I will bring the stuff,” the person said.

“Okay, I will get one of my men to carry out the deal,” Han Xiao replied.

Ten seconds after hanging up the call, Han Xiao received a message.

‘Severus, the city near the border of Ordina.’

…

Financial organizations and families were deeply rooted in Ordina, so it was filled with competition and very clear class differentiation, as the country’s policies were focused on the elites. Every city felt grand and solemn, and the regular rainfall created a light fog that made it look gloomy.

It was drizzling in Severus. The weather was damp and bleak, which suited the atmosphere of the city.

In a residential flat that had been made into a surveillance room that was connected to every traffic cam within three streets, a dozen or so men wearing black were busy doing something. Some were checking on the guns, some were looking at the surveillance screens, and some were going through the intelligence.

This was an intelligence action group in Ordina, together with six other action groups, which locked down three more areas nearby.

The agents gathered around to capture an escaped criminal who had stolen classified country intelligence. The target had been on the run for many years, and they had finally found a lead that he would appear in Severus to carry out a deal with a third party.

The intelligence source was trustworthy; it had come directly from the information division. They had hacked into countless phone lines and were able to pick out a few that were suspected of being important calls from the target.

“Continue your surveillance. Snipers get ready; take down the target once he meets the dealer. The higher-ups suspect that the target is dealing with a political finance organization, so we need evidence,” the leader of the mission said through their earpiece. “The target is quite crafty. You’re our last level of insurance Mr. Mag. Please be ready to act at all times.”

“Yes,” he replied in a very cold tone.

Mag was one of Ordina’s aces; his position was similar to Mo Ran’s. The fact that even he had been sent to ensure the completion of the mission showed how important this mission was to Ordina.

…

Airplanes were not allowed to dock at Ordina; therefore, Han Xiao travelled by Electromagnetic Hover-boots for a day after alighting to reach Severus.

Wanderers entering the city formed a long queue at the border of Severus while the soldiers of Ordina were patrolling the area. Their equipment was more refined than that of Stardragon, and their expressions were covered by a tactical mask.

Everyone was silent in the team, with the only sound coming from their food steps.

The deal will be carried out in Severus, Han Xiao thought to himself. He had already changed his clothes and appearance, but his equipment was still with him. He would be looking for a beating if he went in the official way, so he had to be smuggled in.

With enough money and threatening from his gun, the smuggling process was smooth. Just like mankind never being able to kill all cockroaches, there would always be such smugglers no matter how tight security was at the border.

…

Han Xiao’s clothing covered him from head to toe as he had to hide his equipment, and he carried a large backpack with his guns.

Light rain poured on his raincoat, and hiding under the cap was a different face that Han Xiao had changed into. The reminder from Antonio made sense, and he did not want to mess up this deal, so there was no way he would’ve appeared with the face of Black Phantom or his true face.

The location was a cafe at the side of the road, seat seven.

As the buyer, if he did not arrive first, the seller might not even appear. Therefore, he sat at seat seven and looked around the cafe.

The radio was playing slow music, and he could see the fog outside the windows, it was quite soothing. Half of the seats were filled; some were drinking quietly, and the others were looking at the newspaper or their laptop. The arrival of Han Xiao did not attract any attention, and they carried on doing what they were doing.

It was normal and peaceful.

Han Xiao called the server and ordered a cup of coffee while waiting for the seller.

He looked out the floor-to-ceiling window. People who seemed to be rushing home passed by quickly from time to time while carrying their umbrellas, and a few men at the other side of the road were hiding from the rain while playing with their phones. The drizzling rain fell from the ceiling and formed a puddle at the side of the street.

Han Xiao looked normal as he lowered his head to sip his coffee, but he had noticed something unusual.

The guy reading newspaper sitting three seats away is breathing heavily and has a much higher heartbeat rate than normal. The woman drinking coffee at the bar is sweating at the side of her head. The man that passed by the floor-to-ceiling window had a very steady pace but slowed down on purpose for 30% when he passed by the window. The second person from the left hiding from the rain is stamping the floor with the back of his feet, which is a sign of worry and nervousness, Han Xiao thought.

At LV 55, his senses were at a very high level. Through the tiny details of movement and expression of normal people, he was able to figure out their emotional state.

Someone is monitoring the café—seller or third party? Could I be the target? I don’t think I’ve messed with anyone in Ordina…

The interface showed up when he notices the monitors.

_____________________

Mission Introduction: The mysterious seller you’re having a deal with is an outlaw of Ordina. Your deal with him has diverged. Unlucky for you, you’re now also under surveillance, dragged into a storm that does not concern you.

Mission Requirement: Run away from Ordina’s pursuit.

Reward: 65,000 experience

Bonus Reward: Unknown

_____________________

I have been so damn unlucky recently. Han Xiao was upset. All he wanted to do was get the Mini Bonfire Reaction Furnace, but it seemed like he was now involved in a rather serious event. Could things not just be peaceful and easier for him?

The item was very important to Han Xiao; it was the core of mechanical suit. He did not want to give it up just because of a small risk. He was already involved anyways, and even if he left right now, they would still have their eyes on him, so he decided to stay put for the moment and react accordingly.

Chapter 171 - Trading Storm (2)

After a few minutes of waiting, a man wearing a pair of sunglasses, a hat, a dark green coat, and a scarf covering the lower half of his face came into the cafe and sat opposite Han Xiao. He placed the metal suitcase that he was carrying on the table, looked at Han Xiao, and did not say a word.

The seller knew that the buyer was Black Phantom, but Han Xiao was using a different face.

Han Xiao and the seller stared at each other for a while and confirmed the other party's identity in silence—strangers would not have stared at each other for this long without saying a word. The seller entered the passcode and turned the open suitcase toward Han Xiao.

Inside the suitcase was a doughnut-shaped small device with its wires exposed outside. The exterior was coated in metal, with an intruding cylinder in the cross section and dim red lights flashing through the gaps. This was the Mini Bonfire Reaction Furnace, an energy core that was able to generate electricity automatically from solar and condensed fuel. It was also a piece of superhuman equipment as energy could be turned into fuel as a power source.

A rechargeable battery was a core material for mechanical suits; it eliminated the need and trouble of battery supplies.

Just imagine having to change batteries in the middle of a fight.

Han Xiao confirmed it was the real thing with his hands, took out his laptop, sent the money to the seller in a flash, and immediately said, "Run!"

Without waiting for the seller's reaction, Han Xiao shoved the Mini Bonfire Reaction Furnace into his backpack and stood up suddenly, he took out his Berserk Eagle and shot many times at the people that he had previously confirmed to be monitoring him.

Ordina agents took action as soon as the deal was completed, but Han Xiao was a second quicker, he had the upper hand!

The firepower within ten meters from a gun with such high caliber was comparable to a sniper, so all the monitoring agents who got shot flew backwards.

Although the agents were well trained and wore bulletproof vests, they were just normal soldiers. On the other hand, Han Xiao was a LV 55 Mechanic, so his guns were strengthened, and he had all kinds of skills that further increased their power. One shot was enough to make the agents lose their fighting ability and put them in a critically injured state.

Without any hesitation, the seller broke through the floor-to-ceiling window and ran with all his might. He was a superhuman, too, as he covered a few meters each step he took.

To divert the numbers of the enemy, Han Xiao ran in another direction.

"Damn it, who is this buyer!" The Ordina mission commander burst into a rage as he did not expect the buyer to be strong enough to notice the danger beforehand. This had caused the plan to be interrupted. He ordered the agents and the soldiers to split up to chase them separately.

Han Xiao splashed water across the streets as he dashed across the puddles with high speed.

As countless footsteps closed in on Han Xiao, agents appeared from the streets around and started shooting at him. The people on the street ran away screaming.

The magnetically-controlled retractable armor that Han Xiao had just equipped reflected the bullets away. He slid across the battlefield with a gun in both hands and shot at any agent who exposed their head. Naturally, he did not miss a single shot.

Suddenly, Han Xiao felt a pull on his feet. He looked down and saw something water-like wrapping around his calf, slowing down his speed.

Glancing at the information of the enemy on the interface, Han Xiao saw that it was an Esper around LV 30.

As Han Xiao's speed slowed down, two Pugilist agents used the opportunity to dash out from the roadside and started attacking him with energy covered fists and legs.

The flames vaporized the rain and created a white fog, which obstructed the view of the agents.

Han Xiao has no intention of fighting in Ordina against their own agents, so he tore apart the water wrapped around his calves by turning his Electromagnetic Hover-boots to full capacity and backed away from the enemy Esper controlled area as quickly as he could.

It was at this moment that he heard the sound of engines as two enormous black police vehicles dashed out from the intersection. The vehicles splashed the water in an arc with a drift and stopped in front of Han Xiao, facing him sideways and blocking the path.

High caliber guns extended out from inside the windows as they rolled down and shot Han Xiao at the same time. The firepower was so strong that it created sparkles out of the muzzle for an astonishing half meter.

As the bullets expanded in his sight, Han Xiao got hit head-on. These guns were high caliber assault rifles, and some of them were shotguns that had knock-back effects. Although he had armor on, he still stumbled from the bullets.

Information of the enemies appeared on the interface; they were Ordina's Special Operations Unit.

Han Xiao made a sharp change in direction and slid over the roofs of the two vehicles with his Electromagnetic Hover-boots. The soldiers in the vehicles alighted hastily to fire at him, but the bullets could not catch up to him and left a trail of holes on the walls of the building. Han Xiao took out a sonic grenade, pulled out the pin with his teeth, and threw it in between the vehicles.

The soldiers split out hurriedly, trying to find cover, but the sound waves from the sonic boom were not obstructed by their cover. The force spread out, and the entire special units fainted immediately. Han Xiao burst their tires and left at a stroll.

Ordina had a lot of men around the area. No matter how Han Xiao tried to get rid of the pursuit, there will always be another car at the front of his path. He shot down the traffic cams, took detours, used his Electromagnetic Hover-boots to climb over walls and buildings, outran the soldiers time and time again, but there were always cars stopping him.

How were they able to always find me?Han Xiao thought, then suddenly, he realized something. As he turned back to look up the sky while sliding, he discovered three drones that were following him. No wonder they knew where he was!

He took out Red Falcon and shot them down with one bullet each.

Ordina's mission commander bashed the table in anger. The other team had already lost the seller. Han Xiao was the only target left, but he was too difficult for his men to catch.

"Mag, take him down!"

…

Having successfully escaped from the last few cars, Han Xiao jumped across the gaps between buildings and looked for a hidden place to change his face and clothes. Suddenly, bullets from a shotgun exploded on his back as smoke and flames broke out.

Han Xiao got knocked straight into the wall, and shattered bricks fell to the floor.

The close range explosion had made Han Xiao lose his hearing for a little. He got rid of the dust on his head and looked up with a frown. A man was standing at the top of a building. He had all kinds of equipment on him—a bulletproof vest, waterproof clip belts, four handguns around his waist and thighs, a sniper rifle and two different assault rifles hanging behind his back, and a shotgun in his hands with smoke coming out of the muzzle.

The damage from one shot exceeded the damage of common firearms. Han Xiao looked at the interface, and surprise appeared on his face.

A Cannon Master?

_____________________

You have entered combat. You have received the following information.

_____________________

Mag Lesley

Level: 56

Class: [Agent Lv10], [Elite Agent Lv9], [Eagle-Eye Shooter Lv11], [Novice Mechanic Lv10], [Cannon Master Apprentice Lv10], [Cannon Master Trainee Lv6]

Attributes: 54 S trength, 131 Dexterity, 65 Endurance, 146 Intelligence, 17 Mystery, 11 Charisma, 13 Luck.

Health: 1900/1900

Stamina: 940

Energy: 1230

Abilities:

- Well Trained: +100 Health

- Strengthened Body: +400 Heath, +4% Abnormality Resistance

- Sharp Eyesight: Increased field of vision, +20% Accuracy, +13% Ranged Critical Chance

- Mechanical Professional: +18% Damage When Using Mechanical Weapon

- Gun Master: +1% Ranged Damage per 5 Dexterity

Skills:

[Explosive Shooting Lv5]

[Moving Snipe Lv4]

[Cannons and Flames Lv2]

[Pouring Ammunition Lv3]

[Basic Shooting Lv10]

[Accurate Shooting Lv8]

[Suppressed fire Lv5]

[Eagle-Eye Target Lock Lv1]

[Intermediate Machinery Affinity Lv8]

[Extra Clip Capacity Lv5]

Equipment:

[RX-108 Assault Rifle]

Grade: White

Damage: 41 – 48

Fire Rate: 5.6/s

Active Range: 380m

Clip Capacity: 30

Power Output: 41

["Butcher" Assault Rifle]

Grade: Green

Damage: 71 – 85

Fire Rate: 3.4/s

Maximum Fire Rate: 5.7/s

Active Range: 350m

Clip Capacity: 24

Power Output: 49

["Tiger Claw" Shotgun]

Grade: Green

Damage: 20 – 187

Fire Rate: 1.5/s

Maximum Damage Range: 10m, damage decreases as range increases

Clip Capacity: 8

Power Output: 48

[Synthetic Ceramic Bulletproof Vest]

Grade: Green

Ranged Defense: 24 – 26

Durability: 560

[Pox Handgun]

Grade: While

Damage: 34 – 40

Fire Rate: 2.5/s

Active Range: 80m

Clip Capacity: 12

Power Output: 28

[Grappling Hook Gun]

Description: Shoots a grappling hook

Range: 20m

Chapter 172 - One of My Men

Mag was a Cannon Master, a second-tier class of the basic Mechanic class with very high damage. The better the weapon was, the greater the advantage they had. This was the first time that Han Xiao had fought a high-level enemy of his own class.

Every meter from a Cannon Master was a wall of obstruction, and the enemy was at the top of the building while Han Xiao was at the ground.

In the blink of an eye, Han Xiao completed the analysis of the situation, the enemy, the nearby terrain, and the escape route.

Cannon Master, level 56, high damage but low HP. I have one chance of dealing explosively high damage, but killing him will not be easy. Their backup will arrive in no time if I’m stalled, and I don’t have enough supplies to deal with an outnumbered fight. I need to use the opportunity created by damaging him to escape, Han Xiao thought.

Blue lights flashed from his shoes, and he slid away.

“Trying to run?” Mag remained expressionless as Han Xiao ran away. He had noticed much earlier that the speed Han Xiao had was from his shoes, so he used his RX-108 assault rifle and shot with high accuracy. He knew that Han Xiao would not be able to escape if his shoes were broken.

However, a piece of magnetically-controlled retractable armor quickly covered the shoes and blocked the bullets.

That was close. Han Xiao was shocked. Luckily, he had been prepared and was able to react in time. Had his shoes been destroyed, the difficulty to escape would have been many times higher. Being attacked and not fighting back was not Han Xiao’s style. Whilst tactically retreating, he fired back at Mag with high accuracy on par with the latter, and three high caliber bullets hit Mag’s chest. Physical fitness was not Mag’s strength, and he could barely handle the power from the bullets. He endured the pain and followed after Han Xiao using his Grappling Hook Gun to move between buildings.

Mag had an advantage of having the high ground, so he used [Explosive Shooting] with his Tiger Claw shotgun and fired another shot at Han Xiao. The force of the explosion knocked Han Xiao into the wall once again.

Before Han Xiao could pull himself out of the wall, he felt a sense of danger and immediately covered his entire body with armor.

Mag stood on the ceiling with one assault rifle in each hand. He used [Moving Snipe] and [Pouring Ammunition] at the same time. The increased fire rate from both skills together turned the bullets into a storm raining down on Han Xiao, keeping him stuck on the wall. The holes in the wall turned to waves of dust, and the cracks grew even larger.

“He should be almost dead.” Mag was confident, this round of explosive damage that he had dealt with the combination of abilities and hundreds of bullets should have left the target almost dead, if not dead.

Dust filled the air and blocked the view inside the pit.

Hum—

A loud and weird sound appeared.

Suddenly, an invisible force field exploded on the wall, pushing away the rain and bullets, creating an area of empty space.

Field Repulsive Machine!

Using the repulsion from the machine, Han Xiao jumped out of the pit and remained stagnant in the air for a short moment. He held up the Phantom Ghost Sniper with one hand and aimed at Mag from afar, locking onto his position.

Time seemed to have slowed down.

Mag felt a chill down his spine. The gun gave him a piercing sense of coldness, and his intuition told him that it was extremely deadly. He tried to dodge as soon as he could, but Han Xiao fired his shot before he could dodge fully.

In the flash of blue light, Mag felt an irresistible force bursting on his chest. He was knocked into the air and rolled to the other side of the roof, barely grabbing the edge of the rooftop in the last second before falling down.

The pain from his chest hurt like hell. He looked down and saw a bloody hole on his right chest that penetrated his body through the bulletproof vest. Blood was gushing from within.

He shot through my lung… Mag was sweating heavily from the pain of the wound. Every time he took a breath, it felt like a knife was carving back and forth in his lung. He was shocked and frightened; the power from this shot was stronger than one of his even when he was at peak performance!

Where the hell did this extremely strong guy come from? And who was he? His explosive power was even superior to the Ace of Ordina, but Mag had never seen him before!

Had Mag not dodged, the bullet would have hit his eye.

He had ended up in this state even with a bulletproof vest. If he had been even half a second slower when he dodged…

Mag’s fear toward Han Xiao peaked.

_____________________

You destroyed Mag • Lesley’s [Synthetic Ceramic Bulletproof Vest].

You dealt 772 points of damage to Mag • Lesley.

Mag • Lesley has entered Moderate Bleeding state, losing 5 health/s for 60s.

Mag • Lesley has entered Penetrated Lung state, -10% Dexterity, -15% Movement Speed.

_____________________

This explosive shot was used with [Flaming Will] and [Overload], so the damage was frightening.

Han Xiao took a deep breath. For the first time, his Magnetically-Controlled Retractable Armor was close to being destroyed; the damage from Mag’s storm of bullets had decreased it’s durability to the alarming zone of 100 points. If he had still been wearing the first version of it without all the improvements that he had made, it would have been destroyed.

Cannon Masters were known for their firepower. If Mag could get better firearms, his damage would have further increased.

To Mag, the fact that Han Xiao was still standing after all the bullets he had fired was already quite unbelievable.

If Han Xiao were to stay and continue the fight, he would almost certainly win, but he heard the engines from afar—their backup was here.

This is Ordina’s territory. I’ll be outnumbered easily by their countless men. Mag already knew my explosive damage, so his plan from now on will definitely be stalling me. I have already got my thing, so there’s no need for me to stay and fight. Running away now is the priority, Han Xiao thought to himself and retreated without hesitation.

Mag was still horrified by that shot from Han Xiao, so he acted with a lot of caution, firing a few shots and hiding into cover straight after. He seemed like a different man.

Han Xiao’s pressure decreased tremendously. While Mag was being cautious, he used [Overload] on his skating shoes, accelerating rapidly in a split second and disappearing from Mag’s sights.

Mag lost Han Xiao completely in the complicated streets of the city. He called his colleagues instantly to check on the cameras in the city, but Han Xiao was nowhere to be found. It was like he had vaporized.

The mission target was the seller, who was experienced in escaping after so many years of being chased, and because this buyer reminded the seller a second earlier, he had found a chance to escape from the agents. Thus, Mag could only go after the buyer, but despite being the Ace, not only did he not catch the target, he was even badly damaged. Anger and dismay filled his chest; failing the mission was like a slap on his face.

Ordina agents started searching the area, which expectedly lead to no result. They could only pass their recorded fighting video to the intelligence unit for analysis. However, although they did not have any hope that doing this would give them any valuable information, they surprisingly found someone who’s fighting style was the same as the buyer’s.

Black Phantom!

“They look completely different, but he might have worn a skin mask.”

“It all makes sense now. Only Black Phantom could disappear like a ghost!”

In the action command room, Mag was being treated by the doctor. His face was gloomy. He had heard of Black Phantom before, but as an Ace agent of an intelligence organization, he had looked down on assassins like Black Phantom. However, through this accidental clash with Black Phantom, despite being the pursuer, he had been defeated and critically damaged, unable to even follow the target. Mag felt ashamed.

No wonder he is a legend. The action commander did not blame Mag as failure was not unacceptable when the opponent was Black Phantom. The question was, why did Black Phantom come to the Western Continent? Did he have a deal with the outlaw they were following?

Ordina’s intelligence unit took the appearance of Black Phantom very seriously. They opened a meeting and told the hacker unit to play with the source of this information, which was the short call Han Xiao had with the seller about the deal location.

“Greetings.”

“How are we going to carry out the deal?”

“In three days. In a moment, I will send you the location. Bring your money, and I will bring the stuff.”

“Okay, I will get one of my men to carry out the deal.”

The last sentence was the key. The person that the buyer sent was astonishingly Black Phantom, which meant that the identity of the buyer was clear!

Chapter 173 - You Can't See Me

After running away from Mag’s sights, Han Xiao turned back to the direction that he had come from where the surveillance cameras were destroyed. He changed his clothes and the face on the skin mask, dived into the crowd, and escaped successfully.

He headed to the border, and just as he expected, the border was locked down as special operation units and scouts searched everyone who passed by.

Aren’t I so unlucky, getting into a fight with agents when I just wanted to buy some equipment? It seemed Antonio’s words had become the truth. He really met people from Ordina’s intelligence organization.

Their ability to extract information was undoubted, Han Xiao figured they would probably be able to sniff out that he was Black Phantom from his fighting style. Well, he had no choice since he was running for his life. Of course he had to not held back, or he would have been dead.

Why is it so tough to just keep a low profile? Han Xiao sighed. Exposing his identity was not going to affect him since nobody really knew who he was, but he felt like someone got into trouble because of that. Never mind, it was a small issue anyways.

At least Han Xiao got the Mini Bonfire Reaction Furnace, he was contented.

Han Xiao knew where human smuggler was. The border being locked down would not obstruct him from smuggling himself out. Although the price increased, it was acceptable to him.

…

After going to a rural area in Severus and smuggling himself out of the city, one hour had already passed.

The rain had stopped. Replacing the clouds and fog, the sky was sunny and bright.

While on the road with his Hover-shoes, Han Xiao’s phone suddenly rang. It was from Bennett.

“Why did the Ordina intelligence organization call the higher-ups of my organization, asking for an explanation and even compensation‽ What the hell did you do on the Western Continent‽”

Bennet was at a loss for words; it felt like misfortune just fell down onto him from the sky out of nowhere.

Ordina showed him the evidence, which was the recording of the phone call, and Bennett could easily tell that the voice of the buyer was clearly Han Xiao.

Who in the world would say “Okay, I will send one of my men over” then go over himself‽ Even if you want to confuse others, at least don’t fight in such an obvious and unique style!

It’s very misleading you as*hole!

“Well, it was supposed to hide my identity, but it seems like that didn’t work. Anyways, don’t worry, it’s not a big issue. I only fought some Ordina people, beat up a few agents, and destroyed some a few building, nothing much. The people of Ordina were quite welcoming. By the way, the weather here is not good at all; it keeps raining and feels really gloomy. It’s not like the Southern Continent, where it feels like spring and is very comfortable. I prefer Southern Continent’s weather much more”

Bennett was stunned. “How did you change the topic so naturally to talk about the weather? Could your skills to change topic be any worse?”

Han Xiao laughed it off and said, “It was an accident, that’s all. I’ve got something to attend to, got to go.”

“You as*ho—”

Han Xiao hung up the call quickly before Bennett finished the sentence. Whew—That was definitely a misstep. Didn’t expect Ordina to be this angry. Did they really have to be?

_____________________

[Dragged In] Completed

You received 65,000 experience.

You completed the hidden requirement—stop Mag and help the mysterious seller to escape within three minutes.

_____________________

Han Xiao raised his eyebrows and thought, So, this is the hidden requirement. Luckily, I didn’t leave the seller behind.

He had actually come up with two plans at the time, one was to not do anything and let the seller attract the attention of Ordina since he was not the target anyway. But he went with the other plan, which was to warn the seller.

Looks like I made the right choice. Han Xiao had a smile on his face. He had hoped the reward to not be experience anymore. Since there were already players, he was not in need of it.

_____________________

You received bonus rewards.

Character Summon Card: Dion.

LV 30 Special Dungeon Crystal, [Olayna Infiltration Plan]

+30 Relationship with Dion. Trading is now available.

_____________________

Dion? Han Xiao remembered with joy after thinking back for some time. Dion was a mysterious NPC on Planet Aquamarine; he was part of a hidden organization that kept a very low profile. Dion sold all sorts of rare supplies. He was like a hidden store, and there was no fixed mission for players to meet him. They had to pray to the Goddess of Fortune.

And even if players had the chance to take on the mission, if they did not fulfill the hidden requirement, they would also miss the opportunity.

So, he was the seller… Han Xiao was a little astonished.

His phone rang again. This time it was from the seller.

“My phone was tapped. I have settled it, so my calls will not expose any more secrets. I dragged you into this. I heard Mag also took part in the mission. If you did not warn me, I might not have been able to escape. I owe you one.”

“Since you are calling me, it means you wanted to repay me.” Han Xiao acted like it was not a big deal, but he was laughing with happiness on the inside.

“You can call me Dion,” the seller said. “Usually I don’t do business with new customers, but you’re an exception, I will give you 20% off everything”.

“Only 20%?” Han Xiao raised his tone. “Can you give a bit more.”

Dion was stunned. Should a legendary killer not be more… mysterious? He remained silent for a moment and replied, “20% is a very high discount already.”

“Fine,” Han Xiao said mockingly.

Not long after, Han Xiao received a message—the item list of Dion’s Store. There were many rare items, and some of them were likely even secret research documents of the Six Nations.

There were even high-tier machines, which included the Mini Bonfire Reaction Furnace and a few nanotechnology machines that he had seen before from Lei Zhenyu, who had also traded with Dion before.

Han Xiao was very delighted. He had a large sum of money earned from the two Novice Villages in Western Continent, which he could spend in any way he wanted to, and he was in need of new parts to build the Mech.

Quickly deciding with a few mechanical items, Han Xiao asked, “How do we make the deal?”

“Through a meetup, but this time at a rural area, in three days’ time. I will give you a location, and I will send someone to pass the stuff to you. My identity is rather sensitive, so I will not turn up due to my own safety. Please understand.

Han Xiao was pleased. He only had one step left to finish his Mech, and once he got the materials, he would be able to complete it.

Han Xiao hung up the call and paid close attention to the other two items that were part of the rewards—Character Summoning Card of Dion and a Level30 special Dungeon Crystal.

_____________________

Character Summoning Card: Dion

Ability: “You Can’t See Me” (D)—Lowers one’s sense of existence, making living or non-living things nearby have deviated sense when they are detecting him…

Usages: 0/2

_____________________

It is not an Esper power or pure invisibility but something like a power that adjusts one’s self to fit the surroundings. It is a unique power.

It seems to be quite useful, except its name was weird…

Chapter 174 - Viper

He looked at the other item.

_____________________

Level30 Special Dungeon Crystal—”Olayna” Infiltration Plan

Introduction: Olayna is a secret research lab of Ordina. A few years ago, Dion infiltrated this facility and stole their military secrets, this will be your test.

Dungeon Type: Backwards Time Travel Dungeon

Player Completion Count: 0

Shortest Completion Time: 00:00:00

Record Holders: None

_____________________

The Dungeon Missions only appeared when inside the dungeon. Han Xiao guessed that it would require him to take on the identity of Dion and steal the secret documents just as Dion did.

Using Dungeon Crystal was risky for him, so he kept it unclaimed in the interface, considering selling it to players in the future.

…

Three days later, at the meetup location, two of Dion’s man were waiting in masks, carrying the items that Han Xiao had ordered. Han Xiao paid the money and got the things right at the spot; it went smoothly this time.

Going back to the cargo plane, Han Xiao opened the metal suitcase that he had received, which held the materials securely.

U9 Colloidal bulletproof Membrane, its functions had already been mentioned before.

‘Nerves’ Biological Transmission Cable increased energy efficiency, which led to a higher output. Using it in a mechanical suit would slightly increase its basic stats.

High-Speed Injection Module could be placed inside the mechanical suit to inject some potions, such as healing potion and steroids. He also bought some pain killer.

Han Xiao had studied enough blueprints, and now he had all the materials he needed, so he decided to self-create a mechanical suit.

To prevent distractions, he had the plane parked in a hidden place and stopped all other activists.

…

Five days later, with dark bags under his eyes, Han Xiao looked at the completed suit with a smile of relief.

It’s done.

_____________________

The scan is successful. You have successfully created a new prototype blueprint!

Please name the blueprint…

_____________________

Han Xiao contemplated for a while. This light mechanical suit was a knockoff of the Python, but many parts and modules were different from the original, so it suited his needs. He had an idea for a suitable name.

_____________________

Named Successfully, you received customized blueprint [Light Mechanical Suit—Viper]

_____________________

This is a good name. Han Xiao was satisfied.

Viper was a completely black combat suit. There were platinum alloy plates on the outside of chest, belly, thighs, and back. A little below the back of the neck was where the Mini Bonfire Reaction Furnace was slotted into, emitting a faint red light. Spaces between the armor were filled with U9 Colloidal Bulletproof Membrane, which had very high defensive power.

On the inside of the combat suit was PE-0 fiber that was designed to look like muscle outlines, which increased the user’s powers.

The helmet was a one-piece mask made of high breathability materials, which had a filtration device at the mouth made of metal and a “B” shaped protective goggles at the eyes. From the user’s perspective, the goggles had technical functions that listed out data scanned and captured from the battlefield.

There were also many weapon modules in the suit.

_____________________

Viper

Type: Single Unit Light Mechanical Combat Suit

Grade: White

Basic Stats:

– Armor 5600/5600

– Defense 137

– Power Level 578

– Energy 2600/2600

Height: 1.82m

Weight: 108 lb

Control Method: Body + Low-Class Smart Chip

Power Source: Mini Bonfire Reaction Furnace – Self Charge

Recovers Energy at 20/min

Energy conversion rate from user: 10:6

Stationary Mode Energy Usage: 12/min

Combat Mode Energy Usage: 28/min

Core Power Capacity: 421/600

[Bone Structure Module: PE0 Nanotechnology Fiber]

Biological Muscle Inner Bone

Strengthens muscle when the user moves the body

Hardens muscle under attack

Increases Attributes: S trength +38, Dexterity +25, DEF +12

Power Output: 70

[Armor Plating Module: Platinum Alloy Plate]

Armor +1800

DEF +30

Power Output: None

[Armor Plating Module: U9 Colloidal bulletproof Membrane]

Armor +2400

DEF +45

Power Output: None

[Exterior Module: Optical Camouflage]

Reflects light to achieve invisibility to a certain extent

Power Output: 20

[Eye Module]

Combination of: Electrical Scanning, Thermal Vision, Night Vision

Display information in Technical Hologram Screen

Power Output: 25

[Right-Hand Module: Heating Hand Plate]

Produces a high amount of heat and deals continuous damage

Energy Cost: 1.2/s

Damage Level: 94

Power Output: 50

[Left-Hand Module: As above]

[Right-Wrist Module: Sunworm Mini Flamethrower]

Energy Cost 1/s

Damage Level: 98

Power Output: 50

[Left-Wrist Module: Field Repulsive Machine (Directional)]

Releases repulsive energy in an arc of 150° and 20m.

Cooldown: 30s

Energy Cost: 10 per use

Power Output: 60

[Leg Module: Electrical Hover Boots]

Energy Cost: 5/min

Power Output: 30

[System Module: Body Condition Check]

Power Output: 5

[System Module: Smart Fire Control System]

Aim Assist

Power Output: 5

[System Module: Target Analysis Database]

Power Output: 5

[Subsidiary Module: High-Speed Injection Needle]

Equipped: Pain Killer

Power Output: 10

[Subsidiary Module: Mini Spider Detector] * 8

Power Output: None

[Subsidiary Module: Electromagnetic Pulse Controller]

Applies [Excitement]

All Stats +5%

Duration: 15 mins

Energy Cost: 5 per use

Power Output: 10

[Subsidiary Module: SUI Anti-Radar Coating]

Power Output: None

[Subsidiary Module: Mini-Radar]

Power Output: 18

[Subsidiary Module: Air Filtration Device]

Includes Oxygen Storage Capability, can store up to 15 minutes worth of oxygen.

Power Output: 8

[Subsidiary Module: Thermostat]

Power Output: 10

[Additional Ability: Strong Capability]

During Combat, distributes energy to Biological Muscle Inner Bone,

Increases stats: S trength +40, Dexterity +20

[Additional Ability: Toughness]

Using Platinum Alloy and U9 Colloidal Bulletproof Membrane, gains high resistance against corrosion, high temperature, and other abnormal states.

[Remark: A successful knockoff]

_____________________

Finally, I have completed the mechanical suit. Han Xiao was excited. He had also received close to 20,000 experience from making it.

Viper was mainly used to increase the power of a single person and consisted of generally smaller modules. The power capacity was not full yet, so it could include more modules in the future if Han Xiao so desired.

Viper raised the combat power of Han Xiao to a whole new level, and it did not interfere with him using other guns, grenades, or weapons. This mechanical suit was a second combat tactic, which provided higher survival capabilities and increased all of his stats. If it was in combat mode, it would increase Han Xiao’s strength by more than two times.

Han Xiao now had a sniper at long range and mechanical suit at close combat. Furthermore, Viper was lightweight; it could be folded into a suitcase, and Han Xiao had his Magnetically-Controlled Retractable Armor for when he was not wearing the mechanical suit.

I will have to test out its actual combat capabilities. Han Xiao decided on the next destination—it was where the tragedy of La Potter took place.

What convenient timing—killing the beast BOSS over there was also part of his plan.

…

The tragedy of La Potter occurred in a forbidden zone that was filled with wild beasts. The beasts in the area were strengthened by a mutation virus called ‘Death Virus’.

A group of mutated rhinoceroses galloped across the maroon earth. They were enormous and muscular, their bones bulged from the body like an armor, and the cone-shaped horns on their heads were shining like metal.

Above, an anaconda with two pairs of bat wings dashed across the sky toward a corpse. Suddenly, a tiny blue flower beside the corpse turned into a gigantic mouth and swallowed the anaconda whole before turning back to its harmless disguise.

“All the beasts here are mutated.”

At the exteriors of the forbidden zone, with serious expressions on their faces, Yan Dian and Ned were analyzing the situation through their binoculars. They were lone superheroes that had taken on a contract to enter the zone and search for a group of civilian explorers. This civilian exploring group had entered the forbidden zone and put themselves in such a dangerous spot all to investigate the source of the virus, which was very noble in the eyes of Yan Dian and Ned. Therefore, they had accepted the contract without hesitation.

“There has always been radiation in La Potter, which is the cause of virus mutation,” Ned said.

“From the last location report of the exploration group sent before losing contact, they went missing in a valley that is quite some distance from us.”

“There’s a lot of unknown danger inside. We’ll have to be careful.”

In this area, any large transportation tool would become an obvious target both on land and in the sky. Therefore, they walked in on foot as it was the safer option.

Chapter 175 - Beast King

On the other side of the forbidden zone, Han Xiao had arrived at his destination. The air was filled with a rotten smell and a hint of poison. The plants on the ground were mutated as well.

The spawn area is a little too huge. I don’t know where the Beast King is.

Han Xiao put down the metal suitcase, opened it, and donned the Viper mechanical suit. The hologram display had zooming functions and compiled data collected from many scanning modules, which provided more detailed information on the surroundings. There was also a radar at the top left side of the screen that could detect any signs of life within a radius of 500 meters. By increasing the power output, this radius could be improved to 1,500 meters.

The scanning module had plenty of useful functions. It could analyze the collected data from tiny signs and traces on the ground to determine the source of said traces, and it could also record previously unknown data into the database for future analysis.

The filtration device got rid of the rotten smell in the air. Han Xiao could hear himself breathing inside the suit, and the thermostat made him feel very comfortable in it instead of feeling stuffy.

He brought along some firearms and grenades that were all fixed into respective slots and firing tracks in the suit.

Han Xiao moved around to familiarize himself with the mechanical suit controls, then jumped into the zone with each step covering close to ten meters.

The suit was in standby mode, which used less energy than the Mini Bonfire Reaction Furnace generated, so the energy was always full.

The radar was active at all times. If it detected any being with strong vital signs, it could be the Beast King, and since the species of Beast King was random, even Han Xiao was uncertain of what species would it be.

After running for five minutes, a dozen or so vital signs appeared on the radar. The view from the hologram screen zoomed in like a sniper scope as Han Xiao gave the suit a voice command. The current controlling mode did not have nerve connection, only voice control for its various functions. The smart chip had voice identification and could analyze simple commands from Han Xiao; no one else could be able to use it.

At a few hundred meters away were a group of more than ten giraffe-like creatures with fearsome bone spurs, which clearly indicated they were not a tamed species. A few of the larger ones raised their necked and looked over to Han Xiao’s position; they seemed to have noticed him.

Stealth Mode.

Optical Camouflage was turned on, and the exterior of the mechanical suit turned into the same color as the surroundings like a chameleon. The gaps in the suit was also closed up, not letting out any scent.

The giraffe-like creatures shook their heads around but could not find him, so they lay back down.

If the level of the enemy was high enough, they would have been able to see through the camouflage, but these beasts were clearly far from that level. Han Xiao continued to move forward, searching for the target.

Two hours had gone by, and Han Xiao had already scanned dozens of mutated flora and fauna, which were all stored into the database. He had also fought a few beasts with various levels and vital signs to determine the approximate strength certain vital sign levels presented.

The highest leveled beasts that he had met was a pack of wolf-like beasts at LV 42, which was not his target.

The sun had set, and the night became more dangerous as howling filled the forbidden zone.

If Han Xiao did not have his mechanical suit, the night would have been dangerous to him as well, but Viper’s stealth ability was strengthened by the night. It sealed all of his sound and scent and made him as inconspicuous as a rock.

I’ve yet to find the target, Han Xiao thought. He sat by a large rock and inserted bullets into the clip as he changed the visor mode to night vision. The chance of the Beast King spawning at the heart of the zone, The Ruins of La Potter, was higher, as the closer toward the center, the more beasts there were.

With a voice command, the armor around Han Xiao’s calves split open. Inside was a small space that stored the Spider Detectors. He activated them and made them spread out toward the center of the zone. The images captured by them were displayed on his goggles.

Spider Detectors worked in a shaky but rather quick way. After a while, Han Xiao could see the situation of the center zone, which was filled with ferocious looking beasts.

Suddenly, the image from Spider Detector No.1 experienced a slight shake, and loud crashing sounds could be heard from afar. The beasts were then seen all going in the same direction.

Spider Detector No.1 climbed up a long-haired boar and headed toward the same direction. Two Superhumans running for their lives from the beasts appeared in sight. One of them was an Esper who could release white shockwaves from the hands, which was quite powerful and knocked closing beasts back again and again. However, the sound it produced attracted more and more beasts. It was a vicious cycle that only made the situation worse.

There are others who have entered this forbidden zone? Han Xiao raises his eyebrows in surprise.

Right the next moment, a white lion that was five meters tall and more than ten meters long appeared. All the other beasts got out of his way with fear, and those who did not were all dead.

Han Xiao’s eyes twinkled. That was most likely the Beast King.

…

Yang Dian and Ned ran with all their might to the extent that their lungs felt like it was burning. Behind them were more than a hundred mutated beasts and an enormous white lion.

“All of this is because of your power. Its sound attracted so many beasts!” Yang Dian said while clenching his teeth in anger.

“Shut up! If not for your carelessness, we could’ve avoided that pack of wolves! Stop complaining and making useless comments, what should we do now?” Ned said as he released another shockwave, knocking back a few beasts that came too close.

Yang Dian took out his laptop while running to look at the map and said, “We’re getting closer to the center of the zone. It’s extremely dangerous there, so we have to change direction now!”

They turned hastily. The beasts were chasing closely with the enormous white lion leading ahead. Ned’s shockwaves could only stop its movement for a mere second and could not even push it back even the slightest distance. Ned was sweating heavily; he was running out of energy.

This time, a cliff appeared in front. There was a gap on the ground that could only fit a human, and he had to enter sideways.

“Quick! Hide inside!” They were overjoyed.

Suddenly, Ned noticed a huge shadow below him expanding at a fast pace. Turning around with surprise, Ned saw the white lion jump toward him and slam its claws straight down. The wind from the raw power of the beast was so strong that Ned could barely open his eyes or breathe.

“You go first!” Yang Dian shouted as he pushed Ned away. He then punched toward the claw with blue flames wrapping around his arm.

He was a Pugilist that had a stronger physique and could endure more damage than Ned, so he was confident it would not be a problem to block just this one attack.

Fists and claws clashed with each other.

The sound of bones breaking could be heard clearly; Yan Dian’s arm was fractured, and a few of his ribs were also broken just from the impact alone. He threw up a mouthful of blood and flew up like a pebble.

Ned quickly pulled him along into the gap between the ground, and the claws followed them the next moment and broke stones into pebbles. Almost… they almost did not make it.

“Such strong raw strength!’ Yan Dian’s face was twitching from the pain. A strong Pugilist like him had been critically injured by just one hit; the power of this lion was unheard of.

Ned was even more aghast. He knew the power of Yan Dian, but even he could not handle a single hit from the white lion.

They probably would not survive this time.

The beasts surrounded the outside, so they had no other choice but to depend on this gap to live.

Fortunately, the beasts could not enter… for now. They kept scratching the entrance, trying to create a bigger gap. Every time they heard the sound of claws against the rocks, their heartbeat became faster.

Yang Dian took out bandages and ointment to treat the wounds. What they would face next could very well be a death battle. Thus, he had to recover as quickly as possible. Ned was also trying to recover as much energy as possible even it meant he would suffer more injury in the future. All they wished was to get through this.

All of a sudden, the beasts outside gathered tightly and started running toward each other. The white lion let out a loud growl and started killing other beasts. The beasts also started to turn against each other. Blood spilled everywhere, and growling rumbled on continuously.

Chapter 176 - Actual Combat with Mechanical Suit

“The beasts started killing each other.”

Smiles appeared on their faces as they decided to wait and see.

The beasts fought for more than half an hour, leaving corpses everywhere. The white lion was the final winner. Blood from other beasts had added red to its snowy fur. It stood before the gap and growled at the rest of the beasts, indicating that they were his prey. The beasts backed off and left the prey for the king of the beasts.

The beast herd was gone, but the strongest one of them all, the white lion, was still waiting outside. As it clawed at the hole, the opening became larger, so it would not be long before Yang Dian and Ned had nowhere to hide.

Their hearts sank to the bottom.

Ned bit his lips and said, “Your wounds are too severe. You be the bait, and maybe I can live.”

Yang Dian looked at his heavily wounded body and said, “It’s true I won’t be able to escape. It’s better for one to die than both. If you can make it out alive, remember to take care of my family.”

“I will. I will raise your child and take care of your wife.”

They looked at each other and stayed silent for a moment. Then they both gave a bitter smile.

“Stop talking nonsense. If we’re going to die, we’ll die together.”

Yang Dian stood up in a struggle and said, “We’ll use everything we have left.”

Ned nodded. White light started lighting up on his hands as he got ready for combat.

Just as they were going to leave and use everything they had, a flash of blue light dashed across the night sky and hit the white lion’s left eye. Immediately, it burst into blood. Then they heard the sound of a gunshot.

The white lion roared in anger and sprinted toward the source of the gunshot.

Yang Dian and Ned were stunned, which then turned into excitement.

“Someone’s came to help!”

Five hundred meters away, Han Xiao lay prone on the floor with the Ghost sniper rifle, blue light glowing along the circuits on its body.

Through the sniper scope, he saw the white lion rushing toward him with a bloody left eye.

This shot was fired with Flaming Will, which this time it triggered a lucky 2.2 times damage, together with [Overload], vital point, and sneak attack critical damage. The damage was an astonishing 1,800! This was the highest damage Han Xiao had dealt with a single shit.

However, the white lion was still alive and well like it did not affect him. Han Xiao looked at the information on the interface, and as he expected, the white lion was indeed the beast king. Its real name was Mutant White Lion King, LV 56. It had a lot of beast specialty abilities. For instance, it’s health was a horrifying amount of more than 18,000, so the shot only too around 10% of its health, as well as a sight loss debuff.

_____________________

Mutant White Lion King

Level: 56

Health: 15724/18700

Status: -50% Field of View, Moderate Bleeding State

Attributes: 135 S trength, 126 Dexterity, 240 Endurance, 30 Intelligence, 22 Mystery, 31 Charisma, 24 Luck

_____________________

Its attributes were very high, and it had many special abilities, which included one called [Crazed Rage] that largely enhances movement speed, attack speed, and damage as health decreased. An extremely dangerous ability.

This BOSS was supposed to be fought by a team, but Han Xiao was solo. However, with the new mechanical suit, the risk was much lower.

Han Xiao stood up and slid backward while firing with his sniper continuously. Despite wearing Viper, he would not opt for close-range combat. Mixing combat strategies was the right way to go. By using the sniper and mechanical suit at the same time, he could have an advantage in both close-up and ranged combat. The scanning module analyzed the nearby terrain and backed up automatically without Han Xiao having to look back, so he could fully focus on dealing damage.

After kiting for a while, when Han Xiao finished all the clips of Red Falcon and Berserk Eagle, Mutant White Lion King finally closed in to within a hundred meters.

Han Xiao stopped backing up and instead dashed forward to the beast king.

“Switch to Combat Mode!” Han Xiao yelled.

Electricity pumped through the cables. As bright red light shone from the Bonfire Reaction Furnace on his back, muscle fibers in the suit expanded and provided Han Xiao with even more power.

Clenching his fist, Han Xiao could clearly feel the amount of power in the mechanical suit just waiting to be let out; the additional attributes from the suit had more than doubled his S trength and Dexterity.

Yang Dian and Ned saw from afar that Han Xiao was going to face the white lion king head-on.

“Don’t fight him at such a close range!” they shouted at Han Xiao in shock.

This mysterious person in the mechanical suit was there to save them—he was their hope. They could remember how easily Yang Dian had been defeated, and this guy might very well end up the same.

Such a small sized human, yet he still chose to face the enormous beast head-on! It was like throwing an egg at a stone—it would have no impact!

The man and the lion crashed against each other. The result was certain in the minds of Yang Dian and Ned. They almost wanted to close their eyes and not see how cruel the end would be for that mysterious man.

But they were wrong. The mysterious man not only did not suffer a tragic loss, but it was the white lion that was growling in pain. The white lion king was knocked back, and half of Han Xiao’s body was hammered into the ground. They were unbelievably on par!

Han Xiao had a lighter weight. He had to direct the strength into the ground to not be knocked up. With the leg muscles unleashing their energy, Han Xiao jumped out of the ground and swung his leg onto the white lion’s head like a whip. With a loud sound, a ripple appeared in the air.

The white lion’s skull changed shape from the power. Its whole body was sent rolling away and smashing onto the ground.

“Oh my god!”

Yang Dian and Ned were completed stunned by what they saw.

Their sizes were more than ten times apart, and that terrifying white lion had just lost to this mysterious person! In strength!

Yang Dian felt his throat going dry. What he had seen was too impactful. Just because he could not do it, did not mean others could not. He had fought with other Pugilists that were stronger than him, and none of them even came close to how strong the White Lion King was. Yet, this mysterious man was even stronger than that.

“What mechanical suit is that? I’ve never seen that before,” Yang Dian said.

Ned’s eyes continued staring straight ahead, not sparing Yang Dian a glance. “Could it be a secret research of some giant organization?”

During combat mode, Viper gave an attribute boost of 78 S trength and 45 Dexterity, which made these two attributes of Han Xiao even higher than the White Lion King’s. What was even more horrifying was that his [Overload] could further improve the attributes from Viper!

Han Xiao had noticed Yang Dian and Ned much earlier, but since he did not know who they were, he did not bother much about it.

Han Xiao fought the Mutant White Lion King at a very close rage, each of his punches and kicks dealing a high amount of damage. Energy was flowing rapidly from the Mini Bonfire Reaction Furnace, and the high amount of armor protected him from White Lion King’s attacks.

Only using fists and legs was a total waste on all the functions the mechanical suit had. Han Xiao had turned on the Heating Gloves and Sun Worm and lit the White Lion King’s fur on fire, leaving burn marks around his body.

Their fight shook the ground like an earthquake. Even the duo watching from afar could feel it as they spectated the heated fight in awe. Although White Lion King’s attacks became strong and faster over time, Han Xiao still had the upper hand. He could avoid most attacks because of how agile he was, and even for those that he did not manage to avoid, they could not penetrate his suit.

The duo intended to help, but they realized that not only were they not able to, they might become a burden even if they tried to help. However, they were not the kind to leave their savior behind, so they stood aside watching helplessly.

Curiosity and amazement of Han Xiao’s mechanical suit filled their minds—they had never seen or heard any country that was ever able to make such a strong single unit combat suit with so many functions before.

Planet Aquamarine’s progress in mechanical suit research has always lacked behind. Rumor had it that only the country of Theseus had exoskeleton mechanical suit prototypes, but they were heavy and bulky and could not improve the user’s physical abilities. However, this mechanical suit was far beyond their knowledge and understanding.

In galactic civilizations, single unit combat suit was standard equipment for soldiers, which reduced the gap between humans and Superhumans, and it was more than a bargain for players.

The Viper was a piece of equipment ahead of its time—it should never have even appeared in front of players in version 1.0. In fact, no mechanical suit was supposed to have been created in version 1.0 and definitely not owned by any player.

Chapter 177 - The Start of the 'Inhuman' Incident

Chapter 177: The Start of the ‘Inhuman’ Incident

The White Lion King jumped up in the air and pounced toward Han Xiao.

As the wind pressure came closer to his head, Han Xiao calmly raised his hand toward the White Lion King. An invisible force shot out from his arm as he turned on the Field Repulsive Machine. The White Lion King was knocked back and fell to the ground.

Han Xiao was using many modules simultaneously, so the energy level was steadily decreasing over time.

After countless punches, the White Lion King’s health was down to around 30%. The White Lion King howled toward the sky. Its skins turned red; it had entered Rage Mode. Or as the players called it, the second phrase. Han Xiao could feel the pressure bursting in a short moment

I shouldn’t face him directly during Rage Mode. Han Xiao decided to retreat to a safer range. For the time being, it was his combat style to be able to strike and escape anytime he wanted.

The White Lion King chased him for some time, then it slowed down, showing signs of exhaustion.

Just at this moment, [Flaming Will]’s cooldown ended, Han Xiao immediately held up his Ghost sniper rifle and shot at the other undamaged eye of the White Lion King.

This was the highest damage multiplier he had gotten ever since he learned [Overload]—4.1 times!

Lucky!

With this one shot, the only eye that the White Lion King had left burst into a cloud of blood. It was gravely injured and fell to the ground with just a few hundred points of health left.

“It’s dead!” In his excitement, Han Xiao let out a sigh of relief. Viper’s power was higher than he had expected, and it covered the Mechanics’ weakness of having low physical attributes and provided strong protection at close range, and it had high functionality in almost all aspects.

Viper was the basis of his secondary combat strategy. Just like how his sniping strategy built up slowly, his mechanical suit also needed more modules to be completed. This was just the beginning. This battle was a test of its actual combat capabilities, so he could figure out a clearer plan for future improvements. There was room for improvements in both combat and stealth abilities.

The White Lion King was unable to move, so Han Xiao went up and finished it easily. He took out the retractable knife and cut out its heart. It was the size of a basketball, filled with violet colored nerves, hot like a ball of fire.

_____________________

You received a special item [Mutated Heart].

You have triggered mission [Virus Research]!

Mission Introduction: Beasts in this area are all infected by Death Virus. Some organizations are looking for research samples that are strong enough. That’s right, I’m talking about this heart you’re holding.

Mission Requirement: Bring [Mutated Heart] to Louis Biological Research Institution in seven days.

Reward: Death Virus Drug x 1

_____________________

This mission was a bonus rewards mission triggered by the heart. The drug reward was able to increase one’s attributes permanently, and there was a small chance to give the user a rare talent ability.

In the previous life, the Beast King BOSS was always killed within hours after spawning, and since the Death Virus Drug could be used more than once, the biggest guilds were the ones that controlled the area to grind the drug.

Louis Biological Research Institution was open to the general public, and players could exchange all kinds of weird materials for drugs that were not any less weird. It was in Maple.

Han Xiao took out the liquid nitrogen suitcase that he had prepared and placed the lion heart inside, then he heard the sounds of footsteps. Yang Dian and Ned walked to him with hesitation.

“Thank you for helping us,” Yang Dian said as he looked at Viper’s mask. However, he could not see Han Xiao’s face.

Han Xiao did not reply. He checked through his inventory and left—the smell of blood would attract more beasts. Plus, he needed a place to rest.

The duo looked at each other awkwardly, then caught up to Han Xiao and introduced themselves. With high hopes, they said to Han Xiao, “We came here to save an exploration team. They went deep into the zone to find the cure of the virus and have lost contact. We hope you can help us.”

_____________________

You triggered Grade D Mission [Save the exploration team].

Accept or reject?

_____________________

“Reject.”

Han Xiao swung his hands, turned his voice to an electrically mixed fake voice, and said, “Don’t bother me.”

Saving them would mean having to bring a group of normal people across the forbidden zone—the chance of success was too low. Every second spent there would increase the level of danger. Han Xiao’s target was only the mutated heart, and it was completed. Thus, there was no need for him to waste his time in the zone. He did not want to just follow the missions blindly.

“They are in danger because they wanted to solve the disaster. How can you not help!” Ned said anxiously.

Han Xiao turned on his hovering shoes and left without replying. It was clear what he meant at this moment. Do whatever you want, but don’t drag me into it.

The duo watched with resignation as Han Xiao left.

Not everyone is kind like them, and they knew that, but they were still upset over losing such strong help.

…

Han Xiao left the Forbidden Zone and went back to the cargo plane that was parked far away. He took the mechanical suit off and let out a sigh of relief.

Viper had amazing capabilities, and he was satisfied with the actual combat results.

The plane took off for Maple, to get in touch with Louis Biological Research Institution and exchange the heart for the drug. He also planned to do a threatening mission while he was there, and the contact for the Blood Pact Society was also in Maple.

Han Xiao looked at the brief mission introduction on his laptop.

My contact is a hitman? Wait a minute, this name looks familiar, Golden Fox? I might have seen it somewhere before.

Han Xiao raised his brows a little but did not bother much about it. Putting the matter aside, he opened the forum—his focus at the moment was players.

Han Xiao still had two novice villages in the Western Continent that he had not visited. The new players there had already almost reached an average level of ten. By this time, they would have all started leaving the village to explore the map, but because of Han Xiao, some players stayed to wait for his arrival.

The feeling was great. His actions had affected the players in what they did, which was all because of the recent popularity and influence he had gained.

Reading through the forums, some new posts had attracted his attention. They were mostly from players in the land of Andrea, and the content was all complaining.

“Question, why is the Germinal Organization coming to novice villages to capture us?”

“I have been brainwashed, my faction is locked, and I have lost relationship points—why is this happening?”

“An NPC sliced me into pieces and asked about my origins…”

“Me too!”

“Is this part of the storyline? But I did not get any alerts on my interface.”

Some players recorded the process of Germinal Organization capturing players in the novice villages. Fully armed soldiers placed handcuffs on players one by one, and some players resisted but were shot immediately by paralysis bullets.

A group of cuffed players sat in the back of the car. Space was tight, and they could only see the outside world through windows covered by bars.

These players were brought to the bases of Germinal Organization one by one. Its bases were unlike the ones on the other three continents, which was very hidden. The bases of the headquarters in Andrea were all humongous and had extremely tight defenses.

The land of Andrea was brown. If someone could see from a satellite vision, they would see the bases of the Germinal Organization as black colored areas spreading across the brown land, like virus spots. This forsaken land was filled with abundant radiation and dirt with depreciating signs of life. The Germinal Organization took many old country facility ruins and inherited their facilities, including places that were once military sites.

Inhuman incident has started. Han Xiao’s eye twinkled. He had experienced this incident before in the previous life; it had been the hottest topic at the time.

Curiosity toward players from NPCs is the core attraction point of Galaxy—players appearing was part of the storyline. Different planets had different approaches toward the players, and Planet Aquamarine was the first planet for this to happen.

Before, as a player, he was basically rubbernecking and did not do anything. Now that he had a different perspective, he felt he could find out something else.

I have made the Germinal Organization lose all of their secondary bases, so the number of players joining them would be much fewer, and they have probably realized the damage that has caused.

Just imagining how angry their leader would be made Han Xiao happy.

Han Xiao turned on his laptop and browsed information through the Dark Net. The existence of players had already been noticed by many organizations; the natives of Planet Aquamarine were surprised by their arrival.

The Six Nations might make a move very soon, which would delay the expedition war, but it would still be earlier than my previous life.

Han Xiao narrowed his eyes. The war occurring earlier give him both advantages and disadvantages, advantages being the players have yet to grow strong enough, and when the Six Nations burst into an all-out war, their impact would be minimal, which reduced the accidental factors. With the power of the Six Nations, as long as the players did not interfere, they would totally crush the Germinal Organization.

Because of Han Xiao’s interference, the main storyline of the war between Six Nations and the Germinal Organization would very soon enter the climax, before the players even had enough ability to join into the story.

Chapter 178 - Fermentation

Stardragon’s Western Capital, Division 13 headquarters.

Gu Hui, the vice-chairman, and Division 13’s leaders gathered in the secret meeting room. Gu Hui pressed a button on the table, and the doors and the windows shut entirely. All surveillance devices lost their functionalities.

Gu Hui put on a serious look as he distributed the documents to everyone in the meeting. The documents had authorization stamps from the highest officials, which meant this information was highly confidential. It was the observation information of the Inhumans.

“Five days ago, rumors about the existence of Inhumans started spreading through the Dark Net. After investigating, it has been confirmed to be true. The documents state it clearly. Inhumans have been appearing and spreading in every continent like a virus. They appeared out of nowhere, and their origins are unknown.

“From the information that we found on the Dark Net, the Inhumans have the following characteristics…” Gu Hui stated the information that they had on the players, which was similar to what the Germinal Organization had. They knew that the players disappeared instantly, would not die, and one other point. “Through our observation, their average power is not high. The threat level is identified as low.”

“If we don’t suppress this phenomenon, it might spread like a disease and cause a disaster,” one person said.

Gu Hui nodded and said, “The highest officials have given us their commands. Contacting these Inhumans will now be our priority.”

“What about the expedition? The supplies and our army have already been prepared. We can head to Andrea anytime.”

“The highest-level superiors have already come to an agreement with the leaders of other countries to temporarily stop the expedition. We have to first understand the situation of this inhuman phenomenon; it has higher threat potential.” Gu Hui Knocked the table, he scanned through everyone and said, “Ask our people to bring back some Inhumans. Also, be friendly—we do not know anything about their origin.”

“Some of our agents are undercover in Andrea. Should we call them back?” the head of field operations said.

“No need, let them retrieve more intelligence. We have enough manpower,” Gu Hui said. “When we have a conclusion on this, maybe the officials will seek help and answers from the Galactic Civilizations.”

…

As the average level of players became higher, their actions made a greater impact and attracted the attention of the organizations. The Six Nations, Vagrants, Dark Net, and many large financial organizations were all paying attention to the Inhuman Phenomenon. They had been sending their people to contact these Inhumans with different approaches. Some were friendly, and some were not. The exception was Germinal Organization—they captured large numbers of players in Andrea, which forced player in the novice village to leave the village early.

For players, which organization they joined would not actually make a difference to them, but they would naturally want to resist if they were forced. The Germinal Organization had definitely left a bad impression on players, and for those who were already captured, they could only accept their fate.

Players in Andrea had a tough time. Their game experience was extremely bad, but it made players very curious about one thing—Why were the NPCs surprised about their existence? The NPCs acted almost like real people.

More and more organizations started contacting players, and more and more players experienced similar situations. They started making guesses actively on forums about the situation, and this topic soon became the most popular topic in the forum.

This only happened on Planet Aquamarine and not any other planets, so a large number of players from other planets visited the Planet Aquamarine site, which made it the most visited planet site of all the novice planets.

There were hundreds of new posts every second; its popularity was astonishingly high.

All kinds of speculations surfaced. The seemingly most possible and accepted theory was the Electrolux theory, but the game developers did not give any response. Players could only make random guesses, some of which were quite out of the box.

“We actually went through reincarnation to conquer a new world for our gods, serial number A12651 reporting for duty!”

“Bullshit, we’re Earth’s army to conquer alternative dimensions, and we have an honorable mission on our hands.”

“798 Space feet from the Earth Association. Commander Blacky is waiting for deployment. Victory belongs to earth!”

“You’re all wrong. The earth is just an illusion. This is actually the reality.”

“You youngsters are too naïve. This is all part of the Elder’s plan.”

“This marks the first step of Skynet’s domination over mankind. One day, all of our minds will be locked up in the game.”

“Hail Hydra!”

“Previous commenter is in the wrong set!”

“Sigh, I’m a retired soldier of the 1999 clan wars. Come to think of it, that was a really dark age.”

“This Grandpa above surely has a strong body, playing Full Dive VR games at such an old age.”

These ridiculous speculations became a joke that was trending all over the forum.

In a big picture, organizations contacting players with caution was beneficial. It was easier for players to pick a side or organization to join, except for players in Andrea who were being continuously captured.

Han Xiao was following the situation. He had information from both the Dark Net and the forum, which meant that he knew much more than any players or NPCs.

The mindset of both parties was very different. The organizations were careful and serious about it, while the players found it fun.

Interesting. Han Xiao raised his eyebrows.

The influence from the Inhuman incident was slowly fermenting as the organizations found out more and more about the players’ characteristics.

The pro players from my previous life should have met their opportunities by now.

Planet Aquamarine was China’s base camp, so there would definitely be some players who had met an opportunity, unlike other normal players.

The storyline was going on the right path. Han Xiao rushed to Maple, as the Mutated Heart Mission had a time limit.

Louis Research Institution was in Kaylos city in Maple. It was not near the border this time, so Han Xiao had to travel in a car for two days after being smuggled into the country.

The country of Maple felt lifeless. Its rigid political system, uneven wealth distribution, and resources were all tightly controlled by politicians, and the low class had very limited opportunities to improve their life. ‘Barely living and just waiting to die’ was the best phrase to describe civilians in Maple.

Walking on the street, long-faced pedestrians passed by him. Han Xiao rubbed his face. He felt that such a confident and handsome face did not fit in with the state of the people on the street.

Han Xiao changed his face again and even wore spectacles. He was sure that nobody could recognize him.

Louis Research Institution building was very tall and silver, which fitted the technology theme. The people in the building were all wearing white coats, as if they were worried about others not knowing they were doing technological research.

A receptionist walked to him with a well-mannered smile as soon as he walked in.

“Hi, do you require an introduction to the business scope of Louis Group Companies?”

Han Xiao raised the metal suitcase in his hands and said, “I have a heart from a Death Virus infected being. One of your researchers might be interested.”

“Please wait a moment, I will inform a superior.” The lady receptionist guided Han Xiao to the sofa and left.

Louis Research Institution accepted exterior research projects, so there were always customers who came to visit.

Han Xiao sat on the sofa and scanned the environment of the hall. It was built in the shape of a sphere, which made it look like a hotel hall.

After some time, two people covered in bandages walked in. Han Xiao raised his head as he smelled the odor of blood. It was the ‘superhero’ duo he had met in the Forbidden Zone.

These guys were saving some exploring team, could it be that the team was from Louis Research Institution?

Looks like they failed and are badly injured.

Han Xiao raised his brows but stayed put as they did not recognize him.

Chapter 179 - The Research Institution

Yang Dian and Ned were frustrated. The exploration team that they were trying to save belonged to Louis Research Institution, and it was Louis Research Institution that entrusted them with the rescue mission. After Han Xiao left, they had rested for a while and started searching with caution. Eventually, they found the target at the valley that the exploration team had lost contact in.

However, all of them had been infected by Death Virus and had mutated. Bone spurs grew on their bodies, and they had turned into crazed beasts. There was no way to save them anymore.

The leader of the exploration team had been able to retain a small part of his sanity. He gave the duo a metal suitcase and told them it contained an important material that could create the cure for Death Virus. With his remaining rationality, he requested that they take it back to the Research Institution.

The duo had no choice but to abandon the incurable exploration team and leave the forbidden zone with the suitcase. They were attacked by a herd of beasts on their way out, and they protected the suitcase with their bodies. They luckily escaped with the suitcase undamaged, but they were covered in wounds

Yang Dian and Ned dragged their exhausted bodies onto the plane and came to Kaylos feeling pitiful. They could not save the exploration team and were ready to be blamed by the research institution, as they felt they did not live up to the trust they had been given.

A guy with spectacles and looking like someone of a high position walked out the lift and trotted toward the duo with a face full of hope.

“Heroes, you have returned.” He sounded very welcoming.

“Sorry Mr. Kate, we failed the mission,” Ned said in a very apologetic tone.

Kate’s expression changed. “Are they all dead?”

“Sorry, they were infected. We couldn’t do anything.” Yang Dian could not look at Kate’s grief-stricken face.

“It’s not your fault…”

Seeing Kate taking off his spectacles and rubbing his eyes made the duo feel even worse. Ned took out the metal suitcase and said, “The exploration team asked us to make sure this is delivered to you. It’s an important material that can solve the Death Virus!”

Kate took over the metal suitcase and gave it a gentle touch. “Sigh, I wish they made it back alive. This is their accomplishment, and we’ll never forget that. If we are able to make a cure out of this, it will be named after them.”

The duo could not agree more. Yang Dian sighed and said, “They are heroes. Not being able to save them is a regret that I’ll remember for life.”

“Don’t feel that way. Their hard work wouldn’t have paid off if not for you guys. You have done what you could, and you shouldn’t blame yourselves for that. If you don’t mind, we would like to take care of your wounds for free,” Kate said with appreciation.

“No need to, I can’t trouble you any further.” The more appreciation Kate showed, the sorrier the duo felt. They rejected the invitation and walked out with straight backs.

Kate pushed his spectacles and watched the duo leave. He then walked toward Han Xiao with a smile and said, “Greetings, do you have any business for the Research Institution?”

Han Xiao returned the smile and opened the metal suitcase, showing Kate the mutated heart.

“This is a Death Virus infected heart from a very strong being.”

Kate’s eyes sparkled, and he said with an even brighter smile, “Please, follow me.”

Kate led the way into the elevator, and they went up to the thirteenth floor. A long, white corridor came into sight after the doors opened. At the sides of it were many experimental labs with glass windows. Some of them had people that were running experiments, some had machines and materials, and there were also a few free researchers that were chatting in the corridor.

The thirteenth floor was one of the experimental floors of Louis Research Institution. As he led the way, Kate said, “The Death Virus has always been a very important project in our research. We kept running into obstacles and meeting limits because we don’t have enough supplies of lively materials. This heart is very important to us; we might be able to make a drug out of it straight away. As usual, we will give you a dose of it once it’s completed, but of course, we can exchange that for something else if you would like other rewards.”

“No need for that, I want the drug.” Han Xiao pointed at the metal suitcase in Kate’s hands that came from Yang Dian and Ned and said, “I thought you already have the material.”

“This? Hehe, well, this is important, too.” Kate laughed it off and did not explain further.

They stopped outside a big biological experiment lab. “Please kindly wait here. Unauthorized personnel are not allowed in the experimental lab.”

Han Xiao passed the suitcase to Kate, who then walked in with both suitcases and spoke to someone that seemed to be the supervisor of the experimental lab. The suitcases were opened on the table. Inside the other suitcase was a white colored egg. Han Xiao was unsure what creature was it from.

Kate and the lab supervisor spoke quietly, but with Han Xiao’s LV 55 senses, he could hear everything they said.

“What happened to the exploration team. All dead?” the supervisor asked.

“Yes,” Kate replied, “the heroes couldn’t save them.”

“At least the stuff is delivered. Never mind that they died, with this heart, we can make the drugs very soon. What did the ‘heroes’ say?”

“They felt they couldn’t live up to our trust. Hehe, employing these heroes is so much cheaper than mercenaries. As long as we give them a good reason, they might even do things for free. Saved me quite some money.”

“You didn’t get found out, did you?”

“Of course not, they’re stupid and naïve. A few lies, and they were easily touched and even almost cried. These so-called heroes are the easiest to convince. A little compliment and appreciation will make them lose their senses. They thought that they did a very honorable thing when they left. I almost burst into laughter.”

“Don’t offend these heroes. Do our best to build a good relationship with them.”

“Don’t worry, I gave them a good impression. If there are any dangerous things, we can still find them. They will not reject us as long as we give them a good reason.”

Han Xiao waited calmly without changing his expression.

Kate finished the conversation not long after. He came back outside the room and said with a polite smile, “It takes one day to make the drug. If you don’t mind, we can provide a room for you to rest, and the drug will be handed to you as soon as it’s done.”

“Okay.” Han Xiao did not object.

They took the lift to the residential floor, and Han Xiao was given a guest room. Kate mentioned a few areas that he was not allowed to enter and found an excuse to leave.

Han Xiao checked the room for cameras and found two of them, so he took out his laptop and hacked into the system, controlled the cameras in his room, and set it to a loop.

He then hacked into the database of the research institution without hesitation to look at their research projects.

[Elementary Coding] was already at the highest level. His hacking skills could get him through most of the firewalls on Planet Aquamarine, except for the Six Nations, Germinal Organization, the core of the Dark Net, and a few other large organizations. A small research institution could not stop him at all. He entered with ease without triggering any alarms, and he could erase his traces afterwards, so no one would be able to find out he had ever hacked into the system.

He opened the projects file of the research institution, and names appeared on the screen.

“Green Lizard Potion, Wild Bull Steroid, Thunder Claw Extraction, Stone Plaque Pathogen…”

Many names were drugs that players received in his previous life. After some time of finding, he finally found the Death Virus project. Its full name was [Death Virus Enhancement Agent]. In its detailed description, this was an experiment that could enhance one’s physical capabilities, and the research institution was certainly not doing any research on the cure that Yang Dian and Ned talked about.

Han Xiao’s eyes flashed as he clicked his keyboard, and he had planted a program.

Chapter 180 - Robbery

Kate came to Han Xiao’s room on the next day, carrying a metal suitcase. He placed the suitcase on the table, patted it, and said, “The drug has been completed.”

When Han Xiao opened the suitcase, thick white gas escaped from within, and inside was a dark red, viscous drug. He reached out his hands to touch it, and information showed up in the interface.

_____________________

Death Virus Enhancement Agent (Low Concentration 3.5%): A drug made from some kind of gene mutation virus. Its essence can be used on human beings with high stability. Consumption affects: S trength +1, Dexterity +1, chance to awaken [Extraordinary Physique].

Remarks: Although its color looks like the product of menstruation, worry not, its taste is also like…

_____________________

Only low concentration, they gave me the one with the lowest quality, Han Xiao thought as he closed the suitcase.

“I’m satisfied with this,” he said with a smile.

“We look forward to our next partnership,” Kate replied politely.

“No need to look forward. I want to buy more drugs; what do you have in stock?”

“We only provide long term bulk supplies to large organizations and customers with abilities. If it’s a single customer… especially one with an unknown origin, I’m afraid it will be quite difficult. We hope you can understand. However, we can sell it in bulk to you if you can prove your ability to afford them in the long term.”

Kate expressed his difficulties just the right amount and made it look like he really wanted to agree but could not because of the rules and regulations. However, in the eyes of an experienced person like Han Xiao, it was very obviously done on purpose, most likely to raise the price.

Han Xiao smiled mysteriously. He adjusted his collar and said, “Allow me to introduce myself officially, I’m an Executive Officer of Germinal Organization, Heisenberg.”

Kate was very surprised.

Germinal Organization? Didn’t they leave the Western Continent? Is this so-called Heisenberg guy a secretly active executive officer, or is he lying?

“Forgive me for being so straightforward, but your identity is very suspicious.” Kate took two steps back and placed his right hand in his pocket holding the alarm. If Han Xiao made any suspicious movements, he would trigger the alarm.

“Don’t have to be so nervous, give me a moment.” Han Xiao walked into the toilet with his backpack.

Why is he going to the toilet? Just as when Kate was confused, Han Xiao walked out wearing Viper. The mechanical suit that looked highly advanced gave Kate a shock.

“Wha-what are you…”

Han Xiao swung his arms around and said through the suit’s speaker, “This is the latest single unit mechanical suit invented by the Germinal Organization. If your eyes still work, you should be able to see the amount of advanced technology used in this. Even the official experimental lab of the Six Nations doesn’t have this technology. You don’t have to worry about me lying; this is a secret project of our organization, and it should suffice to prove my identity.”

Kate opened his mouth slightly—he felt something was off. “But…”

“I am aware of your concerns. If you want to find a stamp of Germinal Organization on the mechanical suit, I suggest you save the effort. Times are very tough for us, and it is very dangerous to have a high profile. I’ve been given full responsibility for this matter, so if you want to contact a higher ranked official… Forgive me for being so straightforward, but your position doesn’t warrant that,” Han Xiao said in a serious tone. He almost believed it himself.

Kate hesitated and said, “I need to discuss with the other high ranked officials.”

He walked to the side and opened his laptop to contact the other high ranked officials. They were all experiment lab supervisors, and they were surprised by Han Xiao’s origins.

“He can’t prove it, not trustworthy.”

“Do you want him to shout ‘I’m part of the Germinal Organization’ everywhere he goes? I think there’s no need for him to lie. We will know if he’s the real deal when we make the trade.”

“Makes sense to me.”

“But cooperating with the Germinal Organization seems somewhat dangerous…”

Han Xiao cut in their conversation and said, “Any trade we make will be kept confidential. As long as you and I don’t tell anyone, no one will know. We can even give you some financial support to build new divisions in Andrea.”

The eyes of all the high ranked officials in the research lab turned bright. Andrea was filled with radiation, and many genes mutated flora and fauna avoided by others were treasures to them. They had heard about the generosity of Germinal Organization. In Maple, the government was corrupt, and they had just about had enough of it. It seemed like a rather good plan to change the environment.

Even if they did not move their headquarters, opening a research division in Andrea was a pretty good idea, too.

“Shall we try to make a deal?”

“Bring him to the exhibition room.”

With the discussion coming to an end, Kate smiled and said, “We accept the trade, Heisenberg. Please follow me. I will show you our research results.”

Han Xiao nodded. Without taking off the mechanical suit, he followed Kate into the lift, and they descended two floors.

The drugs exhibition room looked like cold storage from outside the door. Kate entered the password, and the doors slid open. Inside was a dark compounded room separated into two levels connected by a metal staircase. Showcases were laid out at the side of the walls, and inside them were drug tubes of various colors with tags describing their names and test results. All the drugs had finished products with different levels of concentration.

“These are the products of our research institution. Which ones does your organization want?” Kate said with a smile.

Han Xiao acted like he was looking around and said, “Every one of them. Money is not a problem… as long as you have enough in stock.”

Joy filled the faces for the high ranked officials who were watching through the camera—this was a big order.

Han Xiao raised his eyebrows. “But I will have to verify their effects first.”

Kate opened the showcase’s password lock, took out a drug, and passed it to Han Xiao. Han Xiao read the information on the interface. It was a temporary enhancement drug; consuming it would grant a +3 Endurance buff for three minutes.

After making sure all the drugs in these showcases were real, Han Xiao calmly said, “I will need a large quantity.”

Kate received commands through the headphones. He took out a laptop, opened the price page, and said with a smile, “We have enough inventory. After you have made the payment, these cute little things will be yours.”

Han Xiao narrowed his eyes. “I will only make payment when I see the products with my own eyes.”

“Don’t have to worry, we are just a small organization, and we don’t have the guts to go against a large organization like yours. We won’t go back on our word, and we hope you understand our concerns. Anyway, I believe this is an insignificant amount of money for your organization,” Kate said with a smile on his face.

Seems like this is as far as I can get by lying. Han Xiao’s eyes flashed. He had no intention of paying. He placed the gun against Kate’s forehead before he could react and said, “This is my payment.”

Pa!

The laptop fell onto the ground with a bang.

The threatening feel from the gun muzzle made Kate tremble all over. “You are a fake!”

Han Xiao did not reply. He fired at the showcase, but the glass was bulletproof; it only cracked but did not shatter.

Far away in the surveillance room, the high ranked officials were shocked.

“He wants to rob our finished products.”

“Luckily, we brought him to the exhibition room where there are security systems!”

The metal door of the exhibition room shut tight, and the showcases moved back into the walls, leaving no traces behind. The room became empty, and the ceiling moved aside, revealing three rows of guns who range covered the entire room. Han Xiao and Kate were both under the guns,

The proud voice of a high ranked official sounded from the speaker.

“Didn’t expect that, did you? We were suspicious of your origins from the start. Now that your life is under our control, you have no escape. We just have to press a button, and you will be dead. Unless you want to know how many seconds it will take for these guns to turn you into a puddle of blood, put down the guns, take off the mechanical suit, and get down to your knees. Then tell us your true identity, origin, and who sent you. ”

Chapter 181 - The Wicked Will Be Dealt With By The Wicked

The superiors of the research institution were very angry. They felt like the man had thought them foolish monkeys, but the liar had walked into their trap.

How dare he come to mess with us without knowing who owns this territory.

In the exhibition room, Kate calmly backed off, adjusted his clothes, and looked at Han Xiao haughtily. “If you move, such as wanting to capture me as a hostage, you will be turned into a pool of blood, so don’t have any ideas of taking the risk. Just put down the gun and surrender; you can still live.”

Han Xiao looked up at the dark black guns. The cameras were in the corners of the room, and the high ranked officials were looking at him through those. He even knew that the vents could release poisonous gas.

With a cold expression, he issued a voice command.

“Launch program.”

The smart chip in the mechanical suit immediately recognized the command and connected to the standby computer. It then entered the research institution’s intranet and activated the hacking program planted by Han Xiao the previous night.

The research institution’s system fell like dominoes in the face of the hacking program. Without much effort, the entire authority system was overridden, and Han Xiao gained control in a few seconds.

This was not a last-minute simple hacking program that Han Xiao had created; he had created many smart chips, and to prevent losing their control to someone else, he had also made some anti-attack programs as well as some invasive programs, but he had not had the chance to use them before.

The tactical hologram screen showed the terrain map of the research institution. Han Xiao issued another voice command. The walls of the exhibition room reopened, and the showcases appeared again. The guns on the ceilings slid back, and the doors opened.

When he invaded the research institution system yesterday, he had already seen the structure of it, and he knew the security measures clearly. There are some tightly guarded warehouses in the research institution with a high amount of drug inventories, but it was much more than he could carry—the amount in the exhibition room was just right.

The sudden turning of tables left the high ranked officials of the research institution horrified.

“What happened? The system has lost control!”

“Quick, take back the control!”

The technician at the side was sweating all over. He smashed the keyboard rapidly, and lines of code kept appearing. Suddenly, his screen turned green, and the computer froze. The technician exclaimed, “I can’t. The invasion speed of his program is too fast; it’s impossible to solve it in a short time!”

“He was ready yesterday!” The high ranked officials were filled with hatred.

In the exhibition room, Kate was stunned. He looked into the Han Xiao’s black goggles, and fear gnawed at his heart. His legs softened, and he fell to the ground. ‘I-I…”

Bang!

Smoke rose from the ground between his legs where the bullet had hit.

Kate was extremely afraid, not even daring to move.

“Stay there and don’t move. You can still live,” Han Xiao said in a mocking tone.

“O-Okay, calm down,” Kate replied hastily as cold sweat wet his entire back. He could only sit there and tremble.

Han Xiao broke open all the showcase cabinets. The enhancement from the mechanical suit made his punches stronger than bullets. He took out his backpack and put all the vials inside. Soon, his backpack was full.

He patted his bag with satisfaction. It was a huge amount of rewards.

At the start, he had no intention of robbing the research institution. However, that changed when he accidentally overheard Kate and the high ranked official talking about Yang Dian and Ned. Since the research institution was not one with morals, Han Xiao did not bother to do things the nice way. They neither were good people anyways, so they might as well follow the rules of the wicked—whoever was stronger had the right to take from the weaker side.

If the opposite party had reliable morals and beliefs, Han Xiao would not mind interacting with them normally, but if they made Han Xiao unhappy and were not strong enough, Han Xiao would go back to his old habits when he was a player, robbing whatever he saw. Furthermore, he was very interested in the Research Institution’s drugs. He actually liked to convince people with his virtues… but if that did not work out, he would then fight them instead.

Although Han Xiao did not like the idea of sacrificing oneself for the sake of others and wasn’t like those superheroes who had a great love for the entire world, he still liked people who were kind. Befriending a kind person was definitely better than befriending an evil person. Even those who were evil would rather befriend those who were kind; it was safe and worry-free.

Unfortunately, the number of kind people in the world was dwindling. No one could tell if a smile had ulterior motives behind it or which ‘brother’ seemed to be loyal on the surface but talked bad about them behind their back. Betrayal was common, even between old friends.

Kind people were such rare animals that they could even be placed in the zoo as an exhibit. Zoo might not be the best term—’News Feed’ would be a better description. The research institution toyed with the ‘heroes’, and it was because of these snobbery hypocrites that kind people became fewer, society became harder to survive in, and spiritual traditions collapsed entirely.

Very often, one’s perseverance in others’ eyes was just the minimum of what one should do. One’s hard work was just a way of gaining more profit. Just like how the Louis Research Institution used the passion of Yang Dian and Ned, Han Xiao robbed the research institution’s hard work.

An old saying appeared in Han Xiao’s mind. “Karma will find its way. Wickedness will be dealt with by the wicked.”

“Looks like I’ve become wicked.” Han Xiao laughed. An opportunity to do bad things without feeling guilty did not come by often.

Why would he spend money on someone he could rob from? He could just change his face and become a new customer anyway.

It was not the time to check through his rewards. He picked up his backpack and walked toward the lift.

Kate’s body was still soft. He let out a sigh of relief as he saw Han Xiao leaving, but the fear was still lingering in his mind.

The high ranked officials in the surveillance room were bleeding in their hearts when they saw all the drugs being taken. One of them yelled in anger, “Quickly think about what can we do!”

“I got it. Ask the switchboard room to cut off all electricity in the basement and trap him in there!”

“Immediately seek help from Maple! We still have some guards. Gather them all at the main gate. We just have to stall him for fifteen minutes until the military force arrives, and I want him to be demolished then!”

As Han Xiao arrived at the lift, the entire floor’s lights turned off. He raised his eyebrows and switched to night vision. Cutting off the power, as expected.

Han Xiao’s legs bent as the power from nanotechnology muscle fiber gathered in his legs and burst in an instant. The floor cracked open, and he shot through the ceiling like a rocket.

After two jumps, Han Xiao bumped straight into the hall. A group of guards who were gathering came into his sights. There were only some twenty of them, not even one-fifth of the research institution’s guards. Han Xiao’s way of going up the floors was way too swift and violent. It didn’t give much time for the research institution to react.

The high ranked officials were shocked by the power of the mechanical suit. They hurriedly ordered the guards to attack.

“Stall the enemy. The rest of the guards will be here in less than twenty seconds… f*ck!”

Before he could even finish giving the order, Han Xiao bumped through the guards like a bowling ball hitting a strike and sent them flying. The guards could not even slow him down as he broke through the glass door and disappeared in the streets. The people there could only catch a tint of black shadow.

The high ranked officials of the research institution were raging with anger, they were hopeful that the guards could at least stall him for fifteen minutes, but they barely could for three seconds.

Seeing the drugs would not able to be retrieved, the superiors’ hearts were bleeding, and they were furious.

“When will the Maple Military arrive?”

“At least ten minutes.”

“That’s too long. That asshole would’ve been long gone. Is there any other way?”

Kate had returned to normal and immediately said, “The superhero duo is still in the city. I will contact them now!”

“Hurry up!”

Chapter 182 - Shaken

Yang Dian received a phone call from Kate. Confused, he asked, “Mr. Kate, are you looking for us?”

Kate sounded anxious. “A robber has taken the products of the research institution, including the oppressor for the Death Virus. If we can’t retrieve it, our results will be lost. Since the military can’t make it in time, we have to count on you guys!”

The duo turned serious. “We will definitely help.”

“That’s great. You’re our only hope. I’ll send you the coordinates. The enemy is a man wearing a black mechanical suit!”

Black mechanical suit‽

Yang Dian and Ned’s expressions changed.

“Could it be him‽”

…

Running on the street wearing a mechanical suit was too flashy. As soon as Han Xiao left the research institution, he climbed onto the rooftop of a building and continued running across rooftops. That way, even if someone saw him, it would not cause as great an impact. He was planning to find a hidden spot to take off the mechanical suit and change to a different face.

So many drug potions, enough for me to drink it like water. Han Xiao laughed.

After turning into a few streets, Han Xiao jumped into an empty alley. It was at this moment that two strong vital signs showed up on the radar, and after the automated search in the database, it surprisingly had a match. It turned out to be the two superheroes that he had met twice.

They’re chasing me? Han Xiao thought for a while, and he knew that they were being toyed with by Louis Research Institution again.

This time, a notice popped up on the interface.

_____________________

You have triggered mission [Trial of a Hero]

Mission Introduction: Heroes of justice are never in short supply, but only the right ways to do it. Some people become depraved and give up their initial goals; some lose their adherence and become what they swore to fight against; some are used and lied to. Choosing justice is a tough path, and you can be the trial for them to find the right path toward becoming a real hero.

Mission Requirements: Defeat Yang Dian and Ned, and expose the truth about Louis Research Institution.

Rewards: Random

_____________________

Han Xiao narrowed his eyes.

He was quite interested in this mission. It was a chance for him to feel what it was like to be the ultimate evil.

Han Xiao analyzed the data.

I’ve got a few minutes to kill, just enough time to play with them a little.

Han Xiao stopped in place and waited. Yang Dian and Ned’s figures flashed past the alley entrance not long after—they ran too far. After a few seconds, the duo realized and immediately turned back, standing at the alley entrance with a confronting stance.

“It really is you!” Yang Dian’s face was stern. He had seen the power of this mysterious warrior in the mechanical suit with his own eyes. Even in his peak state, he would probably be beaten in a few punches, and he was now injured. But the thought of Han Xiao robbing the cure to the Death Virus encouraged him to not back up even if he could not win.

Ned rubbed his hands and was ready to strike. He said in a low tone, “Even though you saved us before, I’m afraid we can’t let you take the cure.”

Cure? Damn these guys really are the type that are stupid enough to help someone who cheated them.

Ned struck first. His hands slapped forward, and a shockwave filled the alley. The paint on the walls shed, and cracks appeared on the ground.

In a flash, Han Xiao jumped up, drawing a swift arc midair, and bumped toward the enemy like a rocket.

Yang Dian bit his teeth and stepped forward, swinging out his punch.

Bang!

The mechanical suit covered fist was like a bolt of lightning, appearing and disappearing in an instant. Before Yang Dian’s fist could even swing fully, it had already hit Yang Dian’s chest heavily. Yang Dian’s vision turned hazy; everything in sight seemed to move away rapidly as he flew backwards. He then got punched into the wall with a loud noise, every bone in the body almost shattering.

One-hit victory.

His physical power is even stronger than the lion who caused serious injury to me.Yang Dian barely pulled himself out of the wall and breathed heavily. Suddenly, he heard a gust of wind around his ears, Ned was thrown toward him and fell beside his feet with a huge bump on his head. He had been knocked dizzy by a simple headbutt from Han Xiao.

They could not even last three seconds. With absolutely zero chance to fight back, Yang Dian was filled with sadness and hatred. How are we supposed to stop the opponent like this?

Helplessness penetrated their hearts.

Han Xiao looked at the timer as he saw the duo trying to get back up. He had given himself five minutes to deal with these two superheroes, but the situation had turned out to be much easier. He had taken less than ten seconds to beat them completely.

They were both Superhumans at the level of thirty-something. With Han Xiao’s strength, it was a piece of cake.

Han Xiao took a few steps forward. Just as he was going to say something, Yang Dian managed to struggle to his feet. With a face filled with unyielding and anger, he clenched his teeth and said, “You took away the cure for the Death Virus. Lots and lots of people will die because of that. I will stop you today even if it costs me my life!”

Han Xiao stopped in place. He looked at Yang Dian with a mocking smile. “Dying as a hero—other than dead flowers, empty words, and a few hypocritical tears, what else can you get?”

Yang Dian clenched his teeth even harder. “It doesn’t matter how others look at me as long as I’m happy with what I’m doing!”

Suddenly, Yang Dian blinked. A large, black hand enlarged in his sight and grabbed his head. He was smashed into a wall, shattering the stones.

His head was bleeding, Yang Dian lay flat on the ground, his head spinning. He did not even have the strength to stand up.

Han Xiao took out his handgun and pressed it against Yang Dian’s forehead.

The black colored muzzle brought Yang Dian back to his senses. He wanted to struggle, but Han Xiao stepped on his legs, then slowly applied pressure to the trigger.

Yang Dian’s eyes widened. At this moment, regret uncontrollably flooded his mind.

If I wasn’t so meddlesome, I wouldn’t die today. In front of an enemy that’s this strong, even if I bet my life on it, I wouldn’t be able to stop him for a bit. Coming here was just giving my life away. I shouldn’t have accepted the request. I was too impulsive…

Ka!

The trigger reached its end. Yang Dian’s entire body trembled, only to realize that he did not feel any pain. He was stunned as he watched Han Xiao back off. Then he realized that cold sweat had drenched all his clothes. Although he could not see his own face, he knew that it was definitely a twisted expression filled with fear, regret, and unwillingness.

“What were you thinking just now?” Han Xiao said.

Yang Dian froze in place but kept silence. In the face of death, the belief that he had once thought would never be destroyed was shaken. He was not as generous and tough as he said at all. Instead, at that moment, it was regret he felt, and he even thought that giving up his life for a request from others was extremely stupid. Yet before this event, he had always been working hard toward the goal of being a superhero—he wanted to save more people; he wanted to protect more civilians; he wanted to sacrifice himself for others.

But at this moment, Yang Dian only felt lost.

Han Xiao put his handgun with the empty clip back to the holster, took out a laptop, transferred some data to a thumb drive, and threw it to Yang Dian.

Yang Dian and Ned froze in place.

The enemy left just like that?

“Why did he not kill us?” Yang Dian held the thumb drive in a daze.

“We are no match for him. Don’t go up to him and look for death. We have to leave here first.” Yang Dian held onto Ned, and they left limping.

Another mission failure, the duo’s hearts were filled with shame. They could not face Kate. When they arrived at Louis Research Institution’s door, the military was already there, and the area was locked down. The duo did not want to come into contact with the Maple Military, so they went back to the place where they rested and dressed their wounds.

Yang Dian kept thinking about what Han Xiao had said. He was confused and could not focus at all. He lay on bed dazed, the thoughts from just now flashing in his mind non-stop. He could feel that his belief and perspective of being a superhero were shaken; it was a war against his own mind.

At this time, Ned could not hold back his curiosity of what was inside the thumb drive. He plugged it into the laptop, and only a few seconds of looking at it made him break out in cold sweat.

“Yang, come here and look at this!”

Chapter 183 - Drugs

“What is it?” Yang Dian tried to regain his focus and went up to the laptop screen. Then he, too, was stunned.

The files on the thumb drive were a part of the data that Han Xiao had gotten from hacking into the research institution. Every research project of the Death Virus was clearly written to be regarding enhancing physical abilities and biochemistry weapons. There was no mention of the cure Kate talked about.

It was also written that the exploration team that had gone into the Robert Forbidden Zone had been gathering materials for physical ability enhancements research.

“Th-this is real? Could he be lying?”

“He could have killed us easily. Why would he lie to us?”

Yang Dian and Ned slowly turned from consternation to rage.

It turned out that they were like two idiots from the start to the end, toyed with by the people of Louis Research Institution. They could not believe that they were so naive to have believed the one-sided words of these people; it made them feel like their persistence was nothing but a joke.

No wonder the mysterious warrior in the mechanical suit did not kill them; he probably felt that they were pathetic and pitiful, so he told them the truth.

Yang Dian was so ashamed and embarrassed that he wanted to dig a hole in a ground and hide in it.

They kept calling themselves superhero, but they were saved by a stranger who they deemed wicked twice! If the mysterious man had not exposed the truth, they would still have been totally in the dark.

“Too bad we don’t know his name. If we did, l definitely would apologize to him in person.” Ned was upset.

Yang Dian nodded heavily. With raging anger burning inside, he called Kate. “You have been lying to us!”

Kate sounded stunned. “What did I lie about?”

“You have been using us. You made us risk our lives to do things for you. The exploration team, the cure to the virus, that was all fake!”

“What are you talking about? Why would I do that? You are overthinking this.” Kate’s made an unnatural pause.

“I have evidence. The research of the Death Virus has nothing to do with saving lives!” Yang Dian said.

“That’s fake. You guys must’ve heard rumors,” Kate replied

“Still lying to us‽” Yang Dian was angry, he then stated the project serial number.

The other side of the phone remained silent for a while, then Kate replied in a cold tone—he gave up pretending. “So what? What do you want to do, or rather, what can you do?”

“I…” Yang Dian was furious, but he suddenly jammed.

“Humph, Superhero!” Kate’s tone was full of sarcasm as he hung up the call.

Yang Dian held the phone and froze in place. His aura was changing quickly.

Ned suddenly felt a chill. He quickly asked, “Are you alright?”

Yang Dian shook his head and put down the phone. “I’m alright, Why wouldn’t I be? Hehe.”

He laughed inexplicably.

…

The research institution was in a mess. The high ranked officials were sweating all over as they negotiated with the military.

Kate was annoyed. He did not expect things to have turned out this way when he lured the wolf into the room. No one had dared to mess with the research institution before. They had many financial organizations behind them, and anyone who stroked the tiger’s beard would face its wrath—they would be chased down by organizations with no escape.

After contacting the financial organizations backing them, the organizations were all understandably furious. He called himself Germinal Organization’s executive officer Heisenberg, and he had a mechanical suit with extremely advanced technology—it was quite convincing. The Germinal Organization was like a mouse crossing the street. Everyone wanted to beat them. It would not matter how many enemies they made, and it was very possible that they were throwing the helve after the hatchet.

The financial organizations decided to not only let Western Continent’s Intelligence organizations look thoroughly for this person, but they were also going to give money to the Six Nation’s expedition through military donations.

The reason behind these financial organizations having such an exaggerated reaction was because there were drugs that the owners of these organizations urgently needed among the stolen stock. Therefore, they desperately needed it back even if it meant they had to spend more money!

Kate was already annoyed enough. He did not even want to bother about the questioning from the two superheroes, and he did not care at all about them finding out the truth.

Because superheroes would never take revenge for such small matter

Thus, Kate was calmed and had nothing to fear.

…

Han Xiao had taken off the mechanical suit, changed his face and mixed into the crowd.

_____________________

[Trial of a Hero] completed!

+40 Yang Dian’s Impression of You, +40 Ned’s Impression of You.

_____________________

Han Xiao waited for some time, but there were no new notifications. That’s it? What do I need the good impression from these two guys for?

He had never even heard of these two guys before, so they were probably not anyone important.

Han Xiao was speechless. It was a reasonable reward, but he would have even preferred experience points over this.

Never mind, it’s just a small mission. The biggest rewards are these drugs.

Han Xiao chuckled as he looked down at the bulging package in his hands.

When he stole… that’s wrong, when he requisitioned the drugs, Han Xiao took everything in the exhibition room of Louis Research Institution, which was almost every type of drug.

He found a random small hotel and checked in. As usual, he first checked to see if there were surveillance cameras, then he opened his backpack and took out all the various drugs before arranging them in rows.

Let’s see if there’s any good stuff. Han Xiao rubbed his hands. He had heard that one would be lucky if one’s hands were heated.

_____________________

Green Lizard Drug (Medium Concentration 23.3%): Made from the Green Lizard Genes. This is a lazy being. After you drink this, you will feel calm.

_____________________

Han Xiao stunned for three seconds. Then he stood up in rage and threw it on the floor.

Green my ass, what’s the point of even inventing this kind of drug! I would’ve been luckier if I used my feet 1 !

Looking at this pile of colorful drugs, Han Xiao felt as if a black cloud of bad luck was floating above his head.

Let’s hope the other drugs are better.

He continued searching. There was a total of 34 types of drugs, and luckily, there was not another one that was as useless as the Green Lizard drug.

Some of the useful drugs were pretty great.

There was a high concentration Death Virus Enhancement Drug, which had a much stronger effect than the one Kate gave. The permanent attribute boost was greater, and the chance to awaken the rare talent was at least three times higher.

_____________________

Wild Rhinoceros Steroid: Taken from the heart of wild rhinoceros. Injection gives +5 S trength, +5 Endurance. Lasts five minutes. Second injection within 30 minutes will have no effect.

_____________________

Thunder Claw Beast Extraction: Extracted from the bodily fluids of Thunder Claw Beasts. +12% melee attack for the next five attacks.

_____________________

Stone Plaque Pathogen: Infects the user with Stone Plaque.

_____________________

There were three types of drugs—temporary enhancement drugs, disease spreading drugs, and the very rare permanent attribute boost drugs like the Death Virus Enhancement Drug.

Some of the permanent attribute boost drugs can only be used once, and some can be used multiple times. The Eagle Predator Drug is the former, and the Death Virus Drug is the latter.

That was why players were so passionate about going to the Forbidden Zone and killing the BOSS. Usually, it would be a competition between large guilds.

_____________________

You used Eagle Predator Drug.

+3 Dexterity.

_____________________

There were four bottles of the Death Virus Drug. He took a short break and finished all of them in one shot. His Strength, Dexterity, and Endurance all increased by four, and that bottle with high concentration made him awaken the rare talent.

_____________________

[Extraordinary Physique]

+10% Health

+180% Recovery Rate

+8% Abnormalities Resistance

Chapter 184 - It's More Torturous to Think of a Title Than to Write a Chapter

It was a tank biased talent, not up to the standard of being a Molding ability, but it did make Han Xiao tankier.

He recalled that Hila had a recovery passive too. Extraordinary Physique had similar effects and also gave him another 300 HP from the health boost.

As a Mechanic, is it really a good thing to be this tanky? Han Xiao did not know whether to laugh or to cry. This was forcing him to fight people head-on. He felt like if he continued like this, his style would totally shatter.

I just want to be a technical Mechanic. Close combat is for savages!

I need to find an offensive talent or manufacturing talent, but those kinds ofMolding ability are way too rare. The most common ones are still defensive and enhancement ones.

As a Mechanic, talents that could match with his firearms were what he needed the most. He had been hoping to trigger the [Lethal Shot] talent. Although it was not a Molding ability, it had rather good effects. The requirement was to deal extremely high damage with his firearm to targets that were at least the same level as him fifty times. He had already done that almost forty times, but enemies at his level were getting harder to find, he had to spend some time to do it.

As for the temporary enhancement drugs, he planned to put some of them in the mechanical suit’s rapid injection module and then find an opportunity to sell the rest, preferably to players, which would be another sum of money.

Among the drugs, surprisingly, there was one that was incomplete and only had one syringe.

_____________________

Unknown Drug: a semi-finished product of some drug, unknown effects.

_____________________

Its color was clear like water. Usually, unknown things would have surprising effects. Han Xiao had an inkling that this thing was not simple, but he would not use it when its effects were unclear.

Louis Research Institution might complete their research in the future. I will just have to go there again at some point, and I will know its effects when it’s completed.Han Xiao raised his eyebrows.

In order to make drugs or learn about magic potions, one had to gain the class [Pharmacist]. Han Xiao was not interested in making potions and wasting class slots, and he felt making potions and drugs were very different from making machines. As making potions demanded strict material ratios and manufacturing processes, a tiny mistake could cause failure, whereas making machines was just a channeling process.

Han Xiao snuck out of Kaylos in the afternoon. He had another threatening mission in Maple. Bennett wanted him to scare some government officials who lived in the capital of Maple. The two people who had gone there first to check on the situation was already at standby in the city of Maple Leaf.

The capital of Maple was called Karimochi, meaning the City of Maple Leaf.

…

The financial organizations behind Louis Research Institution issued a bounty on the Dark Net very quickly. The target was none other than ‘Heisenberg’, and it had the face that Han Xiao had used in the research institution, as well as a recording of him dashing out of the research institution wearing a mechanical suit.

The Germinal Organization saw this information very soon.

“There is no such person in our organization.”

The leader was startled. The organization only had a few deep-cover intelligence personnel and spies in other lands, and he absolutely did not order anyone to rob a civilian research institution. There was only one possibility. This ‘Heisenberg’ was a fake who used the Germinal Organization as cover.

He did not even think this was a framing act… because framing Germinal Organization was totally unnecessary. The whole world was against them, so they would not care for just one more enemy.

Since the Germinal Organization was beaten, everyone took them lightly, like a tiger without its fangs, and added insult to their injury. What kind of nobody was this Heisenberg?

What the leader focused on was the performance of the mechanical suit. To his surprise, he realized that this mechanical suit was using technology that was even more advanced than what the organization was currently working on. Even the Super Soldier project that kept having breakthroughs did not have this level of practicality.

If we can get hold of this mechanical suit, our single unit combat power will skyrocket. Which organization invented this mechanical suit? If it’s our enem y…

The leader’s hands grabbed harder onto the table edge, leaving a clear mark on the metal table. With a serious tone, he ordered, “Tell our intelligence network to pay attention secretly to the user of this mechanical suit—I want to know everything he’s doing.”

However, this was sadly the only time Han Xiao was observed using the mechanical suit. The intelligence agents of the Germinal Organization were unable to gather any more information. It was all very mysterious.

An organization that can invent such a mechanical suit definitely has very strong backing.

The leader felt like he had discovered the tip of the iceberg of some hidden organization, but they did not have any other leads, so there was nothing they could do at the moment.

He calmed his mind and asked, “How is the capturing of Inhumans going?”

The assistant took out the archives. “We have captured 2,103 Inhumans. At the start, they were gathered at a few fixed points, but afterward, they started to actively escape from the capture and spread to other areas. More and more people resisted to the capture, and our mission has been meeting some obstacles.”

“Cyberlos has come up with a new theory through observing the experiments. Even if these Inhumans are not brainwashed, they will still accept all kinds of requests, and they act with a very clear objective. They do not have much common sense, they talk weirdly, and they seem to have some kind of special way of communication between each other—some Inhumans knew each other. We are still investigating the causes of all that, but we have yet to gain any results. As Cyberlos put it, these Inhumans are like time travelers who came from the past.”

“What is the stance of the Six Nations toward the Inhumans?” the leader asked.

“Our intelligence network shows that the Six Nations have sent their own teams of people to contact the Inhumans. They had different attitudes anywhere from friendly to forceful.”

The leader nodded. After pondering a moment, he said, “They have stopped their war preparation, but it won’t be stopped forever. Agents from every country have already infiltrated Andrea, find them. I want their every move to be under our surveillance. I have a feeling that Inhumans will be the key for us in this war.”

…

Reflections on the sunglasses showed the exterior appearance of a luxurious villa. There were secret service agents in normal clothes patrolling around the area continuously. A white old man who looked like a beggar pushed his sunglasses up, touched the cap that covered his bald head, and then fidgeted with the mini earphone that was hidden under the cap in his ear.

“Duplex four-floor villa. The manor door needs the interior system to be opened. Two standard secret service teams patrolling outside the manor, one team inside, a total of eighteen secret service agents. Leaves house 8 am sharp every morning, travels in a bulletproof car. Two teams follow for protection, has lunch at the interior restaurant of the government building, the same team follows along for protection.

Hannes spoke softly into the headset as he pushed his sunglasses. “The target lives in Maple’s political area. Patrolling police and sentries are packed along the roads. If you’re doing it on the streets, you’d better be quick about it.”

The calmed voice of a woman, Vernina, was heard through the headset. “Then let’s do it on the streets. This reminds me of the old days.”

“I must be mad,” Hannes said with discontent. “Still doing things with you guys after I have retired, and it’s to kidnap a high ranked officer of Maple. Damn it Garian, why did you have to find me for this? Why didn’t you ask Bennett? He’s still fighting on the front lines. You had to look for this retired old man. Couldn’t you let me enjoy a few years of leisure!”

“Humph, you owe me a favor, and I don’t like Bennett. He gave me three bullet holes 33 years ago.” Another voice appeared in the headset. Garian was a rough man; his voice was like a cannon, “Anyway, stop complaining like some woman. Have the days of doing nothing and planting vegetation softened your toughness?”

“Gentlemen, don’t forget there’s a woman here,” Vernina said calmly.

“I am already sixty, and you are one year older than me. It’s not normal for you to think about fighting and killing all day.” Hannes was speechless.

“Humph, I’m yet to hit seventy. Is that old?” Garian whined for a while and turned back to being serious. “In nine seconds, patrolling officers will appear from the corner. Be careful to stay hidden.”

Hannes leaned forward, and his aura immediately turned unnoticeable. After nine seconds, a patrolling police officer walked around the corner of the street and saw Hannes.

He walked forward and yelled, “Identification check!”

Hannes took out the fake ID that looked exactly like a real one. The officer glanced through and returned it, “No lingering here. Move along.”

Hannes moved his feet slowly like an old man, turned into the corner, then sped up. He said softly, “There are too many patrolling police officers and sentries here. To kidnap the target quietly without anyone noticing, it’ll be best to do it at night.”

“Come back here first. We will discuss the plan,” Garian said with a heavy voice.

Chapter 185 - But Not Having a Title Is More Torturous

It was gloomy and raining in the Western Continent. After a few days of taking the shaky civilian train, Han Xiao finally arrived in the capital of Maple, the City of Maple Leaf.

Maple’s population density was low despite having a large area of land. Houses were cheap, and the average house size was rather big; even those in the middle-income bracket were able to afford a villa. The civilians in the capital had a pretty high income. Every year, the government of Maple would chase the beggars and the poor to other cities, which resulted in Maple Leaf’s environment being optimal, peaceful, and comfortable with sufficient greenery.

Han Xiao was smuggled in as usual. Following the map, he found a villa at the edge of Maple Leaf. It was a safe house that Dark Net had bought with a fake account and identity. The contact would be waiting inside.

The villa had three floors. The door was made from gray glazed wood and had exquisite carvings. Han Xiao grabbed the door knocker and thumped to the rhythm of their secret code. The door opened with a squeak, and an old female butler who had more wrinkles than an expired orange invited him in with a plain face.

After entering the house, the old woman, whose true identity was a long-term resident contact, closed the door and said, “Both guests are waiting in the basement.”

Han Xiao nodded. He opened the hidden door in the cabinet beside the staircase and walked down to the basement. It was not as dark as he had imagined it to be; it was bright and surrounded by metal walls. Many pieces of equipment and firearms lay around. There was also a specially designed lathe and a material case at the corner.

The two contacts were waiting at the meeting table in the middle. They both looked toward Han Xian. His face was changed back to Black Phantom, so he was recognized.

Of the two contacts, one was Golden Fox, and the other was a young man.

Golden Fox hesitated and said, “Black Phantom?”

Han Xiao’s eyes brightened. He laughed and said, “Oh, it’s you. I’ve seen you before. You seem to have become prettier.”

Golden Fox was frightened. She touched her face and said in her head, Please don’t be interested in me, I beg you!

The other contact was a young man in his twenties. His code name in the Blood Pact Society was ‘Ghost Blade’. He was a scorpion—lowest rank—and a new member who had only joined recently. He was staring at Han Xiao with judgement and slight doubt.

Ghost Blade had been trained as an agent in Raylen, but he had escaped before graduation. Having been trained in an agent training organization, he naturally always felt a sense of superiority toward these underground killers. He had joined the Blood Pact Society around the same time Han Xiao did, but Han Xiao was already a legend in the organization while he was still struggling in the scorpion grade. So, he had always been unconvinced.

In terms of experience, Han Xiao actually did not have much of it, but he became the ace of Blood Pact Society with his strength and Bennett backing him up. There were a small group of proud contract killers who were unconvinced—most of them had other successful experiences before they turned to become a killer. Despite the results of these battles were written clearly, there would still be people who were in doubt unless they saw it themselves.

“I heard about your battles. They say you’re a legend, but it seems like there’s nothing special,” Ghost Blade said with a plain face.

Han Xiao glanced at Ghost Blade but could not be bothered with him.

Golden Fox cut in hurriedly and started talking about the main topic. “Ahem! There are five targets: Harry Reymen, Sennin Miller, Billy Angus, Dick Van Vancity, Dorasi Farami. They are all government officials who opposed the plan. There are guards around them when they’re out and where they live.”

With a glance to Ghost Blade, he snorted, took out a map, and laid it out on the meeting table. “This is the terrain map of the target’s villa. The guarding power and the patrolling routes of police nearby are also marked out.”

The data was very detailed. Ghost Blade’s ability to collect intelligence was the textbook example that strictly followed the training booklet of Raylen. He had collected almost every detail there was in this mission. With the secret knowledge he had as an agent, Golden Fox did not need to help at all when he was gathering the data. It made him feel superior to these killers. After all, he was a pro, and amateurs were on a different level.

Ghost Blade peeked at Han Xiao. He was confident that such detailed intelligence would surprise the Black Phantom, but Han Xiao kept a straight face as if it was a common occurrence to him.

With a frown, Ghost Blade said in a deep voice, “I have designed an action plan for you. You see these red lines and marks? These are the action routes I have planned out. As long as you keep to my plan and don’t make any mistakes, you will definitely succeed. I’m assuming you understand what I wrote here. These are special symbols used by agents. If you don’t understand them, I can explain for you.

“No need, I will look at it myself.” Han Xiao knocked the table while reading through the intelligence carefully. He then asked, “What is the exact mission?”

“To place these documents into the targets’ homes, somewhere obvious that ensures the target sees them. Inside, there are some pieces of evidence that have the ability to cause them harm. As long as they realize that we can put these in their house without anyone noticing, they will know they are not safe. This will act as a threat but not cross the line,” Golden Fox said.

“I will be infiltrating. What will you guys do?”

“I am only responsible for providing intelligence. Carrying out the mission is your mission as an ace, so don’t think about seeking my help,” Ghost Blade snorted.

Golden Fox gave Ghost Blade a stare, before saying in a pleasing tone to Han Xiao, “If you need me to back you up, I can do it.”

“Never mind, there’s no need for that.” Han Xiao waved his hands. “It’s a pretty easy mission. I can do it alone.”

“It is indeed easy when you follow my plan.” Ghost Blade nodded lightly. He had actually left out some intelligence in the data. It would not affect the mission, but it would give the person carrying out the mission some slight challenges. He wanted to test out Black Phantom. Although the latter was an ace of the organization, unless he could pass the test, Ghost Blade would still maintain a cold attitude toward Black Phantom.

However, Han Xiao looked at the plan and shook his head. “The plan is too complicated. I will do it my way.”

Ghost Blade was unhappy. “This plan was made from my careful and precise research of all the intelligence we have, and you came up with a better one within a few minutes of looking at it?”

“This mission is not challenging at all for me,” Han Xiao said.

Quit messing around! Ghost Blade snorted with anger and walked away. He was very discontent that Black Phantom did not follow his plan. He was a professional, and his plan was perfect; Black Phantom had no idea of what he was looking at.

There will definitely be accidents if he doesn’t follow my plan, Ghost Blade thought. He had some dark thoughts, and he even wanted to gloat at Black Phantom’s failure. To him, not following his plan was basically screwing around. Black Phantom had better have meant what he said. If he ends up using my plan, I will only look down on him.

Han Xiao looked at his watch. “I will act tonight. You guys just have to wait.”

The two contacts were not involved in the field action, and Han Xiao did not need a supporting intelligence crew. Since it was just Han Xiao acting alone, there was no need for a headset.

“He’s only just arrived, and he is already going to act. How impulsive.” Ghost Blade shook his head. He felt this mission was most likely going to fail.

Not listening to suggestions from professionals would almost always result in failure.

…

Night arrived in no time, but clouds covered the moon. Han Xiao had changed into a black outfit. He hid whatever he was not going to need in the safehouse. Then he made sure the circuits were working and reset the password to prevent anyone from opening it. He brought along the necessary equipment and left.

At night, the streets of Maple were quite. The night wind blew past the trees and made a calming sound as fragrance from the gardens at the side of the street filled the air. There were few pedestrians on the street. In fact, those pedestrians were mostly patrolling police, which hinted at the high-pressure policies within the country and the security not being as peaceful as it looked.

Han Xiao walked past quiet streets one after another and arrived at the political area of the city. Patrols on the street became more frequent, so he hid in the shadow of an alley, observed the situation, and waited patiently.

About ten minutes later, a patrolling police officer walked toward him.

‘This is B3248. We are clear,” he said into the walkie talkie and walked toward the alley entrance. Then, he unconsciously looked into the dark alley.

A pair of arms reached out suddenly and dragged him into darkness. His yelling only lasted a mere second before it stopped.

One minute later, Han Xiao changed into the police uniform with the walkie talkie at the side of his waist. His face had changed completely—the skin mask had scanned the policeman’s face and imitated it perfectly.

Chapter 186 - Accident (1)

Han Xiao injected sleeping medicine into the police officer and hid him in a rubbish bin in the alley. He probably would not be discovered until the next morning.

The strong sleeping medicine was not the normal kind one would find on the market but a secret recipe made by Golden Fox. She claimed that it could make a three-meter-tall elephant fall asleep in ten seconds. As for why she used an elephant to experiment, Han Xiao was confused too.

Golden Fox had the intention of endearing herself to Han Xiao by providing the sleeping medicine, but Han Xiao had a feeling that the atmosphere between him and Golden Fox was very weird. Every time their eyes met, it felt like it ignited a spark in the air. Golden Fox would shrink backward like an injured little beast and turn to look at somewhere else, not daring to look Han Xiao in the eye.

If Han Xiao did not remember giving Golden Fox a weird impression back when he was too bored, with Golden Fox acting like a young girl in love, he would have thought she wanted to do something inappropriate to him. However, he knew that she was actually afraid of him.

Han Xiao diluted the medicine so that it was not that strong. Normal people would wake up after about ten hours. He had tested it himself and was notified that one with Endurance higher than 45 would be immune to it. He had more than 80 and close to 90.

The average Endurance of a LV 55 Mechanic is around 70. Han Xiao did not exceed that by a large portion, but his health was more than 1.5 times of the same level Mechanic!

With Molding Ability [Basic Strengthened Life] and the recently awakened [Extraordinary Physique], Han Xiao’s health was an astonishing amount of about 3,400. Together with Magnetically-Controlled Retractable Armor and Viper that only a Mechanic would have, he was at the same standard as the same level BOSS.

However, this was the capital of Maple. If he was to be too high profile, he would probably not end up well, so he decided to do an ordinary infiltration like Hitman 47.

Wearing the police uniform, Han Xiao swaggered toward the villa of the first target, Sennin Miller. Trees and vegetation filled the garden on the side of the road, and branches sliced the light from street lamps into thin light curtains.

Using Night Stalker’s ability, Han Xiao entered [Stealth]. He walked around the villa and observed the cameras on the streets.

Total of three surveillance cameras looking at three different directions of the villa. They rotate at the same speed automatically… hmm? Seems like there’ll be a blind spot for a brief moment.

Han Xiao found the opportunity, but this was not written in the data. He wondered if Ghost Blade did not realize or did not write it on purpose.

In order to sneak in, I’ll first have to deal with the cameras.

Every five minutes, the cameras’ field of sight will leave a two-second blind spot, which made things much easier. There was no need to go through to trouble of accessing the circuits of the camera and invading the surveillance network. As long as he was fast enough to enter the villa, he could avoid getting caught by the cameras.

Due to the surveillance of the city not being looked at every hour of the day, a patrolling officer going missing would not be noticed immediately unless it was seen by the surveillance monitor.

He was not hoping to infiltrate perfectly without leaving any trace—all he wanted to do was complete the mission that night.

There were secret service agents standing both inside and outside of the villa, detection devices at the door, and electrical railings on the wall. But other than that, it was no different from a normal residence. The agents outside were easy to deal with—he just needed to divert their attention. However, there were also people in the manor, and he could not identify their positions with his eyes.

Han Xiao had his ways though. He put on a pair of sunglasses. They looked just like any normal sunglasses, but they actually had a portable version of the electromagnetic scanner. By clicking the mini switch on its side, the biological reaction inside the manor would appear as blurry human shaped images, which was enough to identify their location.

However, it was weird to wear a pair of sunglasses during the night. It reminded him of a scene in ‘Kung Fu Hustle’.

The officials of Maple had guards around them all day as if they were afraid of being attacked even on the streets, which was an indication of how much they were disliked by the civilians. Unlike the other five nations, which did not have this kind of measure, even the air in Maple felt pressurizing.

The cultures of various nations were different, and this protective measure of the government officials in Maple had not been there in the beginning. It happened because of the same reason that lead the government to create the policy of evicting low-class civilians in the capital—the ‘Ulrich Assault’, the government assault event that everyone in Maple knew but was afraid to talk about. It happened in the 11th year of the new era of the Six Nations. Han Xiao had seen this segment of history in the Dark Net history events.

Every civilization in Galaxy had some history that was worth digging for. However, in the case of Maple, whether in his previous or current life, Han Xiao did not know much about it.

These thoughts flashed passed as he was in the middle of the mission, then he continued to think about the infiltration plan.

The secret service agents patrolling the villa had looked like they should not be messed with. Han Xiao put down a Spider Detector and observed from a hidden corner. If he himself passed by the villa too many times, it would have raised suspicions.

He found an opportunity very soon. The second a blind spot appeared between the field of vision of the secret service agents and the cameras. He activated his Electromagnetic Hover-boots and slid over the wall without a sound, smoothly landing behind a tree in the manor.

Although he controlled his movements as much as he could, the leaves still shook a little. A highly alert secret agent hiding below the tree notices the movement and immediately looked up.

Han Xiao had a plan the moment he jumped in. Without any hesitation, when the secret service agent was carefully looking up with squinting eyes, Han Xiao moved like a phantom with his more than 100 points of Dexterity and appeared from behind the tree. He covered the secret service agent’s mouth and injected a syringe. Before the secret service agent could struggle, he was already quiet.

It did not make a loud noise, but there was another agent not far away that saw his friend leaving the position in the edge of his vision. Fortunately, Han Xiao was too fast for him to see.

“Seeley?” The agent called his friend’s name quietly and walked over.

Shit, Han Xiao thought. Traditional infiltration was all about timing. He kept his nerves tight at all times and came up with a solution very soon. He quickly scanned the face of the agent he knocked out and changed into his face. He walked out from behind the tree and shook his head, signaling that everything was fine.

“What were you doing behind the tree?” The agent who had walked over loosened his alert as he saw his friend. He continued to close in, wanting to know what happened behind the tree.

Han Xiao flipped his hands and a tiny handgun appeared. It shot a syringe out quietly and hit the neck of the secret service agent. The agent’s footsteps became unstable as he was falling asleep. Han Xiao immediately dashed forward and held him up. Then he carefully dragged the man behind the tree.

There were four patrols in the manor. They contacted each other with walkie talkie constantly, so within a few seconds, the others would realize two of their colleagues had lost contact.

I’ve got to knock out all the patrols, Han Xiao thought. The secret service agents inside and outside were two different teams, and they only contacted each other once in a while. Removing the external agents would give him about half an hour, which was enough time for him to act.

Han Xiao moved quickly and quietly like a cat. The other two patrolling agents were knocked out in no time. They were just well trained normal elites, so they could not resist Han Xiao at all.

After making sure the patrols were cleared, Han Xiao entered the Villa from the window. He turned on the electromagnetic sunglasses, and the villa’s structure was presented clearly before his eyes. The bald official was sleeping while hugging his young and beautiful wife in the master bedroom, and there was a maid sleeping in another room. In such a big house, there were only three people.

Han Xiao found his way to the study. He took out the document that had evidence collected by the Dark Net and placed it in an obvious position on the table. One target was completed.

“I shall not delay. There’s still some time till Maple finds out someone has sneaked in. I have to speed up.” Han Xiao swiftly sneaked out of the manor. The secret service agents that were guarding outside were still doing their job, not knowing what had happened inside.

Han Xiao infiltrated three more targets’ villas. The guards were all different from each other, but with his LV 55 senses and intelligence provided by Golden Fox and Ghost Blade, together with his skin mask and Electromagnetic Hover-boots, the action was carried out rather smoothly without many hiccups.

A small accident happened at the third target. When Han Xiao was placing the document in the study, probably due to the target being too old, he woke up quivering and wanted to pass by the study. Han Xiao hastily hid behind the floor lamp in the corner.

Without looking closely, floor lamps would usually be mistaken as a person and be ignored unconsciously. Although it was a very daring spot to hide, Han Xiao thought it was a brilliant idea. However, the result was completely different from what he expected.

Having woken up in the middle of the night, wanting to go to the bathroom, already being scared while walking in the dark corridor, the old man passed by the book room and mistook the floor lamp for a person, which made him even more nervous. When he wanted to take a closer look and assure himself that he was just being scared of nothing, he noticed… Holy shit! There actually is someone behind the lamp!

The target was an elderly man. He covered his chest and fell straight down.

_____________________

You have killed Dick Van Vancity (Lv5). You have received 1 Experience.

_____________________

The target was scared to death… to death… death…

Fu*k! Seriously‽

Han Xiao was completely stunned.

I didn’t kill anyone! You suffered from myocardial infarction, I’m innocent!

“Hey, grandpa, wake up. You still have so much youth to look forward to. How can you die like this?” Han Xiao shook the old man’s shoulders continuously, almost shattering his bones.

Accidentally killed the target, what now?

Han Xiao had a headache.

Suddenly, he had a flash of insight, and he had a new idea.

Wait a minute, the fundamental purpose of this mission is to reduce the number of officials that are opposing the project. If they all die, there will be nobody opposing.

…

“Ah-choo!”

Bennett, who was far away at Southern Continent, suddenly sneezed. He had a bad premonition.

“Flu?”

Chapter 187 - Accident (2)

One of the targets died, but the mission did not fail, which meant that killing was technically allowed.

Such an immoral mission. Han Xiao shook his head. He carried the dead body of the old man and put it into the cabinet. The longer it stays hidden the better it is.

He did not want to kill. The targets were all officials of a rather high rank, and killing them would cause a storm in Maple. Thus, there were no benefits, only risks.

One official had died, but it was an accident. They could not count him responsible.

Only one target was left, Dorasi Farami. He had the highest rank of all five targets. His manor was bigger, and the guarding power was stronger.

Han Xiao followed the same steps—he sneaked into the manor through the blind spot and hid in the shadows. None of the patrols could escape his sights.

He sneaked behind an agent and injected a syringe into his neck, then he dragged him further into the garden and changed into his clothes and face. He looked at his identification; the unlucky person this time was called Anguston.

Dorasi’s manor was rather huge. As Han Xiao was going to enter through the window from the back of the villa, the villa’s lights turned on. A command from a superior appeared from walkie talkie.

“All units assemble. Escort the target to the government building.”

All the secret service agents gathered. Now Han Xiao was stuck in a passive position. He replaced Anguston and had to continue playing the character if he did not want to get found out. Left with no choice, he followed the secret service team and assembled in front of the villa door.

The team leader knocked the door and yelled, “Mr. Dorasi, knocked out agents have been found in other officials’ mansions. The enemy infiltrated their homes. You’re not safe here. Please follow us to the government building and take refuge.”

Han Xiao realized it was about time for Maple to have reacted to the people that he knocked out in the previous mansions.

Too bad, just a while more I would’ve completed the last one. Han Xiao sighed. He had to change his plans because of the sudden change of situation. He hoped they would find out later about the old man who was shoved into the cabinet.

The glazed wooden door opened with a squeak. An old man with a straight back in formal wear walked out the door. The wrinkles on his face were like knife scars with vicissitudes and coldness, and his white hair was combed neatly.

Secret service agents surrounded Dorasi as they walked toward the car parked at the door. There were four cars. The one that Dorasi would be sitting in was in the middle, guarded by the three other cars in a triangle shape. Han Xiao sat in the car at the right rear.

As they departed, Han Xiao decided to stay put and observe since it was the best choice.

I could sneak out in the middle of the trip and complete the last mission on the way.

As he was thinking, a few fist-sized shadows flew toward the convoy. Han Xiao knew these were howitzers from one look.

Boom!

The howitzers landed accurately on the chassis of the convoys and exploded. The power exceeded the usual standard, almost like a mini rocket launcher.

Sky-high flames lit up the night. The three guarding vehicles spun in midair and landed bottom up with flames.

“Someone attacked the convoy!” the driver of Dorasi’s car yelled as he hastily stepped on the throttle, wanting to escape with speed, but a few rounds of bullets shot out from the dark and busted the wheels.

The car swirled and stopped at the side of the road. Four disgraced secret service agents got out of the car hurriedly, but before they could even raise their guns, sniper bullets shot from a higher up position hit their chests without missing a shot. They immediately fell to the ground, critically injured.

“All the guards have been dealt with. Backup from Maple will take at least three minutes to arrive. We have more than enough time. Vernina, evacuate with the target,” Hannes said through the walkie talkie.

At the junction of street lamps and darkness, the outline of a woman became clearer. Vernina appeared, holding a grenade launcher. She had short, blonde hair. The wrinkles at the side of her eyes showed she was not very young, but her appearance still had the signs of her beauty when she was younger. Every move she made played the rhyme of a mature lady.

Dorasi walked out of the car. He remained calm and looked at the struggling guards on the floor. “Who are you people?”

Vernina slowly walked toward Dorasi while taking out her handgun and killing the guards on the way. She took out a sedative syringe from her tactical pouch on her waist and said, “Put the gun down, or there’ll be a hole in your heart.”

Dorasi’s expression changed. He looked down and saw a red dot on his chest where his heart was. He immediately loosened his grip on the handgun behind his back. Looking up, he could see a looming red dot from a sniper scope on a high rise building.

At a window in the building, Hannes was holding a sniper rifle, providing ranged back up and controlling the situation from above.

“Seems like I have no choice.” Dorasi raised his hands with a long face and walked toward Vernina.

Bang!

Suddenly, an overturned burning car’s door flew off. A pair of hands grabbed the door frame and tore it with a piercing sound. Han Xiao walked out as he stretched his neck; his body was hurting all over from the crash.

Having been blown away by a howitzer out of nowhere, he was in a bad mood.

“There’s still an alive one?” Vernina turned around and fired at Han Xiao without changing her expression. Han Xiao reacted quickly. the Magnetically-Controlled Retractable Armor wrapped around his body as the howitzer hit him, and he was devoured by the flames.

Vernina thought that was more than enough to deal with the tiny fish that slipped through the net, but after the smoke disappeared, Han Xiao was still standing there, staring at her coldly. The expression in his eyes made her nervous.

In her career of battling through the ages, she had fought all kinds of strong enemies and developed a sharp intuition that could quickly identify the strength of the enemy. She could tell from just one look that these were the eyes of a predator!

Han Xiao had a horrible expression on his face when saw the information on the interface. The enemy was called Vernina. She was an astonishing LV 60 Cannon Master, which was the limit of version 1.0, someone who was at the top of the pyramid on Planet Aquamarine!

This was the second person after Bennett on Planet Aquamarine that was at the maximum level! But she didn’t have as many Molding Abilities as Bennett.

Vernina… the name sounds familiar, Han Xiao thought.

For such a high-level person to attack an official of Maple, there was definitely some hidden agenda. Han Xiao was involved by accident, but he did not want to be meddlesome, so he admitted his unluckiness.

Just as Han Xiao turned around, wanting to leave the place with his Hover-boots, Vernina fired again.

Clunk!

A howitzer hit Han Xiao at the back of his head and exploded on the armor, pushing him forward.

Han Xiao stopped in place immediately.

The next monument, the armor wrapped around his entire body. Han Xiao turned around and dashed toward Vernina. He pulled out the retractable knife and dished out a quick stab!

The Electromagnetic Hover-boots were at full power, so the speed of his dash was like a bullet.

Vernina hastily held up her grenade launcher as a shield.

Screech!

The dark black blade penetrated the grenade launcher. It cut the complicated mechanical structure inside and pierced into Vernina’s abdomen, causing blood to drip onto the ground.

Han Xiao’s hands let go of the blade, and he launched his fist toward Vernina’s temple. She hastily raised her arms to block. As the fist and her arm clashed, she felt an irresistible force of strength that hit her head across her bones. She then felt pain on her lower abdomen as Han Xiao kicked it.

“You forced me to do this!” Han Xiao gnashed his teeth.

I don’t want to bother with you, and now you’re taking it for granted!

After taking a few ruthless shots, he was furious!

Having been hit two times consecutively, Vernina was extremely shocked. She had thought that this agent was just a fish that slipped through the next, but it turned out to be an enormous shark!

She was a legend in the old era, and now she was suppressed by an enemy that she had never heard about‽

The opponent seemed to have the intention of escaping a few moments ago and looked like he did not want to be involved but was pissed off by her two shots. Vernina was filled with regret. A slip of the hand had resulted in a confrontation with such a strong enemy, but it was not her fault. The intelligence showed that the guards of Dorasi were all normal civilians, so she never could have guessed that one of them had been replaced with Han Xiao. She was truly unlucky.

He’s not Pugilist, and not an Esper either; he’s a Mechanic? Vernina was stunned, and she distanced herself hurriedly. Firearms were extremely powerful in her hands; even Mag from before would have to admit his defeat.

Han Xiao did not intend to engage in a shoot-out. He did not bring sniper for this mission, only two Berserk Eagles and some small machines. Thus, he chose close range combat by using Hover-boots to close their difference in swiftness and then suppress the opponent with his Strength. The Dexterity of Vernina was high, but Han Xiao had an advantage in Strength.

Also, flighting Vernina at a close range would make the sniper cautious and hesitant to shoot.

Chapter 188 - Enemies everywhere

The interface shows that Hannes was LV 60, too. Han Xiao realized that things were more complicated than he had initially thought. Two people at the maximum level in version 1.0 appearing at the same time definitely meant something significant—it might trigger a hidden storyline. Furthermore, these two people’s names sounded familiar, but Han Xiao could not remember at the time.

Han Xiao just wanted to focus on the mission from Bennett and make sure to complete it without any interference, but he was dragged into this matter, and being hit without fighting back was not his style.

Han Xiao dragged the battle to a close-range fight. Although Vernina was a Cannon Master, the level of her [Agent] sub class was very high, which meant she was not completely vulnerable in close combat. They exchanged blows again and again. Han Xiao was at an advantage because of his Strength. He would never hold back because of the opponent’s identity, gender, or age, so Vernina was at quite a disadvantage.

Both of their physical abilities exceeded normal people, a swing of their hands was more than enough to break apart bricks and penetrate through iron plates. The environment around them was destroyed, and the ground became full of pits. There was even an overturned car that Han Xiao had kicked away toward the tree—it was a mess. Dorasi stood by the side, not daring to escape because of the sniper.

Dorasi felt stupid. He had no idea there was such a strong superhuman hiding in his guards. Was this a secret arrangement of the secret services? But such a strong person would have been more than enough to even protect the highest ranked officials. Since when had he been treated even better than them‽

For now, Dorasi could only hope that this strong hidden person would be able to defeat the attackers, so he was extremely nervous.

Han Xiao was like gangrene. Vernina could not distance herself away at all, and she became more anxious as time passed.

“This agent is way too strong. Their backup will arrive soon. I’m stalled, Hannes, quickly help me!”

“He is too close to you, and you’re moving at a very high speed. There’s a fifty percent chance I will hit you instead,” Hannes said.

Vernina felt troubled. It was originally an easy mission, but with Han Xiao appearing, all the plans were ruined. The intelligence clearly showed Dorasi’s guards to be normal people. Where did this guy jump out of?

Hannes quickly came to a decision. “Retreat!”

It was at this time that the police sirens sounded. Police vehicles and the special operations unit closed in at high speed, and the sound of rotors appeared in the sky—two helicopters were circling above. The place was surrounded from every direction, and they had locked onto the two people that were fighting each other.

The emergency backup team had arrived. It had only been three to four minutes since Dorasi was attacked; they surely lived up to their team name.

Vernina clenched her teeth and used her back to take two punches from Han Xiao, moved with the force from the punches, and dashed into the encirclement while enduring piercing pain in her organs. The people of Maple fired continuously.

She was very agile, so she avoided the attacks by repeatedly sidestepping and found a safe route within the concentrated barrage. Even when she was hit, it only caused her single digit damage. The damage from normal people using normal firearms posed next to no threat to her.

As Han Xiao saw Vernina was about to escape the encirclement, he snatched a heavy sniper from one of the special operation soldiers, activated [Flaming Will], and hit Vernina’s shoulder.

Blood splashed.

Her footsteps stumbled, then she sped up again and disappeared in the darkness, leaving blood stains on the ground.

The majority of the team chased in their vehicles.

Han Xiao threw the gun away, feeling much better. There was no benefit in chasing. Injuring the opponent was enough, and he could not kill her anyway.

I’m on their side in Maple’s people’s eyes for now, but if I escape now, they might chase me too. Han Xiao’s eyes twinkled. He decided to stay in place and find the opportunity to escape when the police officers were not paying attention.

More troops arrived, and they started cleaning up the place. Dorasi was surrounded and taken care of by a doctor.

From the conversation between the police, Han Xiao knew that both Vernina and Hannes had escaped, which was expected.

As he was leaning on a car, resting, a high-ranked officer walked in front of him and said in a low voice, “I’m Colonel Danny. You have done a good job, protecting Dorasi’s safety and not letting the kidnappers get their way.”

Han Xiao continued putting up a show. He acted calm and said, “It’s my job to do so.”

Danny looked at the street that was filled with pits, and slight shock appeared on his face. “Anguston, joined the army eleven years ago, trained as a special unit soldier for three years, took part in two military missions, kicked out of the special unit due to disciplinary issues, and joined the secret services to protect government officials. Your history is very common—never showed the strength of a superhuman,” he said.

Han Xiao shrugged and said, “People are constantly changing.”

Colonel Danny frowned. This was a very serious issue. This Anguston had been hiding his real strength. His motive was very suspicious and had to be checked thoroughly, but right now was not a good time.

Then, Dorasi came forward. “Good job, you saved me. I will let your superiors know about this and reward you for it.”

Dorasi knew that he had to keep a humble attitude after seeing Han Xiao’s strength. Such a strong superhuman was not like any other normal soldier he could just command around.

Han Xiao secretly observed Dorasi, thinking, What secret does this old government official have that interest two people that are LV 60?

After Dorasi showed his appreciation, he looked at Colonel Danny with a straight face and said, “What was the identity of the attackers?”

“We are still checking… Oh, they have found it.” Colonel Danny took the laptop from his assistant, but he was stunned with only one look.

“Vernina, former Raylen agent, currently decommissioned. She was once very active in the battlefields of the old era, was one of the shining legends of that era. She carried out more than one hundred highly dangerous missions, including assassinations, protection details, infiltrations, subverting governments, and so on. Today was her first appearance in decades, and her threat level is determined to be the highest.”

If it had something to do with legendary characters of the old era, then it would more or less have some connection to Bennett.

Oh, I remember now. Han Xiao had a flash of light in his mind. He now remembered where Vernina and Hannes had appeared.

It was in the middle of version 1.0 when players came into contact with these two names. They appeared in a form of something more like an easter egg.

In the biggest refugee camp created by Bennett in Han Xiao’s previous life, there was a small hill that had three graves on it. Two of them belonged to these two people. When players came into contact with them, they were already dead,

Bennett would sometimes stop in front of the three graves, and if someone were to ask him about it, he would sigh and say he had buried his friends and comrades—all respectable people.

Players only knew these three people were old friends of Bennett from what he said and nothing else; some players had tried triggering a mission, but it did not result in anything. Apparently, it was just an easter egg.

But now, the two people in the grave were still alive. Han Xiao was certain there must be a hidden storyline.

Two of the strongest people at LV 60 from the same era of Bennett… why were they against a Maple government official?

In the original storyline, how and what did they die for? Who killed them?

Colonel Danny looked up at Han Xiao with suspicion.

This person that he had never heard before had chased away a legend of an era. He was stronger than he had thought!

There was such a scary guy hidden in secret service, and the military had not noticed!

We’ll have to investigate thoroughly, Colonel Danny thought.

With such thoughts in his mind, Colonel Danny commanded the people to clean the battlefield, and within a short moment, Han Xiao disappeared from under his nose.

Han Xiao activated [Night Stalker]’s abilities as the attention of the people around him was diverted by cleaning up the battlefield. He walked to the corner and immediately changed his face and escaped. His level was much higher than everyone there, so as soon as he activated stealth mode, he was undetectable unless he lingered right in front of someone for a very long time.

As soon as Colonel Danny had realized this, he quickly asked the people around him, but nobody saw Anguston leaving. He stood still in shock. With just a slight dip in attention, the person had disappeared!

He commanded his people to search the nearby areas, which of course lead to no result.

Not long after Colonel Danny was confused, someone found the real Anguston lying in the garden of Dorasi’s mansion. He then realized that this ‘Anguston’ was a fake, and it was the same thing that the mystery person who infiltrated other mansions of the officials had done!

The attacker’s identity is confirmed, but who is the infiltrator? Colonel Danny thought with a heavy mind. The infiltrator was as strong as Vernina, so which organization did he belong to, and why did an ‘ace’ level power appear in the capital?

Dorasi was horrified and covered in cold sweat when he knew the truth.

After all, it turned out the person that was protecting him was also an enemy that had been stalking him all along.

Two enemies actually fought with each other. It was like he walked past the edges of hell and ended up unhurt!

“How am I alive?” Dorasi was still panicking.

Chapter 189 - Fearsome Assassination

As the people of Maple were still investigating, Han Xiao had already returned to Dorasi’s mansion. He placed the last document in the study and left, swaggering.

_____________________

[Deterrence and Threaten] is completed.

You have gained 120,000 experience.

+500 Relationship with Blood Pact Society

Current relationship: Respect (4450/6000)

_____________________

There was an affiliation between organizations. The Blood Pact Society was a subordinate organization of Dark Net, so the relationship with it would also influence the relationship with the Dark Net, just like how his relationship with Division 13 also affected the attitude that Stardragon had toward him. In order to unlock relationship with the higher-tier organization, Dark Net, Han Xiao guessed he needed an opportunity, like a mission or something. As the relationship with the subordinate organization became higher, it would start to affect the relationship with the superior organization.

This was not a difficult mission. It probably also has some hidden benefits, like increasing my relationship points with Bennett. Han Xiao nodded, when he returned to the Southern Continent, he would become a partner of the refugee storyline. He was looking forward to it.

…

After being busy for more than half of the night, Dorasi finally returned home, exhausted and protected by new guards.

As he passed by the study, he realized that the desk lamp was on. He walked toward the study table and wanted to turn the lamp off, but then he saw a document on the table that he had never seen before.

Dorasi’s expression changed. He hesitated for a few seconds and started reading the document slowly.

Inside the document were pieces of evidence of his corrupt profits and his unpleasant history, and it was shockingly inscribed by Dark Net.

“Dark Net sends our warmest regards. We wish you a healthy body.”

Dorasi’s face turned green. He immediately understood why the Dark Net did this—it could only be regarding the appropriation of supplies. He did not expect the Dark Net to even find out that he was one of the people who opposed the appropriation.

He threw the documents on the floor angrily, gnashing his teeth, and said, “How arrogant. This is blackmailing, a bunch of robbers!”

They could sneak into his house and place something, which meant they could take away his life. The infiltrator belonged to the Dark Net! Everything tonight had been planned by the Dark Net!

But he did not dare plan revenge. If the document fell into the hands of his political opposition, his political life would be over; he would undoubtedly be abandoned by the people he depended on. Without protection from his political party, he would definitely be erased. As a government official, he was most clear with Maple’s ways of doing things.

Dorasi burned the document and lay down on the chair like he had lost his bones. He watched the document as it turned into ash in the fireplace, and he remained silent for quite some time.

I can’t let people know about this. I was not the only one that opposed the appropriation. The others wouldn’t be stupid enough to spread it. Dorasi’s eyes twinkled. If no one talked about it, no one would know, and it would remain a secret. As long as they agreed with the appropriation, Dark Net would not take further action.

However, things never turned out according to plan. One of the government officials whose house had been infiltrated was found dead, with his dead body hidden in the cabinet! This had immediately raised the importance level much higher. Secret service agents locked down the official’s mansion and investigated the entire house carefully. Han Xiao saw that the target died at the time. Therefore, he did plant the document. Of course, the intelligence team did not manage to find anything.

They did, however, have a rough guess. Five victims, but only one died—why were the other four unharmed? What was the motive of the infiltrator? The intelligence unit asked the rest of the four victims, including Dorasi, if there were any abnormalities—all four of them denied it. However, the Intelligence team had found a link between the five parties, which was their opposition to providing aid for the Dark Net not long ago.

The Dark Net was the most suspicious!

The infiltrator had battled with the legend of the old era then disappeared into thin air. Maple Intelligence Institution immediately narrowed it down to the most suspicious person, Dark Net’s Black Phantom!

Which meant that the four officials were lying, but why did the dead government official get killed?

The doctor checked the cause of death. They did not find any injury outside or inside; the cause of death was a myocardial infarction and overflow of adrenaline. In short, he was scared to death!

What did he see before he died to scare him to death!

Did he see a ghost?

What did Black Phantom do?

The more they thought, the scarier it was for the intelligence agents of Maple.

“Such a fearsome way of assassination. Natural, no trace, godly disguise, unbelievable!”

The Intelligence agents recorded it hastily.

The toughness of Black Phantom was known by everyone in the underworld—it was almost impossible to find him. The intelligence institution of Maple could only do all they could, and they were already expecting their efforts to go to waste.

…

Vernina sat bare top on the chair with her front facing the back of the chair. Her hands grabbed the chair back and placed her chin on the back of her hands. Hannes was behind her, dealing with the wounds on her shoulder. To the side were cotton balls drenched with blood.

Ding-Dong

Hannes finally took out the bullet that was stuck in the muscles and threw it into the metal plate.

The pain made Vernina frown a little. She sighed and said, “Such a shame. Can’t believe I failed such an easy mission.”

Hannes continued sewing the wounds without facing up and said, “Garian’s information had errors—it’s all his fault.”

Garian threw the laptop on the table as he heard what Hannes said. The screen showed the files on the secret service agents around Dorasi. “Bullshit, this is intelligence I got from the database of Maple through very difficult and tiresome hacking. That strong opponent is called Anguston. Look clearly at his history. He is a totally normal person. Who would have thought he was hiding so deeply?”

Vernina put on a white cardigan and tied her golden hair up. “With this failure, it won’t be so easy to kidnap the target next time. That Anguston is not easy to deal with.”

Garian looked at the laptop. He suddenly turned happy and said, “Wait, I have new information. The person we fought was a fake. He did not belong to Maple at all.”

“Who was it?” Hannes was surprised.

“Seems like it’s from the Dark Net,” Garian said as he typed on the keyboard and hacked for intelligence.

“Dark Net? Only Bennett and two other old guys are that strong, but it wasn’t them. There’s new blood in Dark Net? It has been quite some time since I paid attention to the data from the underground.” Vernina was slightly shocked. She touched her shoulder and said, “He also left a bullet hole in me. He is really not easily messed with.”

“We have no conflict of interest with him. We just met him unluckily,” Garian said. “And we met a strong one. Bennett has found a treasure.”

“The fastest way is to ask.” Hannes took out his phone, selecting Bennett’s number.

The call went through.

“Hannes? Didn’t expect you to call me. Didn’t you retire already?” Bennett’s voice appeared.

“Garian said that there was something important that he needed my help for, and I owed him a favor. Never mind that. I have something to ask you. Did you send someone to Maple?” Hannes then explained what had happened.

Bennett didn’t know to laugh or to cry. “Such a coincidence. I don’t know whether it’s him being lucky or you guys being unlucky.”

“Who is he?”

Bennett stopped talking for a second, then laughed and said, “Are you looking for trouble? I suggest you don’t mess with him. He might kill you.”

Chapter 190 - Hidden Main Storyline (1)

“Fighting him was an accident. You know me—I won’t take revenge.” Hannes shook his head.

Garian cut in and said, “Let me guess, he is the recently active Black Phantom. He’s the only newbie worth mentioning in your organization.”

Hannes froze in place. He started thinking and said, “Turns out it’s Black Phantom. I’ve heard of him although I retired and don’t pay attention to freshmen. He’s quite tough. Seems like you’ve got yourself a great warrior Bennett.”

Bennett kept silent. Just as Hannes said, he also felt that he had found a treasure.

Back when he first met Black Phantom, his code name was still Mr. Black, and he was only a scorpion. He had been quite strong but still very far from top tier. He had also seemed like Bennett’s fan and gave Bennett some presents that suited his taste. Thus, Bennett had given him some guidance, but it was only a random act, and he did not take Han Xiao very seriously.

However, within a short few months, Han Xiao had shaken the underworld with his battle record and become one of the top ten killers and an undoubted ace of the Blood Pact Society. The speed that he grew at surprised Bennett.

Although they had not battled with each other, Bennett could feel the strength difference between him and Han Xiao decreasing at a very fast rate.

With Black Phantom’s potential, sooner or later, he would become someone that could share the responsibilities with him so that he did not have to do everything alone. Black Phantom’s partnership with the Dark Net was at the honeymoon stage, so Bennett paid a lot of attention to it.

“Since he’s one of your people, I want him to help us do something,” Hannes said.

Bennett rejected and said, “Black Phantom is not my subordinate, and I cannot command him. The most I can do is help you ask, but it still depends on his response.”

Hannes pondered and said, “Alright, I would like to talk to him myself.”

“That can be done.”

The call ended.

“You want to let a stranger join us?” Vernina said with surprise. “Although he’s strong, we know nothing about him.”

“He’s very strong. What’s bad about having another person assist us? We don’t need to keep what we’re doing a secret anyway.”

Garian was the initiator of the mission, and he completely agreed with what Hannes wanted to do. “We’re digging for a big secret, and three of us is not enough. I have been collecting intelligence for many years and have finally found some leads—I need to know no matter what.”

“One day, you’ll die of your curiosity,” Hannes said with a heavy heart.

…

As the sun began to rise, Han Xiao returned to the Dark Net’s safehouse. Golden Fox and Ghost Blade had been awake for the whole night. Seeing him return, Golden Fox breathed a sigh of relief.

“Is the mission completed?” Ghost Blade questioned. “Did you follow my plan?”

“Your plan wouldn’t work.” Han Xiao shook his head and briefly described the challenges he faced during the infiltration. Ghost Blade’s intelligence had missed out some details, and these were very important details.

After what Han Xiao said, Ghost Blade noticed there were errors and flaws to the intelligence that he had collected, despite him thinking it was as detailed as it could be. He felt shamed as Han Xiao pointed out the details that he had missed.

Ghost Blade had originally been very confident of his precise plan, but he realized that following the plan would not have been enough to deal with the sudden changes of situation. Yet Han Xiao improvised on the spot and completed the mission seemingly with ease like it was nothing.

The difference made Ghost Blade feel defeated and embarrassed.

But he realized that Han Xiao had no intention of blaming or insulting him; rather, he did not seem to care about what he was thinking at all. Ghost Blade was completely ignored; plus, having been slapped in the face by reality, he felt even more embarrassed.

Whether it’s taunting or respecting, he doesn’t care about what I think, Ghost Blade thought with discontent. It felt like he was provoking someone, but that someone treated him like air and completely ignored him. It was like punching a cotton ball. Furthermore, with their difference in position and strength, he felt his actions were even more laughable.

Being ignored felt horrible for Ghost Blade—it was like he was just an extra, and he felt like something was clogging his heart.

Although Han Xiao did not know about the change of attitude from Ghost Blade, he was able to guess it. It was probably nothing more than arrogance and doubts, then getting slapped by reality and feeling embarrassed. Han Xiao’s heart was completely unaffected.

Everyone’s mind was different. Whether it was childish or crazy, everyone would have thoughts that were way out of line. But as long as they did not act on it, it would forever be a secret. Therefore, the great Han Xiao did not care about the thoughts and emotions of others—that would be more meaningless than a pair of spectacles without lenses.

Whether Ghost Blade doubted or respected him, it would not affect his emotions even for a little bit. There was nothing that described this characteristic of his better than the phrase ‘doing things his own way’.

This was the legendary calming aura.

Golden Fox licked her bright, tender lips, and her emotions were complicated.

The first time she saw Black Phantom was in the manor defending mission a few months ago. Black Phantom had just been a scorpion back then—his rank had been even lower than hers. But in a few months, she was still in the same place, while Black Phantom had climbed up in a short time to be an ace of the Blood Pact Society as well as made a connection with the superiors of Dark Net.

Golden Fox envied Black Phantom’s position, but she knew she did not have what it took.

If she could sacrifice her body to have Black Phantom back her up, she would definitely do it, but it was too bad that Han Xiao had no interest in her.

She could understand it—what was wrong with men being weird?

Not bothering with the puzzled Golden Fox, Han Xiao opened the safe and took out the equipment that he had previously placed inside. There was no need to stay in Maple now that the mission was done. As he was getting ready to leave, his phone rang. It was Bennett.

Han Xiao picked up the phone.

“I have completed your request. There were some small accidents along the way, but I was overall stable.”

“I knew you wouldn’t fail. I have something else for you,” Bennett said. “The enemy you met in the middle of the mission was actually my friend. You might have heard of them before, Hannes and Vernina. They are from my era, ”

Han Xiao acted surprised. “Oh, what a coincidence.”

“It’s surprising that you didn’t lose. You were much weaker when I first met you,” Bennett said in awe. “The speed you’re improving at has surpassed my knowledge.”

“Are you calling just to compliment me?” Han Xiao said. “Go on, don’t stop. I can still endure it.”

With twitching lips, Bennett took a deep breath and calmed his emotions. “Hannes has asked me to tell you that he wants your help. Regarding the conflict earlier, it was just a misunderstanding.”

“Wants my help?” Han Xiao’s eyes twinkled. He realized that this was a mission that came to him without him looking for it!

Or to put in in a more direct way, he had met the requirements of triggering this storyline—he had legendary points and sufficient relationship with the Dark Net, and he was friends with Bennett while his level was high enough. Therefore, the hidden storyline had come to him.

Legendary points and relationships with organizations had their benefits. Sometimes, NPCs would come looking for the player and task them with a mission. These missions were usually more difficult than usual, but they also rewarded generously.

Missions coming to the players and players looking to trigger missions everywhere were treated very differently, just like the difference between seeking help from others and others seeking help from you.

Therefore, players favored attributes like legendary points that could give them a very good gaming experience.

“I could help them, but I need to know the details.” Han Xiao thought for a second and added, “Since they are your friends, they are my friends too. Don’t worry about that small conflict.”

This sentence made Bennett feel very good. He laughed in a very ‘reserved’ way, but he could not hide the fact that he was feeling comfortable all over. Since Han Xiao had given him so much respect, he would return the favor. “Count it as me owing you a favor. Hehe. Seems like I owe you quite a few favors already.”

Chapter 191 - Hidden Main Storyline (2)

“There’s no rush to return the favor. Just don’t forget about it,” Han Xiao joked.

Every time Bennett owed him a favor, their relationship points would increase. Being in good relationship with one of the main characters on the planet would definitely be quite beneficial.

Triggering a hidden storyline without actively looking for it was clearly one of the benefits it had brought. Bennett’s relationship network was very wide, so one could go through Bennett to get in contact with many others, most of them being strong ones with missions that had a chance to be triggered.

After waiting for a while, Bennett transferred Hannes’ call.

Ka-chin.

They both kept silent after the call was connected. They could only hear the sound of each other breathing.

In the end, Hannes spoke first. “I’m Hannes, we have met last night.”

“Bennett had told me. Heard you need my help. What’s it about?” Han Xiao got straight to the point.

“It’s regarding a secret that was buried in history. We have found some traces of it, and I want to find out about this secret.

Han Xiao was very confused. He had no idea what secret he was talking about.

However, a notification showed up on the interface. Han Xiao could not move his eyes away from it the moment he saw it; he was completely shocked.

_____________________

You have triggered Planet Aquamarine’s Hidden Main Storyline Grade A Mission [New Era—Origin].

Remarks: This mission will cause unknown and irreversible effects to some events and organizations. Please consider carefully before choosing to accept or reject.

_____________________

Han Xiao’s eye immediately widened.

A main storyline mission that no one ever triggered!

There were three main storylines in Planet Aquamarine—two of them were the war between the Six Nations and Germinal Organization and the creation of the refugee camp, and another hidden main storyline was triggered by the players, but it was not it!

He had completely no recollection of it, which meant this mission had not been triggered by the players in his previous life!

Hidden main storylines were a special type of mission. They needed an opportunity to be triggered, and they would impact the other main storylines and change the plot in one way or another. Han Xiao had played through many versions in his previous life, and he had read about hidden main storylines on the forum before.

Without exception, they all impacted the main storyline missions of their civilization or planet in a profound way.

The first time Hannes and the guys appeared before the players they were already dead. No wonder no one triggered it.

Han Xiao suddenly realized how dangerous this mission was. Even two people at the maximum level for Planet Aquamarine had died. It would probably be much more difficult than he thought.

Han Xiao’s grade A mission against Germinal Organization [Fall of the Germinal] was a branch of the main storyline mission. Players in different organizations would receive different main storyline missions. For the Six Nations, it would of course be to destroy the Germinal Organization, but for Germinal Organization, it was the other way around.

However, Han Xiao’s mission was special because he did not belong to any organization but was Germinal Organization’s enemy. Thus, the requirements and details were different, but the main goal was the same.

However, he knew nothing about this hidden main storyline mission.

Origin? Does it mean to dig into the history of the planet? In that case, which event’s origin is this?

The unknown was feared, yet people were curious about it. Han Xiao felt an itch in his bones—it was the feeling of excitement and anticipation.

He was an extremely long-term player that loved to dig the important factors in ‘Galaxy’, and this was a secret that no player had found out about!

“Accept.”

_____________________

You have accepted [New Era—Origin].

+10 Relationship with Hannes, Vernina, Garian, and Jiang Yuan.

_____________________

Hmm? Han Xiao noticed something.

He knew that Jiang Yuan was the last person buried in the grave, but who was this Garian?

_____________________

Talk to Hannes. Listen to his introduction.

_____________________

The mission requirement at the moment was only this. Han Xiao was used to it; it was something like an opening cinematic.

“It has something to do with us attempting to kidnap Dorasi last night. He took part in a secret plan some years back, and this secret plan of Maple is one of the leads. There are many secrets in the nation of Maple.

“When you infiltrated the government officials’ mansions, did you feel weird that these officials were protected around the clock, but this doesn’t happen in other nations?”

Han Xiao nodded. “I know about this, the ‘Ulrich Assault’ from many years ago.”

“Yes, Ulrich Assault…”

Hannes described the event in detail.

Ulrich’s position in Maple at that time was similar to a prime minister. He had been attacked at home, not by a few people, but a large group of civilians who somehow had weapons from an unknown supplier. They used gunpowder weapons and burned Ulrich’s expensive mansion to the ground. Ulrich, his wife, and their three children aged around ten years old were brutally slaughtered by the attackers. The entire process was recorded and uploaded online. It shocked the nation and even the entire world.

The reason for this was that Ulrich approved a policy that was basically to remove power and citizen benefits from the civilians and to use it as an investment of a ridiculous project, which was actually a way for Ulrich to put money into his own pocket.

Corruption of the government officials in Maple was known throughout the world, but before the war of the old era had broken out, Maple had been known for their gentle government. They were normal and not a strong nation.

When the old era war broke out, the government implemented policies that were very pressurizing for the civilians. Most people showed understanding and accepted the policies under pressure, and some even actively contributed. The government officials of Maple had tasted the delicious fruit of evil. After the war ended, because of the pressure from the nation losing power after the war, they did not go back to the old easy-going policies. Instead, they continued to pressure the civilians with tax and labor, which was used to recover the nation’s power. Conflicts within the country became worse as time passed by, the gentle society environment disappeared and never returned.

People who were not living the life they wanted were like a spring that was pressed to its limit—the policy Ulrich approved was the last straw.

Then, half an hour after Ulrich was attacked, the special force received a command to kill everyone who took part in the attack. They showed no mercy. The nation was shocked, and this signified as the opening of the change of times in Maple.

If this had happened before the old era war, it would have a been a scandal that could cause the complete downfall of the government, but in the new era, where power was left unchecked, the other five nations had no intention of getting involved.

It was already difficult for everyone just to protect themselves after the war. Organizations that protected human rights and power alliances no longer existed.

The structure of the world changed. The balance was broken; economies were close to collapsing; resources and military power became the only standard to measure a nation’s power. Maple felt that the civilians’ feelings did not matter anymore, so they did not serve the citizens like before. In their eyes, it was time for the citizens to serve the nation.

The old era was over. With everything being destroyed and waiting to be rebuilt, it was a chance to reshape the country, so they chose a radical way of doing it.

The assault that shocked the nation also alerted the government officials of Maple. They decided to retrieve the ‘weapons’ from the civilians. The government officials had never been this united before—they approved twenty-four strict policies with high efficiencies within two days. The twenty-four-hour protection of the officials was the most basic policy, and there were even insane ones that graded civilians, which led to ‘rotten meat’ being evicted from the big cities every so often—rotten meat being citizens deemed worthless.

Thus, the effects of the assault went down a weird path. The Maple government announced that the attackers were not ordinary citizens—there was a reactionary group in the nation who planned the attack. Their weapons were the best evidence.

The Maple government listed dozens of lame pieces of evidence. With the justifying excuse of capturing the reactionary group, they started to use force to take back the power that they had given to the civilians, pressure the ‘reactionary group’, ‘deal’ with anyone who ‘might be a threat to the nation’, then lock the information down. They wanted to turn civilians into a completely controlled labor force.

Chapter 192 - Hidden Main Storyline (3)

The way Maple dealt with what came after the assault became the biggest scandal of that year, but with strong military power, they completed the reshaping of their country and built a nation with a completely different style. People were classified as a pyramid, except there were close to no ladders between classes. The citizens saw no hope in life; they were just waiting to die.

Those with power were not born with it. Under high pressure, a real reactionary group had formed, but it was not the cold weapon era anymore—the standard of weapons that the nation had was like a wall that could never be scaled. If there was no external interference, it was almost impossible for anyone to overturn and take over the government, and Maple regularly removed ‘people who posed threat to the nation’. Thus, the citizens had turned from being terrified to being numb.

The assaults were started by a few violent citizens venting their rage, and it ended in more citizens bearing with the consequences, which perfectly described the case of hitting a rock with an egg. It caused the society of Maple to be reconstructed. It became a dictatorship, and the ones on the top had complete control.

The root of a gentle government changing was war. The high pressure from the war caused the government to collapse under stress, and they had no choice but to direct the pressure to its citizens, which then got out of hand. This was just like how it was easy to go from being poor to being rich but difficult to go from being rich to being poor.[a][b]

Citizens were the cornerstone of a country. Just like the parts of a machine, when the national machine needed these parts to overload, they would wear out and break quicker than usual and sacrifice the best time of their lives. But as long as they changed the parts to new ones, the machine could still function. The broken parts were replaceable, and the parts that were thrown away became ‘vessels of an era’.

Han Xiao was interested. He quite liked the history and stories of civilizations. After Hannes finished, Han Xiao contemplated for a while and asked, “What does this have to do with the ‘secret’ you talked about?”

“What I wanted to say is that the war had changed a lot of things. I have been through that darkest and most chaotic age. Many were controlled by ideas, missions, and honor and turned into a tool for killing while still thinking they were doing an honorable thing. Only a few woke up from this, such as Bennett, he became a hero, but an era that needs a hero is never a good era. The end of the war was filled with dirty conspiracies that were buried as secrets, and we want these secrets to resurface.”

Han Xiao raised his eyebrows. “And what benefit does this bring you?”

“Nothing, but the people of this world have the right to know what they went through and not let these conspiracies stay hidden to become a secret that never gets unveiled. I don’t think the original construct of society would shatter within a night just because we got in touch with galactic civilizations, and I don’t believe a so-called internal conflict would cause wars. There has to be someone behind all of it.”

“Every country has its secrets. It’s nothing unusual,” Han Xiao said.

Hannes smiled and said, “Since we have come to the new era, the world should also look different, the rules are changing. Why follow the old logic? Also, I owed a favor to someone who has a very strong desire to gain knowledge. He suggested this mission, and I joined in.”

Hmm, from his tone, seems like they are anarchists. They died in my previous life. This mission seems rather complicated. Han Xiao stopped asking questions. He considered for a while and decided to join them. No matter what reason they were doing this for, this was a very rare hidden mission, so it would be a waste to reject it.

Hannes requested to meetup. They were both in the same city, so with Hannes leading the way, Han Xiao soon found their safehouse.

They met and started observing each other. Han Xiao looked past Hannes and Vernina, then stopped at Garian. He was most curious about this person.

As he was observing the trio, they were looking at him.

So, this was the legendary Black Phantom.

“You are pretty strong,” Vernina said with a calm tone.

“Although we just met today, I owe you a favor for coming to help,” Hannes said.

Plenty of people who owed me favors, welcome to the party.

“What do I need to do?” Han Xiao asked.

The three people looked at each other. Garian took out a deck of documents and said, “The evidence is within the intelligence of the past few years. I spent a long time finding a lead. It is very cumbersome, so we need to divide our labor.”

As Han Xiao browsed the documents, his expression finally changed.

_____________________

[New Era—Origin]

This mission is a series of chain missions. You can complete the targets below.

Ending of the Survivor: In the Blade City of Raylen, find a guy called “Old Devin” and get the incomplete copy of [Sully No.485 Document].

The Key of Misplacement: In the capital ruins of the West Mountain nation within the Southern Continent (Coordinates——), find a misplaced important item [Attachment—Item Appearance]. this was the end result of West Mountain nation’s last research before they were destroyed.

Sealed Past: Control the warlord, Verna, of the Verna Colony on the Western Continent (Coordinates ——). His father was a high ranked military officer of a dead country. There are hidden clues—follow Verna and find the secret.

Mysterious Prisoner: Decades ago, an intelligence agent of Stardragon was imprisoned by a country. That country is already dead, but the intelligence agent was kept in a secret prison that had no guards. No one has found him. Find him or his relics (Coordinates of the ruin ——)

Same Type of Person: A loner who has secluded himself in the wilderness has some very important information. Intelligence shows that he appeared near the tribute valley in the Western Continent. Be careful, he is not a normal person. He was active on the battlefield of the old era. It is recommended you engage the contact with friendliness (Jiang Yuan).

This is the first round of the mission. As long as one of the missions are completed, the mission can be concluded. The amount and completion status of the missions will determine the mission requirements of the next round.

Reward(s) of the First Round: 350,000 Experience. Bonus rewards given as per evaluation of the missions.

_____________________

Han Xiao raised his brows. The freedom of this kind of mission was very high, similar to the series missions of an organization, but this main storyline was clearly more cumbersome, and it was a chain mission. The completion status of the previous round would affect the mission requirements of the next round.

This mission is extremely open. Every round has different clues that will lead to different endings. Usually, the more targets are completed, the better it is, and the higher the evaluation will be. Han Xiao had completed this type of mission before, so he knew that there were many possibilities.

It was like walking a maze. In order to find the exit, one had to gain as much information as one could, and with the ending of Hannes and the others, this mission posed very high risks.

The rewards of the mission did not bring shame to main storylines. Just the basic reward of the first round was already 350,000 experience, and the bonus rewards were very likely to be items, abilities, or talents.

But the mission was too cumbersome. The location spanned across three continents, so it would cost him a huge amount of time. No wonder it was an A-grade mission. Han Xiao tightened his brows, feeling a little distressed.

“I will try it.” No matter what, he needed to accept it first.

Garian nodded. “I will count on you for these missions. The three of us have other missions.”

Hannes and the rest were all very strong characters from the old era, so their mission was definitely not simple. Han Xiao decided to let the Dark Net help keep an eye on it.

After getting the mission requirements, Han Xiao left the safehouse.

“So, is he trustworthy?” Vernina asked.

Hannes shook his head and then nodded. “We don’t know much about him. Let’s see what he will do for now.”

“The documents I gave him have real and fake information,” Garian said. “It was only one tenth of the clues I had, so it will be best if he can complete them. If he has other thoughts, we won’t lose anything. It is just some unconfirmed intelligence anyway.”

“He is a friend of Bennett, so he should be trustworthy.”

[a]Is this the right was round? I’d have said it’s easier to go from rich to poor than poor to rich XD

[b]Haha I would say so too, I think I was not clear in the translation, this was regrading the transition of lifestyle

Chapter 193 - Tease

This hidden storyline seems to have something to do with digging the history. Logically, it shouldn’t result in a big impact, but since it’s the main storyline, could it be that there’ll be some shocking secret that’ll be dug up? Han Xiao thought as he walked on the street.

No matter what secrets there were, it was not his mission, and there were enough chances for him to explore it, but of course, the rewards were the most important part.

Since the mission in Maple was completed, Han Xiao left that very day. The threats that he had issued had resulted in the local intelligence institution carrying out a hidden investigation throughout the city, but because of the ‘godly assassination’ of a government official, the investigation was very thorough.

Because they were in the same organization, Han Xiao brought Golden Fox and Ghost Blade as he retreated. Ghost Blade was unwilling at first, but the situation was severe, so he had to compromise.

Ghost Blade did not like the feeling of being protected by someone, so he was sulking most of the way.

After successfully leaving Maple, Han Xiao separated from the duo and rushed toward the cargo plane toward Farian without stopping. The players in the novice villages of the Western Continent were still waiting for his arrival.

The forum had exploded. The players that were waiting for Han Xiao panicked and were worried that he would not be coming anymore. They started being superstitious and spammed posts in the forum to pray for Han Xiao’s arrival. The posts reached the astonishing number of 300,000. It was so terrifying that Han Xiao was worried that he might be buried in the sea of players.

Some of the players started to play with memes.

“Youngster, did you drop this Black Phantom, this White Phantom, or this Yellow Phantom? Hmm, you’re an honest child. To reward you, you can exchange your money to learn skills.”

“Shhh, look at what I found, there’s a Black Phantom that is different from the others. We can try to capture it. One Black Phantom could provide us with energy for many days. But it is not easy to deal with. We have to quietly close in from its back… Ahhh, I’ve been discovered. Help, it wants to eat me, run Calvin!”

“Black Phantom used Death Stare. It was super effective.”

Finally, after tens of thousands of summons, the Great Mechanic Han Xiao arrived at a novice village. The players waiting for Han Xiao there were countless, much more than any other novice village.

The moment he appeared, players rushed over like an avalanche. People who did not know might even have mistaken them for a locust plague.

Han Xiao looked at the level of the players—they were at an average of level ten. The hundreds of top-level players on the forum have already reached LV 18; Maple Moon was one of them. With the help of the Great Mechanic Han, she had been the biggest winner of the prize pool.

However, other players also had their own opportunities. The number of people at the same level was not small, but most of them were players from other countries on other novice planets. Planet Aquamarine was the base camp of China’s esports clubs, but the number of their players at the top of the level leaderboard was the lowest. It was quite a pain for Han Xiao.

Disappointing, come on guys, buck up!

Then, he looked at the countless players in front of him, pondered, and said, “What’s the use of leveling up fast? Being able to fight is the way to go.”

Hmm, nothing wrong with that.

Only players from big guilds that were climbing the level leaderboard would be rushing their levels without upgrading their abilities. Other players would not be doing the same. Even though leveling up was fast at the start, it would be slower as their level became higher.

With the experience quota, Han Xiao had to think about the missions he gave out. If he wanted to cultivate one player, he could make that player grow at a much higher speed than anyone else, but he would not do that, at least not before the players reach LV 20.

Before LV 20, [Energy Training Technique] had a lot of market potential, so it was extremely profitable.

…

Han Xiao taught abilities as usual, and the players came swarming. Gaining experience points in novice village was also a way of relaxation for him, so he had time to browse the forums.

On the forums, the popularity of Inhuman Phenomenon was over the top, and not only on Planet Aquamarine. Similar situations had occurred on other planets too, and players received different treatments.

On the Wizard Planet, they were researched by the witches and were discovered to have a very high talent for sorcery, which was in fact the learning ability on the player Interface. They then shockingly joined various sorcery academies.

On the Ancient Planet, they were seen as messengers of God and worshipped.

On the Ice Winter planet… Oh, the players in the Ice Winter Planet were the safest. The devil species had no interest whatsoever in their unique characteristic of being able to revive after death, and when the players saw the spaceships of the Space Devil species dash through the universe and breaking apart the meteors surrounding the planet for resources with their gravity capturing devices, they all understood why the reaction of the devil species was so normal.

To the Extinguish Army, the strength of the players was like an ant. Who would care about what an ant looked like?

Of course, there was also the possibility that the devil species were used to seeing the ability to revive. No one knew for sure. It was all just speculation anyway.

The planets above were all very lucky, but Planet Aquamarine was one of the unluckiest planets. NPCs were very fearful toward the players. The players were captured, experimented on, sliced to pieces, and brainwashed—they were treated like slaves.

Players being filled with hatred was a certain, and with the situation on Planet Aquamarine, the players had new speculations.

Black Phantom was probably a compensation from the game company and producers!

“No wonder! That’s why a character like Black Phantom only exists on our planet!”

“Luckily, there is Black Phantom. If we didn’t have him, we would have nothing to play with!”

Seeing comments like this, Han Xiao smiled. His efforts did not go to waste.

As he saw the expression in the players’ eyes, he smiled even brighter, looking like a farmer who was looking at his harvest.

The Inhuman Phenomenon on Planet Aquamarine had arrived at a key stage. All the organizations were contacting the players. Some of them were using a soft approach like Stardragon and Hesla; there were also some that went for a colder approach like Raylen and Ordina; other militaries and financial organizations were taking action, too. It was not all bad for the players, at least they had the opportunity to join an organization without having to run everywhere, and that was exactly what the players did, with the Six Nations having most players joining them.

In Han Xiao’s previous life, the Germinal Organization had lured in the most players, but now, their bases were all destroyed, and they could only capture players in the local area of their headquarters. It was pathetic—their player count was reduced by approximately eighty percent compared to his previous life.

The Inhuman Phenomenon also lead to another change; the players developed a hobby of teasing the NPCs. They became very curious and asked a lot of questions, and they liked to do things that were out of the line, wanting to see the reaction from the NPCs.

Players had a lot of fun, but to NPCs, they were acting extremely weird.

All the organizations did one thing at the same time—they added one line to the Inhuman documents. “Most Inhumans have a mental illness. Their actions are very random, and they might do anything. They cannot be judged with a normal mindset.”

Han Xiao did not know to cry or to laugh when he saw this line on the Dark Net. There was another line that made him burst into laughter.

“With research, the Inhumans have gender, but they do not have genitals and reproductive abilities.”

The game did not allow players to get naked, and from the NPCs’ perspective, it was like their underwear was part of their body, which was very incomprehensible.

Han Xiao was laughing uncontrollably. He could imagine how the organizations found out about this…

Unable to reproduce, which meant that Inhumans were not a new species. Of course, there was a possibility that their way of reproducing was different from what the people on Planet Aquamarine knew about. There were also all kinds of speculations about the Inhumans on the Dark Net, with various emotions like terror, nervousness, and many others.

Han Xiao noticed the once abandoned religion seemed to have rejuvenated. They claimed Inhumans to be messengers sent by God to save the world.

Some players had the thought of teasing Black Phantom. Since Black Phantom was the guider of new players, would he also be shocked like the other NPCs? Teasing an NPC was a fun thing to do.

“Black Phantom, your name is Han Xiao, you served Stardragon before, and you are now a member of the Dark Net, am I right?” a player named Flying Naughty Prawn suddenly said. He had seen the video from Bun-hit-dog and had an interesting idea. He wanted to expose Black Phantom’s identity right in front of him and see what would happen.

There was no way for Black Phantom to know that his identity was exposed. When he saw a stranger stating his true identity, would he be shocked and lose his cool?

Flying Naughty Prawn was staring at Han Xiao while snickering.

Chapter 194 - If You Are Going to Scam People, Scam Them for as Much as You Can.

The rubbernecking crowd all looked at Flying Naughty Prawn with respect.

This guy really is a courageous warrior who lives for trouble.

Then, they all stepped back simultaneously. They stood further back so that they would not be splashed by the blood.

Han Xiao knew where Flying Naughty Prawn had gotten the information from. This was an impact of Bun-hit-dog’s video. To expose some information and increase the curiosity of the players toward his identity and to increase his fame, this had gone through his consent.

The tiny amount of information exposed was of no importance to Han Xiao. The players were not like the NPCs who had a large intelligence network. Without the key information, it was completely useless to know his real name. Instead, the more viral the video became, the stronger his impact grew.

Therefore, Han Xiao had guessed long ago that there would be players who would asked him directly, so he calmed replied with a “hmm” then kept silent.

Flying Naughty Prawn was confused. It did not go as he imagined. How is Black Phantom so calm now that his identity has been exposed?

Does Black Phantom not care about strangers knowing his identity at all?

Or… is Black Phantom’s identity actually not a secret at all in areas that players don’t know about?

This plan didn’t work at all.

Flying Naughty Prawn was very discouraged.

Black Phantom was too steady. It was like he did not have a weakness and could not be teased at all.

The crowd looked at each other, becoming even more curious.

What kind of person was he?

Flying Naughty Prawn did not give up. He continued to look for trouble and asked again, “I want to join the Germinal Organization, do you know how can I do that?”

Everyone knew that Black Phantom was against the Germinal Organization. Thus, he asked that on purpose.

Yooo, are you provoking me youngster?

Han Xiao immediately deducted three relationship points as punishment.

Flying Naughty Prawn’s face turned green. Isn’t this reaction too straightforward? That was completely unexpected!

Han Xiao suddenly had a new idea. With the influence he had on players, maybe he could guide them on choosing a side to join.

So, he paused and said, “A war is going to break out. The Six Nations will come together for an expedition. The Germinal Organization will certainly lose. If you want to commit suicide, do as you wish. If you want to join the Dark Net, I can write a referral letter for you. If you want to join the Germinal Organization, get out of my face.”

The crowd got excited, Black Phantom finally had finally given a different reaction, and he had even said information that none of them knew. They started chatting with each other.

“Expedition? The Six Nations and Germinal Organization are going to war?”

“He knows much more than we do. His judgment is definitely reliable.”

“Then joining the Germinal Organization would be quite a loss.”

The players created a commotion. Only players in Andrea had joined the Germinal Organization. Han Xiao’s words would very soon be sent to the forums, and those who were planning to join the Germinal Organization might also change their mind.

He did not want to give up on any chances to harm the Germinal Organization. He had not bothered them for a while, and they seemed to be having a rather peaceful time.

Unacceptable.

Players noticed a keyword in Han Xiao’s words. “He said the Dark Net. That’s a hidden organization, isn’t it? Can he really help us join the Dark Net?”

Han Xiao smiled, opened up the store interface, and added a new item.

_____________________

[Referral Letter]: Unlocks the Blood Pact Society.

Remarks: The Blood Pact Society is a subordinate hitman organization under the Dark Net.

Price: 250,000 Aquamarine Dollars

_____________________

“250,000‽” The crowd was stunned. This was a sky-high price for them. Nobody could afford it.

Originally, to join the Blood Pact Society, there needed to be a few rounds of mission tests, but Han Xiao had gotten rid of all that. With his relationship with the Dark Net, introducing some players into the organization was a piece of cake.

A few months ago, when Han Xiao bought the Blood Pact Society certificate from Antonio, it had cost 200,000. He had used that as a basis and increased the price by 25%. He felt it was a reasonable price since inflation also needed to be considered.

With such a high price, normal players would not be able to afford, but Han Xiao was not planning to sell a large quantity. He was targeting the pro players from esports clubs who could afford the price with the backing of their guild.

Pro players were the ones who were most willing to become stronger by any means necessary. This strategy would attract pro players, which was beneficial for him in expanding his group of spare tires. Of course, most importantly, it was to earn money.

It’s not enough to only have inexpensive and high-quality normal items. There also needs to be a few luxury items with a sky-high price to enrich my store structure,Han Xiao thought.

250,000 Aquamarine Dollars was a price that none of the guilds could afford at the time, but they were rich and could use real money to purchase Aquamarine Dollars from other players.

Now, let’s see how many guilds will realize the benefits of joining a hidden new organization.

He was now Fisherman Han, waiting for people who were willing to bite the bait.

…

‘Unbelievable, the most expensive item by far!’

‘Black Phantom: Germinal Organization will certainly lose’

Posts with such titles appeared in the forums of Planet Aquamarine, and it immediately attracted players’ attention. When they saw the sky-high price of 250,000 for the referral letter, they were all shocked speechless.

“Wow, is this organization made of gold?”

“Blood Pact Society, no idea what they do.”

“The price is outrageously high. What’s so special about this organization called the Blood Pact Society?”

“Anyone had heard of this organization before?”

This person was just asking randomly, but someone unexpectedly replied, “I triggered the mission to join the Blood Pact Society. It is very cumbersome and difficult. The introduction of it is that it’s a killer association, and the benefits are still unknown. However, to me, it’s not worth it to spend 250,000 just to skip the prior missions.”

The outrageous price of 250,000 caused a wide discussion. The average value of a player at the time was about 3,000 to 5,000, so it was not difficult for guilds to gather 250,000 since the number of players was increasing continuously.

However, most of the guilds didn’t feel it was worth it, buying an organization referral letter for 250,000 was too luxurious, the situation was not clear yet, they decided to wait and see.

Han Xiao had quite an influence on normal players, but guilds had always been very logical, considering everything with the benefits they could earn. Other players were playing a game; they were running a business.

Compared to the outrageously priced referral letter, players paid more attention to the information Han Xiao shared about the war between the Six Nations and Germinal Organization. They were in an uproar.

After playing the game for a few days, players on Planet Aquamarine all knew that the conflict between the Six Nations and Germinal Organization was the main storyline, but war broke out when nobody expected it to, an expedition even, which proved that the battlefield would be in Andrea. Many players at the time had yet to even join an organization, and their strength was far from being enough to join the main storyline mission.

In the original storyline, war would only break out a few months later, and every continent played a part in the battle. Thus, players from everywhere had been able to join in. But with Han Xiao’s interference, not only did the war break out much earlier, it also became an expedition. The impact players had was minimized from what Han Xiao felt.

Most importantly, most of the players had yet to even trigger the main storyline mission between the Six Nations and Germinal Organization.

Black Phantom said that the Germinal Organization would certainly lose, which made many players hesitant to join them, but there were also some players who preferred the evil organizations and wanted to join the Germinal Organization

However, Han Xiao’s influence played its part. More players became hesitant. If they were to join the Germinal Organization, there was the risk of getting beaten horribly, then they might as well join the law-keeping organization of Six Nations.

With just one sentence, the Germinal Organization lost many potential supporters.

The influence that Han Xiao had on players grew as he maintained his image, and his position in the players’ heart grew stronger.

The things that he said would become important information for the players.

Chapter 195 - Bundled Sales Are So Damn Great. I Should Always Use Them.

Han Xiao had seen the impact that the leaked information had brought on the forum. It was just as he had expected it to be.

He had successfully sabotaged the Germinal Organization secretly again, and they did not even know who was doing it and what went wrong.

Doing evil things to the Germinal Organization secretly made him feel really good.

However, the referral letter was not popular. Han Xiao was somewhat surprised, but after he contemplated for a while, he realized the reason behind it. It was because of the current financial situation of the players. Although guilds could come up with 250,000, it was quite a risk for them. If the referral letter did not have a good effect, it would slow their progress down by a huge portion.

The price that he had set for the time being was too high, and the risk of buying the referral letter would only decrease when the average asset level of the players increased. At that time, there would be guilds that would try buying it.

At this price, the first person to eat the crab will take too long to appear. Han Xiao bit his nails and started pondering. The best solution was to lower the price…

That’s impossible! Not going to happen!

I could use some sales strategy, giving out other benefits together with the referral letter.

The first thing Han Xiao thought of was giving relationship points as a reward, such as when someone bought a referral letter, he would give some relationship points. Relationship points were the prior requirements of buying high-level equipment in his store—it was all part of the profit chain.

But on second thought, giving relationship points would not be a very good idea. They were maxed at one hundred points, so he had to treasure them. The relationship points that he gave to normal players were ten at most. He did not want the players to get them so easily.

If he used them with the referral letter, one or two points would be too few and unattractive, but giving too many would be disadvantageous to him as well.

What about giving bonus equipment? The moment this thought came up, it was rejected by him. He had to be a qualified businessman, so he should never have such good morals.

He had fused some blueprints recently, but he had not built any of them, so he could not sell those either.

And in terms of drugs, it was not a good time to sell them. Some drugs that gave enhancements based on percentage would have a much bigger market once the players reach a higher level. The pro players who had to compete in matches would be his target consumers.

As he was wavering, a surprise notification appeared on the interface.

_____________________

[Source of Stone Plague] Completed

Requirement One: Find the source of the plague. Completed.

Requirement Two: Suppress the spread of the plague. Completed.

Requirement Three: Cure all the people who are infected. Incomplete.

You received 60,000 experience, +400 relationship with the Black Pine Colony

_____________________

Han Xiao stood in place with surprise.

This mission was what he had given to Frenzied Sword and Bun-hit-dog. They had completed it!

It seems I chose well. Han Xiao laughed. Their level was around 15, so this mission would have been quite difficult for them. Although they did not complete it perfectly, it was already a pleasant surprise. Since Han Xiao had not been involved in this mission at all from the beginning, the rewards dropped from the sky!

Wait a minute!

Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled.

He was inspired and had another idea of promoting the referral letter!

“Nice one Frenzied Sword!”

Han Xiao laughed. It was just the right time for the mission to be completed. It had inspired him at a crucial moment.

At this time, the players in the novice village were learning [Energy Training Technique] one by one and were swing at the price of the referral letter.

“The flow of time carried everyone forward; the truth of the past has been buried and forgotten by the people who never stopped,” Han Xiao suddenly yelled. “I need a number of trustworthy people to help me with some things.”

As he was speaking, he distributed the five hidden main storyline missions from [New Era—Origin] that he had just received into new missions: [Ending of the Survivor], [The Key of Misplacement], [Sealed Past], [Mysterious Prisoner], and [Same Type of Person].

[New Era—Origin] was too cumbersome, and it would waste a lot of time if Han Xiao did them himself. Furthermore, it was only the first round.

Han Xiao decided to distribute the targets of the missions and let the players do it. This way, he could save time and get the rewards without doing much. The success of Frenzied Sword proved the idea, and he found out that he could still get the rewards even if the players completed the mission.

Just like the evil capitalists who used benefits to attract others to work for them but still ended up earning the most.

Furthermore, Han Xiao stated clearly that this was a Main Storyline Mission, which would increase his status among the players again.

An NPC that gives out main storyline missions. Damn, he has got to be someone important! was what Han Xiao expected the players to think.

The players saw the mission and froze in place. Then they became overjoyed.

“Main storyline mission!”

“God! This is another main storyline!”

“The rewards are plenty!”

“Quick, accept the mission!”

However, the players noticed that the mission was in gray color, which meant that it could not be accepted.

“Why can’t I accept the mission? Why‽”

The confusion was solved within a short period. They soon realized that the missions had a prior requirement—buying the referral letter!

That’s… that’s too greedy!

The players turned furious. How are they going to play 250,000? Who the hell could afford that!

Seeing the expression of the players, Han Xiao smiled secretly. Because of the quota, his Main Storyline Mission could only be given to a limited number of players. Thus, he had to target the elites, so he had decided to attract the pro players. Pro players had large guilds behind them, and it was perfect for promoting the referral letter and making bundle sales.

You want the main storyline mission? Okay, buy my referral letter.

Don’t want to spend money? Then why do you deserve to become stronger?

Pro players were willing to grow through any means; they would never give up the main storyline missions.

Another reason Han Xiao was doing this was that there was a chance for the normal players to fail the mission, which would result in him also failing the missions. However, pro players had higher skills on average, and they had guilds behind them who would help them with the mission. Clearly, they were more reliable.

Those that were rare were those that were treasured. He also added another important line in the mission introduction, which was that there was a chance to earn Black Phantom’s favor. This was an obvious hint that accepting the mission might trigger his ‘hidden storyline’.

Frenzied Sword, Bun-hit-dog, and Maple Moon were not attractive enough as examples. Very few highly skilled players came. Maybe it was because they felt triggering hidden storyline required luck; therefore, they did not take it seriously.

Han Xiao decided to go for a strong approach, to let the highly skilled players see that there was a way with a higher chance to trigger Black Phantom’s hidden storyline.

This is a good strategy. It’s killing two… many birds with one stone. Han Xiao was satisfied.

Even this won’t attract you‽ I doubt that.

…

The forum had a chat room function. At this time, there was a room with a password that had people joining in continuously, and the notifications kept popping up.

_____________________

Jade Green Sky entered the chat room.

Jupiter entered the chat room.

Morning Snow Twilight Frost entered the chat room.

Your Mom Collapses When I Cry entered the chat room.

_____________________

About a dozen people entered the chat room. They were all chairpeople of famous guilds in China, and they formed a circle themselves.

“Is everyone here?” Mountain Rain, the chairman of Drizzling Rivers Guild, spoke first.

“Nope,” Your Mom Collapses When I Cry said.

The chairman of Nine Gates Guild, Three Times Three Equals 9, asked, “Where’s Old Qi? Did anyone invite him?”

“Never mind, he spams all the time. We would never get things done with him joining in,” Cowherd Star, the chairman of Chrysanthemum Guild, said.

“Who opened the chat room? What serious matter are we talking about?” Jupiter asked.

Jade Green Sky cut in and said, “Yo, isn’t this the rich house of esports? I heard you have not been running your God squad well recently. Lousy chairman. When you step down, I will light firecrackers in front of your club doors to celebrate. @Jupiter”

“Fu*k off,” Jupiter snapped back.

Morning Snow Twilight Frost sent a funny smiley face.

“@Mountain Rain, Rainy Kim of your Thunder Storm has been quite active lately and always goes on TV shows. Can you help me ask for a signature?” Your Mom Collapses When I Cry asked.

“One for 3,000, no negotiating,” Mountain Rain answered.

“Damn, are you robbing me? Can you have some morals?”

Cowherd Star cut in and said, “My signature is free, do you want it?”

“Go away, your signature is not even worth enough to be used as toilet paper. I could consider if it’s from lady Yao Yao. @Seven Colors of a Peptachord[a] 1 ”

“Stop insinuating. She’s not even here.” Cowherd Star was upset.

Morning Snow Twilight Frost sent a funny smiley face.

“Stop talking nonsense, let’s talk about the matter, I’m very busy,” Jupiter said.

“You? You’re basically a mascot,” Jade Green Sky sneered.

“Go away!”

“Okay guys, I will pull us back to the topic,” Mountain Rain declared. “You guys have all seen the posts in the forums about the main storyline missions from Black Phantom.”

“Yes, we saw it, what are you saying?”

“We should come up with the money together. Then we let the pro players accept the main storyline missions from Black Phantom.”

“You want to share the risk? But only one person can accept each mission.”

“No, what I mean is that the pro players can form a team to complete it. It’s positive competition.”

“That sound pretty good, I will have to ask the expedition group for their suggestions,” Jade Green Sky said.

“I’m in. There definitely won’t be any objections from the club,” Cowherd Stars said.

“I’m fine with anything, smile!” responded Three Times Three Equals 9.

“Haha, I remember the pro players of Guild of Gods is all in Southern Continent. They can’t meet Black Phantom. You can’t play with us @Jupiter. Quickly kick him. He’s a spy here to collect intelligence,” Jade Green Sky mocked.

“You motherfu…”

_____________________

Jupiter has left the chat room.

_____________________

Morning Snow Twilight Frost sent a funny smiley face.

[a]Google is suggesting that this should be Pentachord, is that right?

Chapter 196 - It's the Tanabata Festival Tomorrow. I'm upset.

Han Xiao was about done with harvesting the players in this novice village. He smugly counted the experience—he had gotten a huge amount yet again.

However, nobody had bought the referral letter so far, but Fisherman Han was patient—him giving out main storyline missions had already made a storm on the forums. Sooner or later, someone would come.

One last novice village left. Maybe I should delay it a while so that these large guilds have enough time to raise the money, Han Xiao thought.

This time, two players walked toward Han Xiao next to each other. Their IDs were Wind Chaser and Dragon Tail, which attracted the attention of other players. They were rather famous players of the Nine Gates Guild and the Fanatics Guild.

Han Xiao’s eye twinkled. The highly skilled players have finally come.

“Black Phantom, we want to buy the referral letter,” Wind Chaser said.

“Sure.”

Wind Chaser and Dragon Tail had received the funds from the guild of their clubs. A team was the face of a club, so as pro players, they were treated well. They took out 250,000 each.

The players around looked at them with envy. They had never seen such a large amount of money.

“Can’t believe someone can actually afford it.”

“Large guilds are really rich.”

“No wonder pro players are stronger than us. If I had such resources, I would be able to go pro, too.”

“You think just anyone can be signed by a club?”

“If we rob their money, we’ll be crazy rich.”

“Don’t be stupid. Putting aside the fact that pro player would completely skunk you, even if you succeeded, the guild will chase you everywhere, or maybe Blank Phantom will kill you first.”

The crowd talked among themselves.

He received 500,000 in one shot, then wrote the referral letters on the spot and gave them to the two pro players. He told them the location of a Dark Net stronghold in the Western Continent and said, “Take my letter there, and you can join the Blood Pact Society.”

He paused and then said, “Seems like I can trust you. I have some tasks here. Would you like to help me?”

“That’s what I’ve been waiting for.” Dragon Tail immediately accepted the mission. He wanted to accept one after another but was notified that only one mission could be accepted.

This had been set by Han Xiao—one referral letter for one mission.

“Shit, only one mission can be accepted. I thought I could accept all of them.” Dragon Tail was unhappy.

Han Xiao raised his brows and said, “Leave it if you don’t want to do it.”

Dragon Tail shut up. If he did not accept the mission, the money would have gone to waste.

Wind Chaser had no choice but to choose the same mission. The two clubs behind them had joined forces to do the mission as a team. Luckily Dragon Tail accepted a mission that was in the Western Continent.

“If you can complete the mission, there might be more things you can help me with.” Han Xiao hinted that in order to unlock his ‘hidden storyline’, first they had to complete this mission.

Pro players were always in a rush. They left immediately after accepting the mission.

Five mission targets, two in the Western Continent, two in the Northern Continent, and one in the Southern Continent—he had to make sure they were all accepted by someone. Fortunately for him, all these continents were part of his schedule.

Although the main storyline mission was A-grade, this was the easiest first round. Han Xiao separated the mission targets into many smaller missions that had a difficulty of around grade D, so the single mission experience quota could suffice for the experience he was rewarding.

In the later rounds, when the difficulty becomes higher, my quota might not be enough by then.

He felt that he needed a way to increase his quota. Levelling up was not an option at the moment, so he had to go for organizations and legendary points. There was no need to think about these at the moment.

Wind Chaser and Dragon Tail were normal pro players, and they didn’t have a very good battle record in my previous life. I shall observe for now.

Han Xiao was strict in choosing his spare tires. He was not going to choose every pro player.

…

Fanatics and Nine Gates posted about their players buying the referral letter on the forums, which was a promotion of themselves to increase their fame within the players. The huge amount of money that they had spent attracted many players’ attention, and they were all amazed at what they had done.

Han Xiao’s face also showed up indirectly because of the advertisement from these two clubs. The clubs that followed after would also mimic the same actions so that they did not lag behind. Han Xiao guessed that his face would probably appear many times on the forums.

Without stopping, Han Xiao came to the last novice village in the Western Continent. As he was harvesting experience, there were other pro players that used the funds from their guild to exchange for a chance to accept the missions. Normal players could only watch and envy from the sidelines.

Another mission in the Western Continent was also accepted by a pro player. Han Xiao could finally relax and happily sell his abilities, at the same time paying attention to the forums and the Dark Net.

“Hmm? New episode of ‘Galaxy Times’. Titled… Creation of the Professional League?”

Han Xiao felt wide awake. He had always paid a lot of attention to this show, so he clicked in immediately.

“Hello players,” the male host greeted, “this is Galaxy Times, dedicated to sharing first-hand game information. Your gaming career is our top priority.”

“Spring, I have been quite anxious recently,” the female host commented.

“What’s wrong, Autumn?”

“I fell in love with a man. He doesn’t speak much, and he’s so handsome, but he’s never looked at me seriously and never talks to me.”

“Don’t worry, I think you two suit each other very well.”

Female host was surprised. “Really?”

“Of course, he’s handsome and cool, you’re short and ugly, how suitable.”

“…”

It was the awkward opening joke again. The style felt very nostalgic to Han Xiao.

The screen was filled with comments.

A lot of players watched Galaxy Times. In less than a month after beginning, they had already become the go-to show for the players. After all, they had the official background, so they had a lot of first-hand information.

They chatted for a while to bring up the atmosphere. Then, the male host said, “Alright, let us get back to our main topic. In today’s show, we will be digging deep into the most popular topic—Inhuman Phenomenon—the news from pro players, and we also invited Li Ge to be our guest. Be sure to stay.”

The contents of the show were interesting as always. They started off by going through the progress of players in all various planets while giving some comments on the level leaderboard.

“Currently, the highest-level players are already closing to level 20. Level 20 will be the first class advancement, so I wonder who will receive this honor. The first player to receive a class advancement will be recorded in the books of gaming history as a milestone.”

“As everyone can clearly see, the players on the top of the leaderboards are mostly not pro players. The Japanese players have the highest number of players on the list; as everyone knows, their base camp planet is the Lonnie Planet, where technology and magic coexist. They are at the peak period of the civilization, which is very suitable for getting missions and levelling up. There are also quite a number of players from France and America while there are not many from China. Oh, I see someone I know. Maple Moon, do you guys remember? Not long after the official launch, she received more than 100,000 experience points, which was from the first prize pool mission the players have seen.”

“Speaking of the Black Phantom, from the beginning of the game till now, he has been the center of attention for the players in Planet Aquamarine, and recently, something has happened again. He continuously appeared in novice villages to give out guidance and rewards, and not long ago, he showed another main storyline mission, but it had a prior requirement of buying an item that was priced at an outrageous amount of 250,000 Aquamarine dollars! If players from other planets want to know how much this means, please move to the currency exchange panel, and look at how many resources can be purchased with 250,000 Aquamarine dollars.

Players from other planets envied Planet Aquamarine. Why did they not have such a great novice guider?

Chapter 197 - Responses from All Sides (1)

The male host changed the topic. “Recently, an event has raised wide discussion among the players. The NPCs in the game have expressed extreme curiosity over the unique characteristics of players. Every planet has witnessed different reactions and labelled this phenomenon differently, such as Chosen Ones, Inhumans, Genius Phenomenon, which was very exciting and surprising. It’s like NPCs have their individual minds and are not as rigid as NPCs in other games.”

“If every NPC has an individual mind of their own, the amount of computation needed will be extremely high, but Galaxy is using the latest light speed computers. Its limit is unknown,” the female host said.

Players wrote their speculations in the comments. The fact that NPCs seemingly had their own intelligence and interacted as freely as a person would in the real world was very new and exciting.

The hosts read from their scripts. They talked about the situations on various planets and made some speculations.

From the players’ perspective, they only knew the NPCs attitude toward them and not the responses from the organizations, but Han Xiao did. Recently, the information on the Dark Net had almost all been about the contact with Inhumans. The rapid increase in the number of players had given a lot of pressure to the organizations.

All the organizations agreed that, if the number of Inhumans grew continuously without a limit, it would bring endless potential dangers and subversively impact the current social construct, but they could not find a way to suppress that growth at all.

Luckily, Inhumans were weak and easy to control.

The organizations in Planet Aquamarine had yet to notice that the strength of players was growing at a very fast pace. Before they were LV 20, their power was still in the category of normal humans.

Han Xiao shook his head. When the level of the players is high, these organizations are going to be really shocked.

The topic of the Inhuman Phenomenon had ended. The male host said, “… we have invited Li Ge to join us today. Good to see you, Li Ge.”

Li Ge, the god tier player that ranked second in China, sat between the hosts with a smile on his face.

Galaxy Times frequently invited highly skilled players for an interview and discussion, so the female host asked Li Ge what his view on the Inhuman Phenomenon was.

“I think this is part of the game’s plot, to give the players a feeling that it is real. When I was playing, I kept having the misconceptions that I was in a real world, and I think that is what the developers want us to experience. As a unique character in a real world, everything that occurs required improvisation, and there will almost never be any repeated events. It’s all new and exciting. I have high hopes for what Galaxy can achieve in the future.”

“Talking about the future of the game,” the male host said, “our channel has received first-hand news that the international esports association has confirmed that they will be hosting the first ever pro league, and they have also informed the countries to host competitions. What is your view on this?”

“I would say that it means I have yet to lose my job.” Li Ge laughed. “On a serious note, strong esports clubs have all stepped into Galaxy. They will definitely be preparing for it, and I think it will be a great fight. Hopefully, I can lead China to a good result.”

The comments exploded again. The players were very excited about the creation of pro leagues. It was going to be a big event. There were also other comments like “Li Ge is so handsome!” and “Love you hubby” that came from the female fans.

“The competition has been established, and pro players will have to quickly prepare for it. Do you have any advice or tips that you can share with us?

Li Ge thought for a while and said, “We pro players have to distribute the experience points logically in our abilities in a way that suits our strengths best. Therefore, we stick to a steady pace and won’t rush our levels so that we can familiarize ourselves with the controls in every level and improve our skills, which is why there are almost no pro players in the level leaderboards. Oh, there are a few from Japan. Well, as you know, they like to show off,” he mocked lightly.

“We pro players will grab every opportunity to become stronger. Black Phantom in our Planet Aquamarine has become very famous recently. I think I’m going to try my luck too… but that’s if he returns to the Southern Continent.” Li Ge sighed.

The rest of the show was mostly chitchat.

After he watched finish the show, Han Xiao thought, Pro leagues are going to start soon. All the clubs will be preparing themselves and not wasting any time. My customers should be increasing.

Li Ge—a god-tiered player that ranked second in China, someone whose status was so much higher than Han Xiao in his previous life that Han Xiao was not even qualified enough to be in contact with him—had said that he would come to find him.

But now, Han Xiao had the power to choose if he wanted him to be one of his spare tires.

Li Ge… I’ll have to think about it.

…

Frenzied Sword and Bun-hit-dog did missions in Black Pine. It was not a place for high-level players. The missions were difficult, but Frenzied Sword was a pro player after all. With his skills and the equipment that he had received from Han Xiao, he was having a good time and grew rapidly.

Through the missions in Black Pine, Frenzied Sword had received new equipment and new abilities, but these things could not fill his heart. Instead, he felt empty inside.

When he thought of Han Xiao, his heart would be filled with desire.

Only by following Han Xiao could he understand the true meaning of life, and the missions in Black Pine paled in comparison

“When will he return…”

Frenzied Sword was melancholic.

Outside the isolation zone in Black Pine, Lu Cheng was talking to Frenzied Sword. “Honestly, you have surprised me. You actually suppressed the plague.”

Frenzied Sword was upset. Bun-hit-dog pulled him to the side, and only then did he come back to focus.

“Hmm, yeah,” he replied perfunctorily

In the beginning, when Black Phantom had left the two of them to deal with the plague, Lu Cheng did not take it seriously at all, but not long after, he realized that these two people really could be of huge help. The characteristic of them being able to revive meant that they were unafraid of the infection and could do many things the researchers did not dare to.

The plague in the colony stopped spreading with the help from the duo, and the lightly infected patients were already cured. The number of people in the isolation zone had visibly reduced.

Lu Cheng has always been surprised by the characteristics of Inhumans. He had told the people of Green Valley Ville to research these ‘homeless wanderers’. He contacted his friends from other organizations and knew that the Inhumans phenomenon was happening everywhere in the world. As the Inhumans’ area of activity started to grow, even the Six Nations could not keep the secret from the civilians.

As the level of players increased, players from novice villages started to explore the map slowly. Many left Green Valley Ville, and some of them came to Black Pine.

Lu Cheng did as Han Xiao taught him to, which was to treat the Inhumans like mercenaries. He noticed that Han Xiao had surprisingly pointed him down the right path.

“Er… rewards?” Bun-hit-dog reminded the distracted Lu Cheng.

Frenzied Sword glared at Bun-hit-dog.

During the mission, he had done almost everything. Bun-hit-dog had just spent the whole time recording from the side like a boss, and yet he had the guts to ask for rewards.

Lu Cheng laughed and told his subordinates to pass the agreed rewards to the duo.

Frenzied Sword carefully read the details of the pieces of equipment that he had received. With the creation of the pro league, he had felt more pressure, so he improved on his skills as much as he could during his free time.

But Bun-hit-dog did not care. He browsed through the forums, then suddenly, he said, “There’s news about Black Phantom. He can give out main storyline missions… how come he never brought it up to us? We triggered his hidden storyline, so why aren’t we getting at least the same treatment?”

Frenzied Sword’s expression tightened, and he said in a low voice, “When he returns, he will definitely give the main storyline missions to us too.”

“Where did that confidence come from?” Bun-hit-dog questioned.

“I…” Frenzied Sword was at a loss for words. He was rather anxious, but he comforted himself with a firm expression and said, “I believe in him!”

Chapter 198 - Responses from All Sides (2)

In a military base in Stardragon, many players crowded around as if attending a mini fair on a bright, sunny day.

Stardragon’s approach toward the players was gentle. They held many internal meetings and tried to command the players. They realized that other than some Inhumans being mentally ill, they were capable of normal communication. They decided to put the players together as a special division and made them serve the military.

This military base was specially created for the players. Commanders from Stardragon gave out missions, and many players were opening stalls and grouping up—the whole area seemed to be prospering.

Impacted by Han Xiao, many players chose to join the Stardragon, including Maple Moon.

Fighting and killing was not Maple Moon’s style; she liked to collect materials and build machines then sell them to other players. Many players liked coming to her for supplies and repairs, so Maple Moon could easily find a team when doing her missions.

Maple Moon was just a casual player. The time that she spent online was less than other players. Plus, she preferred to enjoy the game more than doing missions all the time, so she wasted a lot of time by doing that.

Even so, with the prize pool rewards that she had received from Han Xiao, she still surpassed most of the players and became one of the players on the level leaderboard.

Maple Moon looked at her experience bar and excitement showed on her face.

Almost level 20. I will be able to find Black Phantom very soon.

…

A piercing cold wind blew across the wasteland with thin snow. Together with the ground, they created a view filled with gray and white.

In a wasteland on the Northern Continent, a player with an animal skin coat slowing trekked across in the cold wind. On the horizon behind him was the novice village that he had left from.

With blood scabs on his fists, seven dead Frost Wolf bodies lay one hundred meters behind him.

Frost Wolves were a common predator in the Northern Continent. Their level was around 10, so players at the time had less than a 20% chance of winning under the siege of seven Frost Wolves, but there were only a few shallow scratches on this player.

The ID above the player’s head was ‘Hao Tian’, which was clearly an old ID.

Hao Tian—a famous pro player, a pillar of the Long Sky club, and a veteran in the pro scene—had used this ID for many years.

There were many esports clubs in China, but only a few were considered top tier, such as Guild of Gods, Long Sky, Dynasty, Fried Eggplants with Fish… Yes, that club was called Fried Eggplants with Fish, and their mortal enemy was the Kimchi Club in Korea.

Hao Tian suddenly received a ranged communication request from Li Ge, so he stopped and accepted.

“Hmm?” This greeting clearly conveyed the fact that Hao Tian did not like to talk too much.

“Have you heard that the Esports Association has confirmed the creation of Galaxy Pro Competitions?” Li Ge asked.

“Oh.”

“What class did you change to.”

“Pugilist.”

“I’m an Esper,” Li Ge said. “Level up quickly. The situation of the Chinese players is not looking good. I need help from people to fight top clubs from other countries.”

“Speak for yourself.” Hao Tian did not give face at all, and he hung up.

Both were top players; their styles were very different.

Hao Tian had been in the pro scene for many years. He had steadily trained and climbed up to where he was. He did not like to talk, did not like to manage public image—all he did was shine in the competitions.

Li Ge was very passionate about managing his image. He often went to shows, so he had countless more fans than Hao Tian. Plus, he was handsome, so he had many female fans. Li Ge was the type of player that was talented enough to surpass other players without much hard work.

Every pro player had their own talent, and Li Ge was full of talents.

Some people are just that talented.

Many people admired Li Ge, and many envied him. Hao Tian was not one of those. He had known Li Ge for a very long time. Li Ge was just someone who succeeded in the same industry as him and nothing more; he did not care for other factors.

Li Ge was his old rival. Hao Tian lost to him many times, and in order to reach a higher place in Galaxy, he spent almost all of his time strengthening his in-game character. He did not want to miss any opportunity.

He opened the forum as was his habit, then saw the posts about Black Phantom giving out main storyline missions.

He suddenly stopped walking and turned back around toward the novice village.

With Hao Tian’s skill, a novice village was already useless to him, but for the missions of Black Phantom, he was willing to wait.

…

In the basement of the Dragon Horn building, the headquarters of Division 13…

The corridor toward the central computer room was dark and metallic, with infrared detectors in the walls all along the corridor. The ground was equipped with devices that recognized and recorded weight and footprints.

Gu Hui typed the password at the door, then had his eyeball, fingerprint, and voice scanned. Within a few seconds, the center computer recognized Gu Hui through the floor and infrared detectors.

“Identification authorized. Welcome, Deputy Director-general,” a robotic voice emotionlessly said.

All the security devices were turned off. The path was clear, and Gu Hui walked into the spacious center computer control room with a serious expression. He was carrying out the order of the highest ranked superiors—inquire about the Inhuman phenomenon from the galactic civilization far away in the universe, Godora.

It was an important issue. All the cameras in the center computer room faced him, and the leaders were watching through them.

Gu Hui knew that it was not only Stardragon—all the other countries were going to do this as well. The Inhuman phenomenon was too weird. They had absolutely no way of solving it and could only seek help from galactic civilizations. Godora was the only superior civilization that they were in contact with. It had a mostly neutral but slightly biased attitude toward them, and they did not interfere too much with Planet Aquamarine.

Gu Hui turned on the central terminal and typed a series of long passwords to unlock the encryption. He then opened the deepest layer of the program and typed another string of secret passwords, activating a secret program.

The screen turned entirely white, then a new simple window popped up. It was filled with countless options and links in weird Godoran symbols. All except one were gray, which meant they could not be selected.

The only one that could be selected was translated into Planet Aquamarine’s language.

_____________________

Godoran Communication Window with Star Zone 9, Planet Aquamarine.

_____________________

This was a star zone communication device model called [Feathers of Light—8]. All of the Six Nations on Planet Aquamarine had received it from the Godoran Civilization. It allowed them to connect with the galactical civilizations. This technology was yet to be obtained by Planet Aquamarine.

The Godoran Civilization locked many functions of the program and closed the hundreds of connections on the network; it was limited to only single-directional communication from Planet Aquamarine. Thus, Planet Aquamarine could only make use of less than 0.00000001% of the galactical communication device, and they could only get information about the universe from Godora.

But Planet Aquamarine did not have a choice.

Gu Hui calmed his mind and clicked the link. The ten-second wait felt like hours, but eventually, the screen flashed, and a dialog window appeared.

A sentence in the Godoran language appeared before it flashed into Planet Aquamarine’s language through the translation function from the device. “Human from Planet Aquamarine, why did you request communication?”

Gu Hui revised what he had planned to say before typing it out word by word. “My friend from Godora, I’m the person in charge of the intelligence organization of Stardragon on Planet Aquamarine. I have requested the communication due to an abnormal phenomenon on our planet. We call it the Inhuman Phenomenon. The details are as below…”

Gu Hui explained their research on the Inhumans briefly and sent the documents and records over. Then he ended his message with a brief plea for assistance. “As our technology is unable to find the reason behind this, we hoped you could help us to solve it. If you can provide assistance with this, we will give you our sincerest appreciation. Godora and Stardragon will forever be close friends.”

Chapter 199 - Aurora

After a few seconds, the person from Godora replied.

“There are many technologies that can achieve this effect. It also might be a natural occurrence. There are far more weird events in the universe, so don’t have to be so surprised. Tens of thousands of species die and come to life every second. We would have to research on it ourselves to know the exact cause.”

“That is what we are hoping for,” Gu Hui wrote back, “for you to send someone here to do field research.”

“Request authorized. Current date: 10th August 688 Galaxy time. Mission has been submitted into the schedule. ETA 7th May 689.”

Galaxy’s calendar was set by the three biggest civilizations. It is used across the entire universe, but of course, many places had their own calendar, just like the use of dialects. The general calendar would usually only be used in the communication between two civilizations so that time calculation would be easier.

“So long?” Gu Hui was stunned.

“Every activity follows a schedule. The request needs to be queued. I have already received the request from other nations on your planet, so it will be settled at the same time”.

The reply of the receptionist from Godora was typical. Gu Hui feel it was quite familiar. He thought about it and realized… Isn’t this the same tone as government officials pushing things around?

Gu Hui turned off the communication with a sigh.

“Have to wait one year. Who knows how the Inhuman Phenomenon will turn into after one year?” Gu Hui shook his head. “Luckily, the Inhumans are able to communicate and are passionate about being mercenaries. They are controllable to a certain extent.”

The highest ranked superiors of Stardragon hosted a meeting. Since there was currently no solution to the Inhuman Phenomenon, they decided to immediately focus on declaring war with the Germinal Organization before the phenomenon grew worse, to prevent the Germinal Organization using this phenomenon as a tool for them making a comeback.

Preparation for the expedition war started again.

…

Ta, ta, ta!

The military boots stepped on the metal floor. Hila walked in the corridor full of twist and turns with an expressionless face. She did not even hesitate at the intersections. She was too familiar with this place—this place where Aurora was locked up.

At the end of the deep corridor, a thick, metal gate blocked Hila’s path. She walked over with light steps, and the automatic guarding guns kept their aim all on her like they were going to open fire at any moment. Two guards stood in front of the metal gate and stopped Hila.

“I have authorization.” Hila’s tone was cold.

The guards turned around and tapped a few times on the control panel, made sure that Hila had received one-time authorization from their leader, and nodded. “You have one hour.”

He opened the metal gate. Light shone from within and brightened the exquisite but ice-cold face of Hila.

A pure white room came into her sight.

It was very simple: one bed, one table, one chair, one toilet, and one bookshelf full of books.

In a bed as pure as the feathers of an angle, a tiny, scrawny body cowered.

Hila walked forward inattentively and stopped five meters outside the room. She reached out and pressed against the glass that surrounded the room. She could not move forward anymore.

The corner of her eyes shook.

The palm pressed against the wall turned into a fist. She clenched her fist so hard that her bones started to turn white.

“Sis?”

The blanket started moving. A tiny bald head extended from within cautiously. Her face was pale like she was suffering from malnutrition and had not gotten enough sunlight for a very long time. Her eyes were flashing with surprise as she saw Hila.

Aurora lifted the blanket and stumbled toward the glass. Her steps were weak and powerless. She was only as tall as Hila’s shoulders and so skinny that she looked like she only had her skeleton left. The exposed arms from her patient suit were full of needle scars. Aurora pounced toward the glass with happiness. She put both of her hands on the glass and said, “You’ve come to see me!”

Hila hastily extended her hands and pressed against Aurora’s palms across the glass. She endured the lump in her throat and softly asked, “Recently… have you been alright?”

“The people in white lab coats have not come as often. The last injection was thirteen days ago already.” Aurora’s large eyes blinked, and she showed a faint smile.

Hila smiled reluctantly. She looked at the needle scars on Aurora’s body, and it felt like her heart was being stabbed rapidly. She knew why they drew blood from her fewer times—it was because Aurora recovered slower. Every time her blood and bone marrow was extracted, she needed more time to recover.

Her ability allowed her to feel one’s life force. The life force of Aurora, which had once been as bright as the sun, was now a candlelight that might extinguish anytime.

Her life force was withering.

Aurora sat down and hugged her knees. “Tell me stories elder sister. I want to hear the last one that you didn’t finish.”

Hila sat down too and leaned on the glass.

“Where did we stop at last time?” she whispered.

“Hmm…” Aurora tilted her head and thought about it. “The uncle called Zero escaped from the base. What happened next? Did sis fight with him?”

After a moment’s thought, Hila continued the story with a soft and gentle tone.

…

In the office of the leader of the Germinal Organization, a row of superiors stood in front of the desk and reported the various situations in the organization.

The leader sat straight and tight. No one knew what the expression behind the mask was. His black gloves covered hands overlapped each other under his nose. “The Inhuman Phenomenon has attracted the attention of the Six Nations, but it won’t last for long. At least the Inhumans made some time for us to recover. Be prepared, the enemy may invade Andrea any time,” he said.

The officers nodded in assent.

The leader looked around and asked, “Where’s Cyberlos?”

“There have been breakthroughs in a few projects recently—he’s busy.”

The leader stood up suddenly and left with large steps.

…

Electrolux was so touched that he was tearing up.

After a month-long ordeal, he was finally released.

It had not been easy!

Although he was trapped in prison, he had been paying attention to the forums, and he knew that the Germinal Organization had captured other players as well. After he was released, he was sent to join a special unit consisting of players; it was called the Inhuman Unit. It was all the unlucky players whose organization was locked due to being brainwashed.

Although he was far behind on levels, Electrolux was confident that that with his Esper ability that had A-grade potential, as long as he levelled up, he would definitely be stronger than other players.

A non-Chinese on Planet Aquamarine player like this was not uncommon. Some casual players did not care which planet was whose base camp; they only chose novice planets to their likings. Every novice planet had casual players from various countries.

It was Cyberlos’ idea to put the brainwashed Inhumans into one unit, and it had been accepted by the leader, who felt that undead Inhumans had a strategic value in war.

The leader had assigned a battle instructor to specifically design training and actual combat plans for the Inhumans.

At this time, Cyberlos was in another research lab. He stood in front of a specially designed sealed pod. The research personnel on the side were steadily adjusting the devices. There was an test subject in the pod, and a scream filled with madness and agony could be heard from within.

After some time, the inside of the sealed pod quieted down. Its gate opened, and what was inside could be seen.

It was a man fully armed with all kinds of exoskeleton mechanical parts that were connected into his bones. His skin had all changed into a soft, stretchable metal. With his bald head and machinery everywhere, his body size had grown a considerable amount. He looked like a beast.

This guy was none other than the first test subject of the [Super Soldier Project], No. 1!

Chapter 200 - More Than 100,000,000!

“How do you feel?”

No. 1 opened his eyes. His eyes had been modified, too. They flashed red light, and his field of sight could zoom in and out like a camera lens. He looked down at his palms covered in metallic skin, and as he moved his fingers around, a hideous smile appeared on his face.

“Never been better.”

With a buzz from the exoskeleton, he punched at the metal wall and created a pit. His hideous smile expanded and turned into a maniacal laugh.

Finally, after enduring endless pain, he had gained transcendent power.

He enjoyed the surge of confidence.

No. 1 realized that with this power, the Zero that had once killed him was nothing more than a weakling.

They were not on the same level anymore.

“Zero, don’t get killed by anyone else before I find you.” No. 1’s eyes were vicious as he talked to himself. “You’re mine.”

…

Cyberlos walked out of the experiment lab to report to the leader.

“As the schedule has been brought forward, the experiment has yet to reach a mature stage. No. 1 was the only one that could endure and finish all the modifications. I did not think that he could endure all that torture,” Cyberlos said.

“He was killed by Zero. Hatred turned his will indestructible,” the leader said indifferently.

“About Zero…” Cyberlos narrowed his eyes. “If he really has the power to predict the future, we have to get rid of him before the war. Otherwise, all of our strategic deployments and planning will be exposed.”

“He’s like a rat in the sewers, hiding too deep.” The leader fiddled with his fingers before coming to a decision. “Activate Destiny’s Child, find his position.”

Cyberlos smiled. He had always been very interested in the Destiny’s Child.

The duo walked in the twisted corridor and past locked gates that each required higher authority than the last. Elite teams of guards patrolled the corridor in synchronized footsteps. The secret room was deeply hidden.

The leader walked to the gate and entered the password. Next was the fingerprint scanner. He removed the glove that he had always been wearing. His hand looked horrible—it was full of scars like it had once been bitten and chewed by a beast.

There were scars on his fingertips, too. The leader put the glove back on after the authorization was completed. The metal gate slid open to the side. Only the leader could open this gate.

Inside was a hibernation pod with a man wearing a metal muzzle in it, and the nutritional liquid injections were all that was keeping his body alive.

The leader controlled the hibernation pod to inject a drug that would wake the person inside. The door opened up, and the man slowly opened his eyes. He was extremely calm. His eyes had no signs of life, and he did not seem to care if he was asleep or awake.

The Germinal Organization called this man ‘Destiny’s Child’. He had some ability to affect the future with his words, but the Germinal Organization did not know many of the details.

The leader waved behind his back, and his subordinate handed the documents on Zero over. He then flipped the pages. Destiny’s Child looked at the pages without even changing the focus of his pupils.

The leader flipped through the pages twice and said, “Make him appear.”

Destiny’s Child finally blinked.

The leader took out a specially made key and opened the metal mouth mask of Destiny’s Child.

Destiny’s Child closed his eye for five minutes. When he opened them again, he said slowly with a hoarse voice, “He will come here himself.”

The leader’s breath paused for a second and demanded, “When?”

“Not too long.”

“Hope it’s successful this time.” Cyberlos shook his head. Destiny’s Child’s ability did not work every time. The smaller the request, the more likely it was to succeed.

The leader put the metal mask back on Destiny’s Child and pushed him back into the hibernation pod.

The guards outside careful extended their heads and looked at each other with confusion.

Why were the leader and Cyberlos talking into the air with themselves?

…

After staying in the last novice village in the Western Continent for three days, Han Xiao left hurriedly in a plane. His next stop was the Northern Continent, which would be a long trip.

The average level of players was getting close to 20, so Han Xiao had to speed up on his schedule.

Stars filled the night sky outside the window. The plane flew stably in the clouds with its preset route.

The stars glowed in the clear eyes of Han Xiao.

Every time Han Xiao looked at the night sky and the bright stars in it, he thought of the countless civilizations and opportunities that existed in the universe.

Han Xiao was very aware of this, and every time he thought of it, he was filled with ambition.

A man’s journey belongs to the sea of stars.

He had already built his base on Planet Aquamarine—this was the starting point. The more he accumulated here, the more confident he would be.

Han Xiao opened the interface and counted his earnings.

In the more than ten days that he had stayed in the Western Continent, he had robbed a large number of drugs, one of which had an unknown effect but could potentially be a very valuable semi-finished drug. He had also built many relationships, with Dion, two superheroes that he had no idea of what use they would provide, Hannes, and others. Furthermore, he had managed to trigger the hidden main storyline.

He also built the mechanical suit, Viper.

Viper could increase both his Strength and Dexterity drastically, which made up for the Mechanics’ weaknesses in these two attributes in the early stages. In Han Xiao’s mind, Viper was his second battle plan, and it was only a prototype. He needed to continuously add more modules to it so as to enhance his combat abilities.

Sniping was for assassination, kiting, and stealth; Viper was for head-on combat, and he actually already had a few modification ideas for it.

His largest earnings were the experience and money from the four novice villages. [Energy Training Technique] sold very well just as he expected, and it had brought him an outrageous and unbelievable amount of rewards.

120,000,000 Experience!

Those who could afford [Energy Training Technique] were the players who were rather ahead—not everyone could afford it.

The class-change knowledge and basic skills were selling at a low profit margin, but the number of people who bought it was the highest.

He already had 20,000,000 Experience saved up. Thus, the accumulated experience on the interface totaled to 140,000,000!

Han Xiao felt content as he looked at the long string of zeros. Even for the players at his level, this amount of experience was beyond their imagination. Some players could not even get as much experience during the whole version 1.0.

Nice. Han Xiao was overjoyed. He would not have to worry about experience points for a long time.

As long as he settled the two biggest obstacles—changing class and upgrading tier—his level would increase tremendously, and he could even splurge on upgrading his skills. It would be easy for him to max the levels of all his abilities except for blueprints, and most importantly, he could infuse blueprints in bulk and build up his inventory.

Experience points were not the only thing. He had also earned 3,600,000 Aquarium dollars by selling [Energy Training Technique], and he had sold five referral letters, which totaled to 4,850,000 dollars. His wallet was packed.

Worth it!

Han Xiao rubbed his palms. He could not wait to open the interface.

Excluding blueprints, the abilities he had yet to reach max level were: [Accurate Shooting Level3], [Special Combat Level1], [Stealth Level1], [Steady Aim Level1], [Night Attack Level1], [Medium Enhancement Level4], [Energy—Magnetic Enhancement Level1], [Meticulous Repairs Level1], and the amazing [Pickpocketing Level1]

Without even looking at the experience points they needed, he maxed the level of each of those abilities!

That’s the feeling of being rich!

_____________________

Your Accurate Shooting and Sniping are both at Level5.

You learned [Field Controlling Vision].

_____________________

Your Grappling and Special Combat are both at Level5.

You learned [Lethal Critical Hits].

_____________________

You have received talent [Proficient Combat].

You have received talent [Proficient Shooting].

You have received talent [Bat Habit].

Chapter 201 - Northern Continent

Han Xiao had unlocked two new abilities and three new talents. [Bat Habit] had been gained from reaching the max level of all abilities in [Night Stalker].

Without hesitation, Han Xiao levelled up all the new abilities to the max as well.

_____________________

Field Controlling Vision Level10: Upon activation, +15% Fire Rate, +20% Range, +22% Field Vision. Lasts 13 seconds.

Cooldown: 12 minutes

Stamina Usage: 300

_____________________

Lethal Critical Hits: Vital spot critical damage increases from 200% to 250%. Dealing four vital spot critical hits in two seconds has a 0.1% – 1.5% chance of trigger a lethal attack.

_____________________

Proficient Combat: +5 S trength, +3 Endurance, +6% Melee Attack, +4% Parry Chance.

_____________________

Proficient Shooting: +6 Dexterity, +8% Firearm Attack, +4% Fire Rate.

_____________________

Bat Habit: Vision will not be affected by the night, able to detect surroundings with sound. When fighting during the night, +5% Dexterity.

_____________________

He used about 12,000,000 points of experience to max the levels of these abilities, in which he spent the most points in [Medium Enhancement] and [Meticulous Repairs]. After all, they were the main class abilities of the second-tier class.

There were still a ton of experience points in the interface.

With all these abilities reaching the max level, Han Xiao’s strength had increased by at least 20%.

The enhance and repair abilities were the main abilities of Mechanic class. One such ability was [Energy—Magnetic Enhancement], which increased machinery affinity by 33% when it reached max level. Han Xiao clearly felt that he suddenly understood machines more deeply, and the speed and quality of him building machines increased tremendously.

It was just right for him, as his class-up requirement was to build five purple-quality pieces of equipment with a rating of more than 60. Increasing his ability to build machines would help him meet the requirements.

Five high-quality gear in purple grade and the ratings had to be more than 60—it was quite difficult. The rating of equipment in Galaxy followed a very easily understood system. Legendary quality low-level gear would not give as many attributes as purple-quality high-level gear. A high level and high-quality gear would be much more valuable.

Han Xiao still had a large number of experience points left after maxing all his abilities. By choosing a suitable mechanical blueprint and maxing its level, it would greatly increase the quality of the final product and multiply the success rate by more than seven times.

Han Xiao contemplated for some time and decided to fuse blueprints first to have more choices.

With more than 100,000,000 Experience, he could splurge on fusing basic knowledge.

Of course, he was not randomly fusing them; he only fused the machinery that he felt would be reliable. After all, there were way too many combinations between the basic knowledge, and with every fusion, the experience points required would double. If he did not use them wisely, even 100,000,000 experience points would not be able to fill this infinite pit.

After continuously infusing tens of times and spending millions of experience points, Han Xiao received tens of new blueprints that spread across various types with different uses. He carefully picked three pieces of machinery for the class change mission.

[Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades], [Iron Fist—Mounted Heavy Mechanical Arm (Can Be Disassembled)], [Mini Maneuvering Equipment].

Not only did these three suit the requirements, but Han Xiao also felt they would be useful to him.

Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades was a weapon that was similar to the Magnetically-Controlled Retractable Armor. It had a magnetic round metal plate as the body, and a few detachable magnetic blades filling the core with magnetic energy would activate the magnetic chain. The blades would then be dispersed and hover around the core with spaces in between. If one blade was within a certain distance of another, they would repel each other, and if they are more than a certain distance apart, they would attract each other, which provided a medium range combat solution.

The controls of Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades were cumbersome and unique. By using energy to adjust the structure of the magnetic chain, the blades could be turned into different shapes. With the combination of certain gestures, the blades could be used for both attacking and defending in many forms. It needed practice, just like the Magnetically-Controlled Retractable Armor.

The blades could be put in different pockets and combined together during use, which was convenient for stealth purposes and suited the Viper. This was also superhuman equipment for a Mechanical Pugilist.

Iron Fist—Mounted Heavy Mechanical Arm (Can Be Disassembled) was a type of mechanical arm. Different from the lightweight mechanical arm, the size of it was very huge. It was many times bigger than his arms. Its power source was the built-in motor and engine. As its size was very huge, it had a high requirement of the user’s Strength. Han Xiao had to wear Viper to meet its requirements.

Han Xiao chose this because it could be disassembled. This meant that it could be used as part of Viper for enhancement if needed.

Mini Maneuvering Equipment looked like a belt. It could shoot out bursts of air that allowed the user to jump midair, and its fuel was very expensive. There was a fitting device built-in so that it would not fly off without the user. It would tire the user to a certain extent, but Han Xiao was practically immune to it with his amount of Endurance.

The most important thing this device gave Han Xiao was agility. He would be about to make turns in midair and perform all kinds of tricky movements, drastically increasing his mobility.

He had chosen those three pieces of machinery to attempt making purple-quality equipment. He wanted to give his mechanical suit melee weapons so that it would cover the close-range weakness of the sniping style.

The other blueprints such as cannons, land mines, and bombs were not suitable for making a piece of purple quality equipment as there was not much room to improve.

He immediately maxed the level of the three blueprints, which cost around one million Experience, but it was nothing to him with all the experience points he had.

There’s not enough materials on the plane. Han Xiao looked at his inventory. He had not restocked in the Western Continent. He pondered for a while and decided to make use of the max level [Medium Enhancement] and enhanced all of his current gear.

As he was keeping himself busy in the plane, it flew at a constant speed toward their destination, the Northern Continent.

…

One day later, the plane landed at the coastline of the Northern Continent.

Han Xiao walked down the plane. He got goosebumps from the surrounding cold air; it was freezing in the Northern Continent.

Han Xiao rubbed his palms against each other and breathed out a fog of hot air, opened the map, and said, “There are four novice villages in the Northern Continent, too. The highest level players should also advance to LV 20 soon.”

The clock was ticking. Han Xiao hurriedly asked the pilot to take off again as soon as the plane was refueled. He arrived at the first novice village in the Northern Continent very soon and was greeted with warm welcomes.

The players in the Northern Continent had been waiting for him for a long time. They had been reading about the players in the Western Continent showing off every day with envy and anticipation; it was finally their turn to show off.

Of course, the players in the Southern Continent were even more upset.

Han Xiao stood in place, and the players queued to give him money and experience points with smiles on their faces. The numbers on the interface kept growing.

Suddenly, a commotion broke out among the crowd. Hao Tian walked out of the crowd as the players around him stepped aside.

“I want to buy the Referral Letter,” Hao Tian said.

Han Xiao looked up. he recognized Hao Tian—a pro player who had around the same level of skill as Li Ge.

Hao Tian gave the money and took the referral letter, keeping an emotionless expression throughout. He took the mission and left without wasting any time.

At this time, Han Xiao heard the conversation between the surrounding players.

“Didn’t Hao Tian finish all the missions in novice village? I thought he left two days ago.”

“No, I saw him come back with my own eyes. He stayed till today.”

“Probably waiting for the mission from Black Phantom.”

“It’s not worth wasting two days for a pro player.”

“I would wait ten days if I could get the mission from Black Phantom.”

Han Xiao’s eye twinkled. Hao Tian seems like quite a good choice.

Chapter 202 - Alumera (1)

Including Hao Tian, Han Xiao had already come in contact with many pro players and given them the missions.

The way to complete the mission was through a communication device. He gave the pro players his number and email, and the mission would only be completed once they sent over the details so that he could complete his own mission. If there were any mission items that needed to be handed to Hannes, he would have to take the plane and retrieve it himself.

As compared to doing them himself, ordering highly skilled players to help him complete these missions would save him a lot of time, and he could just sit back and enjoy the profit.

Among the pro players that came to accept the missions, many had been very strong players in his previous life, and Han Tian was at the top of that list. Han Xiao was rather interested in Hao Tian, but since he had said that he would only be amazed when the mission was completed, he was patient.

Han Xiao spent most of his time on the road as he was rushing between the novice villages in the Northern Continent. During this time, he used the max level [Medium Enhancement] and upgraded his gear and improved their attributes. He also tried to build the three pieces of equipment that he had chosen, and he was rather satisfied with the results.

He was able to achieve blue quality on the first try, which meant there was a chance to reach purple quality after some practice and familiarization.

There were already players that had reached LV 19 on the level leaderboards. With Han Xiao’s pace right now, he would be able to finish all the novice villages in the Northern Continent before the first player reached LV 20.

As for Andrea, Han Xiao did not think that he would be able to make it, but he did not want to go to Andrea anyway as it was the headquarters of the Germinal Organization, which meant it was very dangerous for him. Also, the players had all been forced to leave the novice villages and were scattered around everywhere. All in all, the risk far outweighed the profit for Han Xiao.

In the Planet Aquamarine panel on the forum, players in the Northern Continent were the happiest. The second most excited were the players from Andrea—in their minds, after Black Phantom finished running through the novice villages in the Northern Continent, he would go to Andrea next.

Well, that is awkward. Han Xiao sighed.

…

The weather in the Northern Continent was cold. Its terrain mainly consisted of snowy fields and icebergs. Thin snow danced in the air, fog surrounded the mountain top, and a clear line separated the black green mountain body and the snow-covered white peak.

The third novice village was called Frost Pine Village. It was in an ice-sealed forest valley, where fierce beasts roamed.

The plane landed outside the forest, and Han Xiao crossed the forest with his Electromagnetic Hover-boots, following the radar. The beast roars from afar reminded Han Xiao that the Northern Continent was filled with beasts, and many of them were of a rather high level.

As I remembered, the Sharp Claw Ice Bears on one ice field are all high leveled, between LV 53 to 56, not including the elites or BOSS. I can meet the requirements to unlock [Lethal Shot] talent there, Han Xiao thought.

That ice field was quite far, so Han Xiao decided to head there after he finished with the novice village.

He noticed another thing as he looked at the map—the Alumera family’s territory was not far from Frost Pine Village.

Not long after, Frost Pine Village appeared in his sights. He calmed his mind, slowed down, and walked over.

…

In the woods one hundred meters away from the Frost Pine Village, a dozen or so people who were all wearing combat suit, firearms, and daggers sat in a circle arranging their equipment.

They were a combat team from Alumera, following their order to capture some Inhumans in the Frost Pine Village and bring them back for research.

The captain, Keaton, was smoking a hand-rolled cigar with a vicious face. He pulled out a blaster and said, “Everyone knows the combat plan. Don’t mess up!”

“Relax, it’s just a bunch of Inhumans, piece of cake.”

“If they dare to resist…” Keaton patted the grenade on his waist. “You don’t have to be stingy with these little toys—blow them to smithereens.”

The team started laughing.

“Also, these Inhumans look the same as normal people from the outside, so don’t capture the wrong ones.” Keaton looked at his watch and commanded the rest to stand up. “Arrange your gear. We move on my signal.”

At this time, a human-shaped shadow passed the alley outside the woods. A member pointed over and said, “Captain, there’s a passer-by over there. Is it an Inhuman?”

“Probably, there are many beasts in this forest—only Inhumans would be alone.”

“Capture this one, and we will complete the mission.”

They were eager to do it.

However, they waited for a few seconds then realized that the captain was not giving any response. They looked back and were hit with a shock.

The lips of the usual fierce and vicious Keaton were trembling in fear. His face was pale, and even the cigar dropped onto the floor.

“What’s wrong?” A member was confused.

Keaton’s gulped before saying, “The plan is canceled, leave now!”

“Why?” The team was surprised.

“That’s not an Inhuman!” Keaton said in anger. “H—he’s Black Phantom! He had a conflict with the family not long ago!”

Black Phantom!

Everyone in the team was stunned. They wanted to look over and confirm it but realized the figure was gone; the shadow had disappeared.”

However, they heard the voice of a stranger appear behind them.

“I heard you were calling me.”

Everyone was stunned. They turned around rigidly and saw a black shadow standing behind Keaton, looking at them curiously.

They felt a chill run down their spines.

Keaton was horrified. He did not notice Han Xiao move behind him. The voice from Han Xiao was almost like a clap of thunder that made his heart jump and sweat even in such cold weather.

Han Xiao raised his eyebrows. He had sensed them from afar. The reason that these armed men were this nervous in front of him was most likely that they knew his identity and had hostile motives.

“Are you going to tell me yourself, or do you want me to help you? You can try lying too.” Han Xiao bent his fingers. Seven blades flew out from the pockets on his waist and legs, floating in midair as they locked onto Keaton’s vital points.

Blue-quality Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades, their damage was based on the user’s energy usage, and they were able to form many weapon shapes while maintaining a very high attack speed. The equipment had an ability called [Revolving Slashes]. Once activated, all the blades would form a circulation like a clown throwing balls, inflicting multiple wounds at high speed. It was a great melee weapon before LV 60.

From the players’ perspective, this thing would be god tier equipment in the early stages. Han Xiao had spent more than a million experience points to be able to get this blueprint.

Keaton was terrified by the floating blades; he hurriedly listed the team’s identity and mission without leaving anything out.

When he heard that they belong to Alumera, Han Xiao’s eye twinkled. He easily understood why these people were afraid of him; he had helped Lu Cheng to attack Alumera’s territory back in the Green Valley Ville and stood against them, but when he saw the rumors on the Dark Net, Alumera only wanted to revenge Lu Cheng but did not mention him at all.

I should be their enemy—are they… scared of me?

Han Xiao was suddenly interested. He put back the Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades and said, “Go back and tell your leader that I will be visiting very soon.”

Keaton’s tight nerves loosened. He immediately ran away without daring to look back, and the rest of the team followed.

After running for a few hundred meters, out of breath, Keaton stopped and looked back. When he was sure Black Phantom had not followed them, he let out a sigh of relief. He was soaked in sweat like he had just gotten out of a pool, and his heart was beating extremely fast.

“Captain, what now?” Fear still lingered on everyone’s face.

Keaton swallowed his saliva and said, “We go and relay the message to the bosses.”

…

“Black Phantom is in the Northern Continent, and he wants to ‘visit’ us‽”

The eyes of Darryl, the leader of the Alumera family, opened wide and round like an angry bear. “We have yet to find him, and now he dares to find us first. He’s totally disrespecting us. I’m going to kill him!”

The third in command, Se Qi, was a Sharnuk. He was huge and had dark skin. “Don’t be so impulsive. He’s not to be messed with lightly. He definitely has some backing and no fear if he dares to find us alone.”

Darryl stared across. “Xiao Jin, what’s your suggestion?”

Xiao Jin pushed his monocle and said calmly, “He only said ‘visit’. If he wanted to attack us, he didn’t have to tell us. We should make contact with him and see what he wants. Maybe he’s not planning to engage combat.”

Darryl frowned and said, “I will see him myself and see how he’s going to explain killing our men!”

Chapter 203 - Alumera (2)

Frost Pine Village was a poor novice gathering point. Poor meant there were many missions; therefore, although the players had low-quality equipment, they had accumulated a lot of experience points. Many players bought abilities from Han Xiao, and they were taking photos with him from time to time. He was like a celebrity; the crowd appeared wherever he did.

Han Xiao left Frost Pine Village in a plane after staying for one day and harvesting experience points. He brought along all his equipment and went to the Alumera family.

He did not feel a sense of belonging to the family of his original body, but he was unavoidably curious about it, so he wanted to ask around about it. Since Alumera was still pursuing his original identity, Han Xiao was very interested in making contact with them.

Alumera Family, a big warlord in the Northern Continent, they were partners with Theseus. Within the planet, they have 24 colonies of which five are large territories. They are very rich; they are registered as a legal financial organization in Theseus.

They are involved in businesses, politics, and many other fields, which are controlled by different factions in the family. The Alumera family is separated into four factions internally, which consist of the home faction lead by Darryl, the Xiao faction led by Xiao Jin, the red island faction led by the third chair Se Qi, and the more relaxed local alliance northern faction.

Alumera is a warlord organization made by the alliance of organizations from dead countries, the Home faction controlled the big picture, and the other factions are under them. They took in many loose warlords and became one of the strongest warlord organization in the Northern Continent. Then they accepted the request from Theseus to be part of the government forces and acquired government backing. They have not made any big movements recently and have mostly been settling tricky problems for Theseus, especially regarding Raylen.

The situation in the Northern Continent was different from the other continents. Unlike other nations that were peaceful, the conflict between Theseus and Raylen was very intense. Killing happened very often, and soldiers, agents, and superhumans battled in secret. Hatred was deeply rooted in both nations. Theseus and Raylen were both very invasive countries, and one mountain could not fit two tigers. For more than twenty years, they had not stopped trying to defeat and erase each other.

Only recently when they decided to work together for the expedition to conquer the Germinal Organization did they pause.

Alumera’s headquarters are full of danger. They dread my identity and strength only because they have a huge influence, but I am their enemy nonetheless, so there might be a fight.

…

A large colony sat halfway up an ice-covered valley—Alumera’s headquarters. It was a great strategic location as it was easy to defend but difficult to invade. There were only two routes into the colony—one was through the mountain, and the other was by climbing the cliffs at the side—both were heavily guarded.

The mountain rocks were black-green, the snow was white, and the wind was piercing.

At the juncture on the way up the mountain, a sentinel wearing a thick cotton coat was scanning the area as usual. He then suddenly saw a shadow in the snow far away.

“Someone’s coming!” The sentinel warned his friend to stay alert. The shadow soon revealed itself fully and appeared in their sights. The sentinels straightened their faces—it was none other than Black Phantom whom the leader had ordered them to keep an eye out for.

Han Xiao’s eyes twinkled. The juncture was heavily guarded just as he expected from the intelligence that he had gathered.

He wondered what Alumera’s attitude toward him would be.

Before long, he was given the answer to that question.

After a short wait, the juncture opened, and a man surrounded by a team walked toward Han Xiao. He stopped in front of him and said with a fake smile on his face, “Mr. Black Phantom, welcome to the Alumera family. I’m Ummil, here to lead you in. Please follow me, the leaders have been expecting you.”

Well, looks like the fight will not happen so soon, and from the way he was talking, they are probably planning a Feast at Hong Gate 1 .

Sigh, how troublesome, couldn’t it just be solved by the simplest solution, violence? That wouldn’t be barbaric; it’s going back to the basics, skipping what was in between and starting the fight right off the bat. It would save everyone some time.

Time is money. Sigh, I’m already here anyway.

Han Xiao lifted the single shoulder backpack that was filled with machinery and followed Ummil up the mountain path.

The path wound among clouds, and the guards followed beside the duo as they passed one juncture after another.

Han Xiao kept a serious face all along. Ummil kept wanting to ask him questions but did not dare to because of the expression on Han Xiao’s face. He contemplated again and again, then asked with a laugh, “The leaders were very surprised when they heard you are coming. After all, there was some discord not long ago.”

“You guys are very curious about why I’m here?”

“Yes, we are not exactly friends, but since you are coming, I believe you have a friendly motive,” Ummil said.

“I’m here to look for trouble. I have yet to decide who to kill. How about we start with you?” Han Xiao asked.

“Hehe, with your strength, you wouldn’t have to visit if you wanted to kill us mid-level cadres,” Ummil said without changing his expression. “That’s not a funny joke.”

“Is that so?” Han Xiao scanned through the guards beside them. They were expressionless, their fingers were placed at the trigger at all times, and they looked cold, hard, and masculine. But the cold sweat dripping down from their sideburns and their short and rapid breathing showed that they were not as calm as they looked.

The guard captain secretly looked over and was immediately caught by Han Xiao. He looked away the next second with horror in his eyes.

“But they seem to find it funny.” Han Xiao expression resembled a smile yet not a smile. He patted the captain on the shoulder, and he clearly sensed the captain’s body tighten for a moment.

Ummil was smiling on the outside but was angry on the inside. He’s not here for a friendly reason. Not sure why he’s here.

Han Xiao squinted his eyes and asked out of the blue, “Ummil… right? What faction do you belong to, Home or the others?”

Ummil’s expression became unnatural. He coughed and said, “I’m a member of the Alumera Family, that’s all.”

Han Xiao smiled and did not say anything.

They kept silent till the door of the territory appeared in sight.

Ummil was relieved. “We’re here. The leaders are waiting for you in the hall.”

The door opened, and hundreds of soldiers came forward, staring at Han Xiao. They seemed to have confidence in numbers.

Ummil was leading the way in front. He walked very slowly on purpose to spend more time in the middle of the armed forces with the motive of planting fear in Han Xiao.

Han Xiao understood what was happening, but he was not affected. Suddenly, he saw a floating ID outside the crowd. There were players here.

Makes sense. Alumera is not far from Frost Pine Village, so some players that left the novice village will have come here. Han Xiao narrowed his eyes. There are already players in Alumera, so why are they still capturing Inhumans?

There were many possibilities. Han Xiao did not think much about it and left the thought in the back of his head. His goal was Alumera; it did not matter if there were players present.

…

“What are these soldiers gathering for?”

Dozens or so of players discussed the situation softly from afar as they looked at the crow. They all had a ‘Bamboo Rain’ before their names. They were members of the Bamboo Rain guild, a small casual guild with less than a hundred members who were all young people.

The guild leader, Bamboo Rain Fragrance, was a beautiful young girl with long hair. “They seem to be welcoming someone. Is this an unexpected event?”

“Let’s go and take a look. Maybe we can trigger some missions,” the somewhat handsome Bamboo Rain Fly said. Then he looked at the rest of the members inquiringly.

Of course, no one objected. This group of players from Bamboo Rain guild was the only players in this colony, and they had only found it by chance. There was not much information included on the maps of this place that were sold in the novice village.

The map on the player’s Interfaces was full of fog. The places would only be revealed if they went there themselves or bought a map for it.

They walked toward the crowd, and Bamboo Rain Xuan yelled with surprise, “That’s Black Phantom!”

The group was shocked. They took a closer look and confirmed they were right, then looked at each other in awe.

“Why is Black Phantom here? The people here seem to be hostile toward him.” Bamboo Rain Fragrance frowned and pondered aloud. “He just appeared in various novice villages a few days ago, so there must be a reason he’s suddenly here.”

Bamboo Rain Xuan’s eye brightened up. “This is an unexpected plotline! There might be hidden missions!”

“Lucky, I have yet to see Black Phantom. Now I can learn abilities from him without going to a novice village.”

“I remember there are some video posters looking for footage of him.”

They stopped in front of the hall as they saw Han Xiao entering it. The hall was a high-level area that was not open to them. They needed enough relationship points to enter, but Black Phantom could just go in. They were frustrated.

“Let’s all wait outside,” Bamboo Rain Fragrance said. “He might come out very soon.”

Chapter 204 - Alumera (3)

The hall’s structure reminded Han Xiao of the ancient kingdoms described in books. It was spacious with rows of chairs on both sides, and at the end was the master seat covered in the hide of a white bear. Lining the walls were guards on high alert.

The hall was filled with high ranked officials of Alumera. They turned to look at Han Xiao almost simultaneously, with coldness and hostility in their eyes.

Many of these people thought that Han Xiao had vicious intentions by coming here all of a sudden, so the majority of them disagreed with meeting the legendary killer who was possibly an enemy. They had heard of the things that Black Phantom did, and they knew that Han Xiao was elusive, so they had no idea what he would do. However, Xiao Jin said that since Han Xiao was a killer, it would be safer to meet him face to face.

There were guards in the halls as well, all of whom were ready to pull the trigger any time. Superhumans also hid in the dark, which gave the high ranked officials of Alumera some sense of security.

“Black Phantom.” Darryl, who sat in the master seat, waved his hands casually. “Give him a seat.”

A guard pulled a chair over and placed it in the middle of the hall like it was for an integration. Han Xiao knew that they were trying to plant fear in him. He had come alone, and Alumera definitely wanted to stand their ground.

Han Xiao did not care. He placed the enormous single shoulder backpack on the floor and sat down steadily. “Don’t you want to introduce yourselves?”

“Stop acting,” Darryl said coldly. “You’ve definitely already gone through our data in the Dark Net.”

Han Xiao scanned the Alumera members in the hall and noticed something quite interesting. These high ranked officials were seated separately. The ones belonging to the Home Faction sat around Darryl, while Xiao Jin, Sen Qi, and the North Faction all sat separately. This detail showed that there was some strong conflict within Alumera.

There were also a few very strong hidden presences around. Han Xiao was guessing that if the meeting went bad, he would be attacked in a split second… which of course would not be a problem for him.

Most of Han Xiao’s attention was on Xiao Jin and the members of his faction—he was scanning through them discreetly.

These were the family of his original body, and they had almost killed him.

Bang!

Suddenly, Darryl slammed the chair handle and yelled, “In Green Valley Ville, you attacked our territory and killed our men. What’s your explanation for that‽”

The atmosphere tensed up immediately. Those strong presences started to tense up as well, and the other factions were acting indifferent. Only the home faction was full of hostility.

Han Xiao remembered that he had killed one of Xiao Jin’s foster sons, but Xiao Jin had a poker face. Han Xiao could not figure out what he was thinking.

“So what if I killed them? If you’re not happy about that, fight me.” Han Xiao’s expression resembled a smile but not a smile.

Darryl could not believe that Han Xiao was so arrogant in his territory. He was almost shocked for one second, then it turned into rage. “You—”

Before he finished his sentence, Han Xiao suddenly said, “You worked with the Germinal Organization. I won’t be the only one that comes looking for trouble with you—the Six Nations will, too.”

The crowd was stunned.

Working with the Germinal Organization? Since when?

Darryl forced the shouting down his throat and suppressed his anger as much as he could. “What are you talking about? We have never worked with the Germinal Organization.”

“Zero, whom the Germinal Organization is offering an enormous sum for, was a member of your family,” Han Xiao replied. “How do you explain that?”

Darryl suddenly realized why Black Phantom attacked them for no reason—it was because he had mistaken them for having a connection with the Germinal Organization. The team that was searching for Han Xiao might have been discovered by Black Phantom when they passed by the Green Valley Ville.

Having heard that the Germinal Organization was Black Phantom’s enemy, Darryl realized that he had found the cause of the questions he was searching for. He shook his head and said, “You’re wrong. The wanted Zero is vice leader Xiao Jin’s second son, Han Xiao.”

Han Xiao frowned. He looked at Darryl discreetly with eyes that were filled with unspoken meanings.

Darryl continued speaking. “But Han Xiao is already not related to us. Furthermore, the Germinal Organization putting a reward for Han Xiao means he’s their enemy; there are more reasons for us not to be working with the Germinal Organization.”

It seemed like Alumera wanted to cut their ties. Han Xiao’s eyes twinkled as he slowly lured words out of their mouth. He purposely acted as if he was speaking in a very serious manner and said, “I believe, with the intelligence of the Germinal Organization, they definitely knew Han Xiao belonged to you. You are the best clue they have. Why wouldn’t the Germinal Organization contact you?”

Darryl’s face was stunned. “They really didn’t contact us.”

“You think I’ll believe that? Do you think the Six Nations’ intelligence organizations will believe that?” Han Xiao said coldly. “There are too many suspicious parts to the story. I can only assume that you are helping the Germinal Organization find the wanted man, and there’s even a possibility that that wanted man was sent by you to do things for the Germinal Organization.”

Darryl frowned and said, “That’s is completely not true. There’s more to this.”

“I would like to hear what more there is then.”

Han Xiao had no fear. His attitude made Darryl clench his teeth. For the family’s sake, they had to cut ties with the Germinal Organization very clearly. The war between the Six Nations and the Germinal Organization was about to break out, so if they were misunderstood, Alumera would be in a dire situation.

Although Han Xiao had come alone, Darryl did not dare do anything to him. After all, he was Black Phantom; with his identity and strength, the fact that he was there might even have been an order from the Dark Net. If they killed him, the Dark Net would become their enemy, and it would prove the fact that they were working with the Germinal Organization.

Most importantly, Black Phantom was unfathomable. The people in the headquarters had no confidence in killing him, and finding out if they could was not worth the risk.

Therefore, at this point of time, Darryl could only endure the arrogance of Han Xiao. He stared at Xiao Jin with a fierce look; he felt this was all caused by Xiao Jin. Therefore, he spun his eyes and said loudly, “Okay, Leader Xiao, you shall tell him the details.”

Xiao Jin looked at Darryl faintly. He turned his head and said, “Xiao Hai, tell him.”

A handsome young man walked out from behind Xiao Jin, his expression rather vicious.

Xiao Hai, the first and best son of Xiao Jin, partly in charge of the Xiao Faction.

He was someone with actual political power, and Xiao Jin had raised him to take his place.

“One year ago, I was guarding a convoy of supplies and was attacked midway. Han Xiao went missing. I have no clue what happened to him afterward,” Xiao Hai said coldly.

This time, a leader from the Northern Faction said, “More details, please. Our guest doesn’t seem to believe it.”

Xiao Hai let out a grunt and said, “The attackers came for me. Han Xiao is my brother, so I made him look like me and divided their attention as bait—only then I could escape successfully. I went back searching with more troops afterward, but we weren’t able to find him.”

Han Xiao raised his eyebrows. “So, you let your little brother die for you. Was he willing to?”

“What do you think?” Xiao Hai was already annoyed.

The crowd chatted among themselves, eyes with all kinds of different emotions fixed upon Xiao Hai.

“That is what happened,” Darryl said. “We can show you more evidence, and whether you believe it or not, we have no relationship with the Germinal Organization.”

Han Xiao nodded. He had already received the information he needed—what happened to the original owner of this body and the attitude of his family toward him.

When he mentioned the original owner of this body, the people in the Xiao faction treated it like it was a stranger. This was especially so for Xiao Hai, who did not show even a shred of remorse toward killing his own little brother, and Xiao Jin had no problem with that.

In conclusion, the original owner of the body was not loved by anyone; everyone treated him like nothing.

You had a pretty hard life, Han Xiao thought.

The people in the hall suddenly realized something.

What happened to controlling the situation?

When did it become Black Phantom interrogating us?

This is our territory—what about our dignity?

Chapter 205 - Assassination!

“You killed my foster son,” Xiao Jin suddenly said.

“This is a private matter chieftain Xiao,” Han Xiao replied. “Let’s discuss it privately.”

“Sure.” Xiao Jin nodded.

The crowd’s eyes twinkled. Black Phantom’s reply to the same matter was completely different.

Darryl showed unhappiness on his face but did not say anything.

Han Xiao turned his head to look at Darryl and said, “It’s late. You don’t mind if I stay the night, right?”

“Xiao Jin, take care of him, meeting dismissed.” Darryl stood up and walked out.

The crowd walked pass Han Xiao with different expressions on their faces.

A man walked up to Han Xiao, smiled, and said, “I’m Xiao Ming, a foster son of Leader Xiao. I will be taking care of you during your stay. Please follow me.”

Han Xiao looked around and realized that Ummil, who had brought him here, was missing. The internal conflict in Alumera is really very severe.

The tense atmosphere in the hall earlier on further proved his point.

With such thoughts in his mind, Han Xiao walked out of the hall. Suddenly, a dozen or so players surrounded him with excitement on their faces. They were all from the Bamboo Rain guild. Bamboo Rain Xuan enabled the recording functions.

“We want to learn abilities,” Bamboo Rain Fragrance said.

Han Xiao surely would not miss out on an opportunity to earn some experience points, so he casually opened the ability interface.

Xiao Ming, who was standing on the side, asked in surprise, “Do you know them?”

Han Xiao shook his head.

“Black Phantom seems to be very popular among the Inhumans.” The Alumera members who happened to pass by noticed this, and they were rather surprised.

The Bamboo Rain Guild wanted to trigger missions, but Han Xiao did not make any other interactions. He walked away after stopping for a few seconds.

“It’s an unexpected plotline, but there’s no mission.” Bamboo Rain Fly was confused.

“Seems like my recording has nothing of interest,” Bamboo Rain Xuan said in frustration.

…

Xiao Ming arranged a room for Han Xiao. Although Han Xiao’s attitude in the morning had made many of the high ranked officials very angry, he did explain the source of his hostility. Therefore, the atmosphere was not all that tense.

That night, Xiao Jin invited Han Xiao to his mansion with the purpose of discussing compensation.

Upon arriving at the place, Han Xiao realized that Xiao Jin’s children were all gathered around, including Xiao Hai and other brothers and sisters. However, the foster kids were not there.

Xiao Jin had the same expressionless face as he had in the day, unpredictable.

Han Xiao was looking at Xiao Jin and his children, and these people were looking at him, too.

“What compensation do you want.” Han Xiao looked at Xiao Jin and put on a smile that did not really look like a smile.

“It’s his bad luck that he died.” Xiao Jin’s expression was cold. To him, foster children were just assistants and tools.

“Then why did you invite me here?” Han Xiao raised an eyebrow.

“There are no bad sides to getting to know a famous killer.”

Han Xiao could not figure out Xiao Jin’s motive, maybe it was just to build a relationship, maybe there were other motives, anyway Han Xiao was interested in making more contact with the family of his original body owner so he could lure more information out of their mouth.

They chatted casually, talking about all sorts of things. Xiao Hai and his siblings said a word or two once in a while, and the atmosphere was peaceful. Xiao Hai was the leader of the siblings; one could feel a sense of adoration when the siblings talked to him, but Xiao Hai did not react to it, as if that was the norm.

One hour had passed without anyone’s notice. Han Xiao suddenly frowned and said, “I’m very interested in Han Xiao. Let’s talk more about him.”

The atmosphere suddenly turned cold. Xiao Jin put the cup down and said slowly, “He’s my son. He has always been incompetent, but I didn’t think he would become wanted by the Germinal Organization.”

“I thought he’s dead for sure,” Xiao Hai said. “No wonder they say scourges last for thousand years; he’s still bringing us trouble.”

Han Xiao pointed at himself and said, “You mean I’m trouble?”

Xiao Hai gave a cold laugh and said, “Are you not?”

With a light cough, Xiao Jin said, “It’s getting late,”

“Indeed, it is.” Han Xiao stood up and left.

Xiao Ming brought him back to his room. He passed a stack of documents to Han Xiao as he walked through the door. “This is Han Xiao’s information. Father had told me to give it to you.”

Han Xiao nodded and accepted it.

As soon as Han Xiao entered the room, he checked every corner of it thoroughly. There had been three monitoring devices before he left, and now there was one more. He shook his head and used a program to crack it once again. After he was done with that, only then did he start reading the documents, from which he gained a deeper understanding of the original owner of his body. He was basically a nobody, and he did not hear about any NPC called ‘Han Xiao’ in his previous life either.

“Sigh.”

Han Xiao shook his head. He had made contact with Alumera to know more about the original owner of his body, and he had already achieved that. Whether it was Alumera’s attitude or their internal problems, none of that mattered to him because it had nothing to do with him, and his so-called hostility was just a form of showing his strong stand.

Alumera was already sucking it up and did not want to become his enemy, so Han Xiao would be stupid to kill their people in their headquarters. There was no benefit to creating another enemy for himself for no reason.

Once Alumera knows I’m ‘Xiao Han’, I wonder how they will react.

Han Xiao put the documents aside, lay on the bed, and closed his eyes. He planned to leave the next day.

…

At midnight in Darryl’s mansion…

“It’s all because of that asshole Xiao Jin that Alumera has been sucked into this. That asshole has been building on his power with no worries at all. He’s obviously trying to seize power. However, the North Faction is my ally, and Se Qi’s Red Island Faction has always been neutral. What does he have to be up against me?” Darryl clenched his teeth.

When Alumera was created, it had been peaceful internally, but when the size of the organization started to snowball, conflicts started to happen. As the master of the house, the Home Faction gained most benefits and were in the middle of the conflict. Although all the factions followed the orders on the surface, they all had the ambitions to take over and seize power.

Luckily, after all these long years of partnership, they were all connected to each other deeply, so none of them dared do anything too over the line. A murder was nearly impossible to happen. Even if there was one, it was planned in secret.

Xiao Jin posed the largest threat, and Darryl was the one who secretly planned the attack on Xiao Hai, which sadly failed. They had only managed to kill Han Xiao, who did not matter at all.

Who would have thought that after one year, the Han Xiao who nobody cared about would become a wanted person with an outrageous reward from the Germinal Organization and bring the family such a horrifying enemy?

Thinking back now, Darryl was filled with regret.

At this time, Darryl’s son, Lagos, walked in and said, “Father, Black Phantom has left Xiao Jin’s mansion. The meeting lasted for one hour and thirty-seven minutes.”

“Xiao Jin is becoming more unbridled. Now he even dares meet Black Phantom privately without my consent.” Darryl was enraged.

“What do we do, just let Black Phantom leave?”

“Don’t mess with him.”

“But he dared to be this arrogant in our territory.” Lagos was unconvinced.

“I said don’t mess with him!” Darryl slammed the table in a rage and shouted, “Get out!”

Lagos clenched his teeth and closed the door after he walked out. The moment he turned his head, his expression turned vicious.

…

As the sky started to brighten, loud noises woke Han Xiao up, who was in a light sleep.

He jumped out of the bed and looked outside through the window. Alumera members were yelling and rushing somewhere.

“What happened?” Han Xiao asked in confusion.

Footsteps closed in rapidly, and dozens of soldiers surrounded the room with guns.

“Black Phantom, don’t move!” one of the captains shouted.

These soldiers’ mission was to control him. They were all in a state of nervousness that could pull the trigger wrongly anytime. Han Xiao saw the people outside running in another direction.

Seems like something has happened, but it’s not about me. Han Xiao squinted his eyes and watched things unfold.

Not long after, the captain seemed like he had received an order. He yelled, “Come with us!”

Han Xiao wanted to know what had happened, too, so he followed the nervous soldiers. To his surprise, they went to Darryl’s mansion.

It was already extremely crowded; the high-ranking officials from all the factions had come. They were looking furiously at Han Xiao, and the latter was rather confused.

Han Xiao only discovered what had happened after he walked into the mansion.

In the office, Darryl sat on the chair with his head facing up, a bloody blue hole on his left eye, penetrating through the back of his head. The blood on the wooden floor had already coagulated, and the metallic smell of blood filled the room. The dead body’s hands hung from the shoulders, and the legs pushed against the table, holding him on his chair.

The leader of Alumera had been assassinated!

“Cause of death: gunshot. The bullet entered through the eye into the brain, penetrating and leaving through the back of his head. He would have died on the spot. From the size of the bullet hole, the killer used a high caliber handgun, and the leader did not show any sign of resistance. There are no clues at the scene that showed any signs of the killer ever being here.”

Han Xiao suddenly understood why the others were looking at him that way.

Darryl died in the night, and being the killer who came without invitation, he was the most suspicious. Also, the killer used a high caliber handgun, and the assassination-style was phantom-like.

There were too many coincidences.

He was being framed!

Han Xiao blinked. He took out a cigarette from the pocket, lighted it up, and inhaled deeply, blowing out a smoke ring in the face of the surrounding nervous soldiers.

“Now this is interesting.”

Chapter 206 - The Real Killer (One)

The soldiers surrounded the place securely. The high ranked officials had different expressions, the home faction was furious, Xiao Jin’s faction was frowning with confusion on their faces, Red Island Faction lead by Se Qi and the Northern Faction all had surprise on their faces, they couldn’t believe it.

“Get him!” Lagos’s face was twisted.

Xiao Jin frowned and stopped him, “there’s more to this, Black Phantom visited us in bright daylight, there’s no need for him to do such thing.”

“What if that’s exactly what he made us think!” One of the chieftains of the Northern Faction said.

“Then why did he have to visit us, it’s more discreet to assassinate him.” Xiao Jin said.

“Our guarding power is strong, he wanted to get in!” Someone said.

“He’s the killer, and you still want to find excuses for him?!” Lagos was emotional, he took out his gun and pointed at Han Xiao, Se Qi who stood on his side hurriedly stopped him.”

“Calm down, there’s no motive for Black Phantom to do this—”

“Motive?!” Lagos was enraged, he stared at Xiao Jin, clenched his teeth and said, “is there no motive?”

Xiao Jin frowned and said, “you’re overthinking.”

The Northern Faction and the Home Faction agreed they should first control Black Phantom who was the most suspicious, then get on to find more clues. Se Qi felt Black Phantom was too dangerous, and suggested to question Han Xiao on the spot, but was interrupted by Lagos who believed they couldn’t trust anything Black Phantom says, they were unable to come to an agreement.

The soldiers surrounded Han Xiao, many strong presences in the dark were locking their attention on him, and the high ranked officials also had their attention on Han Xiao even as they were discussing, they were ready to engage the moment Han Xiao does anything suspicious.

Han Xiao thought to himself, “the result of framing me to take responsibility for the assassination is a conflict between Alumera and the Dark Net, only the third party will benefit from it. Could this be the goal of the people behind all this? If I start a killing spree, it would also fall right into his trap, it was planned for me to be in such a situation where my actions are very restricted.”

Han Xiao could kill his way out anytime, he didn’t care about making Alumera angry, but if he did it, it would be falling into the trap of the people behind this, as escaping would mean he admitted he was the killer, and killing someone creates hatred, he also could not just let them capture him. It seemed like the plan made by the person behind this had worked.

“I’ve only been here for one day, and they could make the assassination look like I did it, there has to be someone who’s an expert in assassination that has been here for a long time, and my arrival had given them the opportunity.”

Unless they could find the real killer, no matter how many things showed that Han Xiao had no motive to do it, he would still be the most suspicious person without any solid evidence that proves otherwise. After all, no one can truly know someone else unless they can read their mind, logical assumptions could not be taken as evidence.

“Wait, evidence—” Han Xiao had a flash of insight, it hasn’t been long since Delo was assassinated, the crime scene was not checked thoroughly yet, the killer might have left some clues.

This time, the discussion between the high ranked officials had come to an end, Lagos yelled, “Black Phantom, disarm yourself and surrender!”

Xiao Jin added, “if you didn’t do it, we will investigate clearly.”

Han Xiao smiled, “you know that’s impossible, how about you guys disarm yourselves?”

Both parties couldn’t trust each other, there was no way they would take the risk of disarming themselves, it was a problem that had no solution. However, Han Xiao had a thought, “there’s no point of continuing this argument, I can stay temporarily, and you can send people to monitor me 24/7, I will wait till you find the truth.” He said.

Han Xiao was very curious about who was framing him, he felt it was quite interesting.

“Well, that is one way to do it.” Se Qi said immediately, he wasn’t wishing for a conflict.

Before Lagos said anything, someone in the crowd suddenly fired his gun, Han Xiao reacted quickly and activated the Magnetically-Controlled Retractable Armor, the bullet was deflected.

However, this had made the soldiers who were all in a highly nervous state lose their control and all fired at the same time.

“Fire!”

Conflict broke out in an instant!

“Someone fired unexpectedly on purpose!” Han Xiao’s eyes became serious, the scene was chaotic, but he saw the person who made the shot clearly, it was an ordinary soldier.

Bullets emerged from every direction, Han Xiao had no choice by to deal with the shootings first, the enhanced Magnetically-Controlled Retractable Armor had an outstanding level of defence, the bullets only made sparks on the armor and couldn’t penetrate through.

Energy flow through his body and went into a circular metal plate on his had, the Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades was activated, seven sharp blades flew out of the pockets and shot out like a storm. Many soldiers’ gun muzzle was cut off, they backed off in horror and bumped into other soldiers on the exteriors.

The firepower of the enemy started weakening, just as Han Xiao was about to go for the soldier who made the first shot, the superhuman guards hidden in the dark acted.

“Hong!”

Suddenly, a fire appeared in the crowd, not one, but four. Three Pugilists, one Esper that could turn his entire body into fire, all pounced towards Han Xiao at the same time.

Fists covered in fire smashed down hard.

“Bang!”

Cracks spread out on the originally standing flow, the walls started to crack open as well, Han Xiao made it in time and jumped up in the air. Suddenly, Han Xiao faced a heat wave coming towards him, the person covered in fire straightened his arms, a snake-like pillar of fire flew towards Han Xiao.

Usually, one has nowhere to escape to during mid-air, but Han Xiao was an exception. He immediately switched on the [Mini Maneuvering Equipment]on his waist, the boxes on the edge of the belt made a turbo-like sound and shot out a jet stream of air, the belt emitted a strong force, almost like an invisible hand pulling Han Xiao to the side.

The fire snake slid by his back and hit the wall, creating a large scorch black hole.

“Level 46, 48, 49, three Pugilists, and one Esper at level 45, all Grade D superhumans, these should be the high tier power in Alumera.”

If it was before, he would have had some troubles, but now that all his skills were at max level, he was much stronger, it wouldn’t be much of a problem for him even if he didn’t wear his mechanical suit. In fact, he was more concerned about the soldier who fired first, but he realised that the young soldier was killed in the previous round of chaotic shootings.

Han Xiao felt a thump in his heart, he didn’t believe this would be an accident.

“Seems like the people who framed me are deeply rooted in Alumera, they saw me taking a step back and decided to attack me on purpose, to cause a conflict.”

With these thoughts, Han Xiao had more clues, he put the thoughts away and focused on dealing with the four superhumans and the soldiers. He spun his hands, the revolving blades covered him like a protecting storm, slashing almost ten times per second, inflicting wounds on the three pugilists who were just closing in. Everywhere he walked past, the weapons of the soldiers were cut into pieces, he used this sort of weapon in his previous life before, it didn’t need much practice, he was a pro in it instantly. He purposely held back and didn’t kill anyone.

Magnetically-Controlled Retractable Armor, Electromagnetic Skateboard Shoes and other equipment he carried around all the time, all went through [Precised Enhancing Modification], their attributes became much stronger. Han Xiao’s own combat power had also peaked due to all his skills being at max level. Han Xiao didn’t even need Viper·Modified to deal with these four superhumans that had a lower level than him, he only needed Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades as a close range combat weapon to defeat them.

Han Xiao’s health had reached 3800 points, not far from a Pugilist of the same level, and he also had the Magnetically-Controlled Retractable Armor, he was very tanky.

On the other side, members of the Bamboo Rain Guild witnessed Han Xiao defeating a group of soldiers and four superhumans, Bamboo Rain Guild recorded them with excitement.

“That, is a recording that has the potential to go viral.”

Bamboo Rain Fly said in surprise, “I thought Black Phantom was their guest, but from what they are saying, it seemed like Black Phantom killed their leader. I made a scan just now, all four NPCs that are fighting Black Phantom have a danger level of [Extremely Dangerous], what they say in the forums are right, Black Phantom is at the top tier in terms of strength even amongst the NPCs.”

Bamboo Rain Morning Wind rolled his eyes and said, “you don’t say, which NPC that gives main storyline missions are not strong?”

“Shhh——” Bamboo Rain Fragrance made a hand sign of asking them to keep quiet, she stared at the scene and said, “keep quiet and watch the storyline.”

…

The destruction power of superhumans far exceeded normal people, the entire mansion collapsed in the heated battle, the high ranked officials had already escaped in rage and nervousness. More superhumans were on their way here, they definitely could kill Black Phantom, if these four guards were able to stall him that is.

Blades slashed open the fire, iron fists clashed against the armor. Han Xiao moved around with horrifyingly high mobility, the four superhumans could only barely hit him despite putting in all their efforts. Han Xiao purposely faked an opportunity for them to attacked and lured one of the Pugilists to a close range, then used the Thermo-electrical Incisor Gloves to counter-attack and defeated one person first. He then used the blades to form a storm and slashed wounds all over the fire-controlling Esper, his Magnetically-Controlled Retractable Armor had very good heat insulating abilities, fire dealt very limited damage to him.

The two people left soon had an even harder time dealing with Han Xiao.

“Whoosh.”

The blades slashed open the flesh of the Pugilist and shot out through his body, causing blood to shoot out from the wounds, this Pugilist ended up twitching on the floor with heavy injury and was unable to move.

“Shit!” Lagos was shocked, Black Phantom defeated the four guards in much shorter time he expected before the backup could arrive. The scene was now filled with broken bricks and ruins, no one could stop Black Phantom anymore.

If he were to start a killing spree, many of the high ranked officials would die.

Whoosh! A blade hovered before Lagos, he backed up in terror, but the blades followed him like a shadow, till Lagos fell on the ground with afraid and anger on his face.

It was at this time Han Xiao kept the blades back, he wiped off the blood on his face and said coldly, “I can kill you people, but that would be falling right into the trap of someone else, our terms remain unchanged, I can stay till you find out the truth, but if you insist on capturing me, I don’t mind to gift you a few slashes.”

His fingers turned inwards as he was saying, the blades danced in the air and formed a flower shape, the motive of threatening was clear.

Chapter 207 - The Real Killer (Two)

“You—” Lagos clenched his teeth in anger.

Before he could say anything, Xiao Jin cut in and said, “we accept your terms, I personally believe the assassination had nothing to do with you, it’s a conspiracy intended to spark conflict between both parties.”

The high ranked officials agreed in silence, Black Phantom was even stronger than the rumors said he was, he defeated the strongest people in the headquarters without even using his sniping style which he was known for. These people were not weak, but they paled in comparison to Black Phantom, they were not on the same level.

The backup finally arrived at this time, Xiao Jin immediately ordered the soldiers to keep their weapons, showing sincerity on their side.

Seeing so, Han Xiao kept his weapons too and walked towards where he resided in, the nervous crowd split up and opened a path.

Xiao Jin gave Lagos a faint look, then turned his head and ordered, “clean the scene up.”

Lagos was filled with fury, one of the high ranked officials from the Home Faction helped him to get up but was pushed away instantly.

“He could’ve killed us, but he insisted he’s not the killer, should be trustworthy.” Se Qi whispered.

“Naive!” Lagos said coldly, “if he kills us, all of Alumera will become enemy with the Dark Net till the very end, he’s doing this so we won’t suspect him!”

…

Having returned to Han Xiao’s residence, the interface showed a notification.

[You have triggered an urgent mission[The Real Killer]]

[Mission Introduction: You are framed and dragged into a conspiracy, becoming a chess piece used by the people behind this.]

[Mission Requirement/s: Confirm the real killer and accomplish the mission, you have only one chance.]

Reward/s: Random ability or talent x 1]

Han Xiao’s eyes twinkled, “it’s a puzzle type mission, with only one chance.”

There were many types of missions, the puzzle type was rather common, some required the players to collect clues like a detective, sometimes the clue would be provided, but it was all rather vague, the final decision was to be made by the players.

There was no notification after quite a long wait, Han Xiao guessed this mission belonged to the latter type of puzzle mission, with Alumera’s suspicion towards him, he probably would not be able to find out any clue.

“It’s best to wait and see.” Han Xiao thought.

At the same time, Bamboo Rain Guild triggered a different mission.

“[A Shocking Change in Alumera]: The leader of Alumera was murdered, Black Phantom who came to visit out of nowhere became the biggest suspect, but he claimed to not be the killer and suppressed objections with his raw strength. Alumera might seem to have submitted, but some factions still strongly believed Black Phantom is the killer, what information is hidden within?”

“There are five stands you can take on: Black Phantom, Home Faction, Xiao Faction, Red Island Faction and the Northern Faction, changes cannot be made after choosing.”

“Reward/s: Rewards will be given based on different stands and contribution, the basic reward is 50,000 experience points!”

Bamboo Rain Fly exclaimed in shock. “at least 50 thousand experience points!”

50 thousand experience points were an extremely large amount for them, there really always were benefits wherever Black Phantom went.

“What position will you guys be choosing?”

“Black Phantom for me.”

“Me too.”

Everyone agreed, they didn’t know Alumera very well, and Han Xiao just defeated all of Alumera’s military power, it was obvious following Han Xiao would be the most reliable.

Players of Bamboo Rain Guild approached Han Xiao and expressed their willingness to help.

Han Xiao was surprised, he thought about it and guessed that these players probably received different missions, with a different identity, the mission requirements that were triggered would be different as well. Usually, in an area where something happened, missions would be triggered.

“Follow me then.”

…

In a corner somewhere, two people were talking to each other.”

“The conflict did not happen, our man died for nothing.”

“The intelligence said Black Phantom was a serial murderer, but he held back this time, what a misstep.”

“Luckily the clues have been destroyed, as long as the truth cannot be found, Black Phantom would still be the biggest suspect.”

…

Next day, the Home Faction hosted a simple funeral for Delo, the atmosphere within Alumera became more and tenser in the next few days. Everyone seemed busy, when they looked at each other, their eyes were filled with unknown emotions.

However, Han Xiao had become almost invisible, it was like all the factions forgot he was even here, no one approached him except for the full 24 hours of surveillance.

After chasing the players of Bamboo Rain Guild away to seek information, Han Xiao stayed in the room with a calm mind, he had expected this to happen.

He was an outsider, and the biggest suspect, but Alumera didn’t have the confidence to deal with him so they could only leave him alone. Even if Han Xiao wanted to look for clues, none of the faction would give him any, all he could do was wait.

But the wait was not meaningless, the factions had started their own investigation and plans.

Han Xiao was thinking, Delo died very coincidentally, what good would it do to frame him for killing Delo? Firstly, creating hatred between Alumera and Dark Net would only benefit the third party.

Secondly, there were other motives for killing Delo, and he was just used as a very good excuse since with his strength and identity, it was easy to frame. If the real killer framed him to hide, then his identity would most likely be a party that would benefit from this — which has the highest possibility to be other factions other than the Home Faction.

Han Xiao remembered that the internal conflict within Alumera was very serious, killing Delo could very likely be an act to seize power within the family, then framing him to be the biggest suspect.

But going back to the first possibility, the real killer would still be the third party, which also made sense in the second possibility — creating conflict between the Home Faction and other factions, leading to Alumera collapsing internally.

“Sigh, I don’t want to think anymore.” Han Xiao rubbed his eyebrows.

Anyway, it didn’t matter who the real killer was, he stood undefeatable, as long as he doesn’t make any move, only the real killer would become more and more stressed. There was no way this mission would be a long term one, the impact of Delo dying would surface in a very short time, and by then, there would definitely be someone who would unintentionally leave some clues.

…

In one mansion, the high ranked officials of the Home Faction gathered, the atmosphere was intense.

“Leader has died, who is going to be in charge now?” A tall and muscular man said, he is Delo’s younger brother, Todd.

“Me,” Lagos said coldly.

Todd forced a fake smile and said, “Lagos, I don’t think that is suitable.”

“What do you mean?” Lagos frowned and said.

“You should call me uncle.” Todd said in a more serious tone, “the lead—my older brother passed away, we are all family here, I should be the one in charge according to precedence.”

“Humph, only a few days since father has died, and you’re already seizing power, aren’t you too impatient?”

Lagos said in a mocking tone, “don’t blame me for not warning you but, without father’s suppression, Xiao Jin, Se Qi and others are all making their plans, the position of the leader is now vacant, who knows what they will do. They may look like they were filled with sadness and regret during the funeral, but they were probably laughing uncontrollably in their hearts.”

Todd laughed sneered and said, “don’t say it like that, I was worried you’d make mistakes because you’re inexperienced, but since you think you can do it, uncle shall not compete with you. Now tell us, what do you plan to do next?”

Lagos grunted and ignored Todd’s tone, “our top priority now is to find out who killed father,” he said.

Todd frowned, he felt the priority should be suppressing the ambitions of other factions and regain control of Alumera, but it was inappropriate to express such feelings in front of the high ranked officials of Home Faction, therefore he followed with the topic and asked, “any clues?”

Lagos said coldly, “Black Phantom is the most suspicious, nothing he says can be trusted, I have already informed some people to contact the strongest killers and mercenaries, once they arrive, we won’t have to be afraid anymore, we will just capture Black Phantom and interrogate him. I have spent a large sum this time, the people who are coming are all famously strong!”

“Maybe it really wasn’t Black Phantom.” Someone whispered.

Lagos stared over and said coldly, “then it has to be Xiao Jin, that asshole is very ambitious, he has been under father for so many years and he’s definitely not satisfied with it. Right, I heard Black Phantom stayed in Xiao Jin’s mansion the night the assassination happened, maybe Xiao Jin hired Black Phantom with a huge sum to assassinate father, then put on a show together to fool the others.”

Everyone was shocked.

Chapter 208 - The Real Killer (Three)

“If Xiao Jin really worked together with Black Phantom, then the situation is very bad. It would mean he controls a very strong force, he could even seize power with raw strength.” Someone said.

Todd shook his head and said, “they won’t dare to, if something happens in the headquarters and high ranked officials of all the factions are slaughtered, our men in other places would revenge the enemy till their death, Xiao Jin is not stupid. Also Black Phantom is an outsider, and according to the rules, an outsider cannot interfere with our internal changes.

Lagos sneered and said, “foolish, how would you know Xiao Jin didn’t find a better place to go? Is there no organization behind him? His heart might not even belong to Alumera anymore!”

…

With his eyes closed, Xiao Jin asked, “what’s happening in the Home Faction?”

“Lagos is in charge of everything now, they are currently investigating Delo’s death but has yet to make any progress. By the way, Delo’s mansion was destroyed by Black Phantom during the battle, and so were the clues.”

Xiao Jin paused what he was doing and asked, “who ordered to bring Black Phantom to the scene?”

“The team leader that went to keep Black Phantom in control is called Miri, he was killed by stray bullets during the scrimmage on the day.”

“Stray bullets…” Xiao Jin shook his head, “what is Black Phantom doing?” He asked.

“He did not act.”

“Intelligent choice.” Xiao Jin nodded and said, “before the truth about Delo’s assassination is unveiled, no faction is willing to approach him, anyone that does will become a mutual target of the rest.”

Xiao Hai said, “the inhumans are working for him, I still do not know why he can easily order the inhumans.”

“Leave him alone, he can’t be the real killer.”

After a pause, Xiao Jin asked, “What is the Red Island Faction and Northern Faction doing?”

“They are working with the Home Faction to investigate for clues.”

Xiao Jin rubbed his temple and let out a sigh, 'sigh, dogs that bite surely don’t bark…”

…

Se Qi sat in the office, he pulled down all the curtains and made a call and said in a very quiet voice.

“Major General, what should we do now?”

“What are your thoughts?”

“Delo is dead, the leader’s position became vacant, there must be a vote for a successor, I will be entering as a candidate, hope you can give me support.”

“Sure, I will use my relationship network to help you gain votes of the high ranked officials, when you control Alumera, remember how you got there, don’t forget our promise.”

“Definitely.”

Se Qi let out a sigh of relief as he hung up the phone, a vicious and hideous smile appeared on his face, the skin lines of a Sharnuk wrinkled together.

…

Han Xiao was patient, he stayed in the room every day while the players from Bamboo Rain Guild helped him to gather intelligence, it wasn’t much, but at least he was not totally uninformed.

As rewards, Han Xiao was not petty in giving missions to the players in Bamboo Rain Guild — then earning their experience points by opening his ability shop, he was making a fortune one way or another.

As mentioned before, as long as Han Xiao’s ability level is higher than the player, learning the ability again would increase its level. The Great Technician Han’s abilities were all at max level, it was more than enough for this requirement. Players in Bamboo Rain Guild continuously spent experience points in his ability shop, they were willing to pay the price and Han Xiao was willing to let them.

“My Basic Combat is at max level.” Bamboo Rain Fly triumphed in happiness, the other guild members all came to check out its attributes.

Bamboo Rain Xuan said in sadness, “mine is only at level seven.”

Bamboo Rain Fragrance smiled and said, “that’s because you sleep for so long every day, and are online for too short.”

These players did not restrict themselves in what they were saying, and Han Xiao heard everything. He had noticed something magical, when the players are talking to each other, the system would usually censor any content that had anything to do with it being a game, but he could hear it, it was definitely because of the interface.

Ta, ta, ta ——

A steady footstep closed in.

Peng, the door was pushed open, dozens of soldiers stood outside, Lagos stood in the crowd with his hands behind his back and said coldly, “Black Phantom, we suspect that you worked together with Xiao Jin to kill my father, now get up and come with us!”

“Where did you get the confidence from?| Han Xiao raised his eyebrows, Lagos kept a low profile for so many days, now that he suddenly engages, he must have found help.”

As expected, Lagos sneered and stepped back, two people stepped out of the crowd, one man and one woman.

‘I see.” Han Xiao patted his pants and stood up, 'seems like you spent quite a lot of money,” he said calmly.

The man and woman were a married couple, Luann and Vanessa, legends of the mercenary society, with a position similar to Han Xiao’s in the killer society. Their strength was also at the peak of the third tier in Planet Aquamarine, they lived all the way till version 2.0.

Lagos had people contact them secretly, many rejected as soon as they heard they had to fight Black Phantom, they didn’t dare to become enemies with Han Xiao. Those who came had absolute confidence, he had investigated thoroughly this time, he knew these two people were on the same level as Han Xiao, and it would be most safe to hire both of them together. Black Phantom definitely could not defeat them head-on.

Lagos sneered and said, “when I capture you, I will make sure you spit out everything you know.”

Han Xiao shook his head and said, “isn’t it good to be alive?”

“Humph, quite arrogant I see.” Luann was a muscular black man, he rubbed his fists and said in disdain. “I heard you are very good at sniping, but now I’m only three meters away, I won’t give you a chance to even fire one shot, and how many of my punches can you endure? Be good and disarm yourself, or I will brush the floor with your brain juice.”

A third voice appeared from an empty area, “It’s been long since we met, Mister Black.”

This voice sounded familiar.

Han Xiao raised his eyebrows, “Invisible Demon? You’re here too.”

Invisible Demon did not reply, murderous intent filled the air.

It was not two strong opponents but three. Han Xiao smiled as he shook his head, no wonder Lagos was so confident, he really spent a huge some to deal with him.

Feeling the hostility from the three strong opponents, Han Xiao smiled, the change he was waiting for has finally arrived, it was an opportunity for him to showcase his absolute superiority in his strength.

The players of Bamboo Rain Guild didn’t know what to do, they couldn’t mess with any of these “Extremely Dangerous” NPCs.

Huuu——

A stream of piercing wind passed by Han Xiao, Han Xiao made it in time to activate his Magnetically-Controlled Retractable Armor, Invisible Demon’s nails scratched on its surface and created fire sparkles. In a few months’ time, Invisible Demon increased two levels and became slightly stronger.

Back then Han Xiao could not win Invisible Demon, it resulted in a tie.

But now, they were on completely different levels!

Han Xiao raised his hands, Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades formed a cyclone slashing through the air, numerous damage numbers appeared in the air, wounds opened and blood dripped down, and then disappeared in the next instant. Invisible Demon could retract his skin to hide his wounds.

Invisible Demon was shocked by the Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades and backed off hurriedly.

Before Han Xiao could make the chase, a wave of air pressure shot towards him, Vanessa pounced forward with her fists raining down hard. Han Xiao raised his hands to parry but they became numb, his S trength was inferior to Vanessa, both Vanessa and Luann were Pugilists near level 60, their S trength, Dexterity and Endurance were all much higher than Han Xiao who was a Mechanic.

Suddenly, Luann caught up quickly, his two fists combined into one and turned into a black meteor covered in flames, hitting Han Xiao’s chest armor plate.

With pain felt on his chest, Han Xiao’s interface showed a high amount of damage, this was an advanced tier ability of Pugilist, it is a vibration hit that ignores part of the physical armor, players in his previous life called it “Hitting the cattle across the mountain.”

Pugilist who learned advanced tier abilities were difficult to deal with, it had given Han Xiao some amount of pressure. Without a change of expression, Han Xiao backed up holding guns in both hands, high caliber bullets shot out rapidly, the power of his firearms increased furthermore as his shooting abilities reached max level.

Vanessa rubbed her hands and emitted a diffused sphere air shield, it deflected the bullets and disappeared.

“Shockwave Blast.” Han Xiao frowned, another advanced tier ability, Pugilist was popular all the time, its abilities were flashy and comprehensive.

This time, players of Bamboo Rain Guild fired, although they clearly knew they were no match for the enemy, they knew they had to help now since they chose to side Black Phantom!”

“Careful about positioning, do not close in, Fly and Cool attack continuously, Xuan, don’t go too close—” Bamboo Rain Fragrance yelled and gave out commands, she had experience in leading a team during dungeons, she used the same strategy when they were attacking dungeon BOSS.

“Inhumans? Luann was annoyed, he covered his eyes with his arm, the bullets were deflected by his protective flames, unable to penetrate his skin.

Vanessa straightaway swung her leg sideways, air blade flew out like a whip and slashed all of Bamboo Rain Guild’s players in half through the waist, they turned into white light and disappeared.

Bamboo Rain Guild was fully destroyed straightaway, the difference in strength was too vast.

Within a short moment, Han Xiao picked up his equipment bag full of machinery and dashed into the room.

Luann was just about to follow but Vanessa stopped him, “careful, he’s a mechanic, there might be traps,” she said.

Luann nodded, he punched the floor strongly, cracks spread out from the center of the punch and the entire house started shaking. No matter what trap Black Phantom had placed, it would all become meaningless once the house was destroyed and the battlefield turned into an open area.

Lagos hastily brought the soldiers to back off far away.

“Boom!”

The house collapsed, askes obstructed the vision.

Luann squinted his eyes and saw a shadow jumping out of the ruins vaguely, he immediately dashed forward like a warhorse, his fists punched forward like a hammer, leaving bright marks behind.

“Fall!” Luann yelled.

But the next moment, he heard the buzzing sound of energy and a cold metallic voice.

“Enhanced Mode!:

Bang! Luann felt like he had hit a metal wall — no, even metal wall would be destroyed by this punch, but it had only made this indestructible “wall” back off a little more than ten centimeters, and then the metal surrounded his fists.

Chapter 209 - The Real Killer (4)

The dust dissipated, and the shadow’s true form appeared.

A heavy mechanical left arm, many times larger than a normal arm and made of a dense black platinum alloy, was holding onto Luann’s fists tightly.

Han Xiao, who was controlling this enormous mechanical arm, was already wearing Viper. The close-fitting black streamlined mechanical suit looked expanded like a human’s muscles.

Everyone was stunned.

“What is that?”

Han Xiao’s right arm that did not equip mechanical arm strongly grabbed Luann’s arm. Luann wanted to escape, but he realized that Han Xiao’s strength became almost as high as his. He was shocked as he could not escape for the time being.

Viper provided close to 80 points of Strength and 50 points of Dexterity. Han Xiao’s Strength, Dexterity, and Endurance were not lower than any Pugilist under level 60!

Luann was still reacting based on their difference earlier on, and it caught him by surprise.

Han Xiao’s heavy mechanical left arm buzzed and slammed Luann’s head heavily. Luann’s head was bashed into the floor, but the punches did not stop. They continually rained down on him, and the damp on the ground expanded rapidly.

_____________________

Iron Fist—Mounted Heavy Mechanical Arm (Left)

Quality – Blue

Basic Stats:

– Damage: 85 – 88

– Defense: 26–30

– Power Level: 77

– Durability: 986/1050

Requirements:

Minimum Strength: 45

45 – 90 Strength: +45% Attack Speed

Greater than 90 Strength: +15% Attack Speed

(Stats provided by this equipment is not taken into account)

Additional Effect(s): +28 S trength

Length: 1.24 m (Including exterior armor)

Weight: 85.5 pounds

Additional Ability: Bionic (Human)—Able to perform actions like a human arm, does not restrict the user’s arm movements, very flexible.

Additional Ability: Iron Fist Burst—Multiple energy cores (Engine and Motor) activate maximum output simultaneously to create a bursting heavy hit, dealing 170 – 213 points of blunt damage. 25% chance to ignore mechanical suit type armor. 24-second cooldown.

Additional Ability: Shock Resistance—Exterior armor is made of platinum alloy. Increases durability, harder to wear out.

Special Feature: Can be disassembled.

Remarks: This huge fist will bash your skull!

_____________________

Since he was acting alone, Han Xiao had brought along all his ace cards along in his equipment bag. The heavy mechanical arm had been disassembled into parts to become more portable, and the assembly process was easy and quick, capable of being performed during the battle in a short time.

Vanessa was raging as she saw Luann pressed against the floor. She dashed forward hastily. Han Xiao did not dodge or back up. He battled Vanessa in close range. His fists and legs contained a huge amount of power, and the floor split open inch by inch.

Shockwave Blast was a mid-range ability that hardly dealt any damage to the mechanical suit as it lacked power. Viper’s enhanced mode steadily gained the upper hand.

The two of them were extremely agile, so their fight looked like two blurry shadows in the eyes of the others. Only the constant explosions and destruction showed how dangerous these two were.

The black fists hit Vanessa’s face multiple times; her nose was bleeding.

At the same time, Luann finally pulled himself up off the ground, his head bleeding all over. He growled and pounced over. However, when he was halfway there, Han Xiao suddenly swung his fists and pushed Vanessa to the side. His right hand pulled out the folded the Ghost sniper rifle behind his back and aimed at Luann.

The black muzzle gave an even more dangerous feeling than earlier on.

Luann’s hair stood up all over the body.

Han Xiao pulled the trigger.

[Flaming Will]!

[Lethal Critical Hit]!

[Overload]!

This shot was his ever strongest shot!

It was not just the active abilities—the passive abilities had also made the firing power, critical chance, and machinery affinity much higher, and the firearms were also enhanced as much as he could. Everything was on a higher level than before!

This was the strength of every ability being at max level!

Bang!

A huge hole appeared on Luann’s chest, and blood spurted out like a fountain.

_____________________

After damage reduction, you have dealt 1,942 Damage to Luann (LV 58).

_____________________

Extremely close to 2,000 points of damage!

Luann health was only between 4,000 to 5,000!

One shot, almost half of his health!

Luann kneeled on the floor, his entire body twitching. He raised his head and looked straight at Han Xiao with disbelief.

“Didn’t you say that you were going to wipe the floor with my brain juice?” An emotionless mechanical voice came from under the cold mask.

Han Xiao pressed Luann on the floor with his right hand. His left hand bashed Luann’s head, again and again. Luann was paralyzed by the shot and did not have his energy protective layer. Metal continuously kissed his skill, his flesh was torn open, and his bones were scattered into pieces.

The splashing blood colored the floor and the mechanical arm red.

Han Xiao’s jumped up high into the air with his mechanical arm and dropped straight down. The ground shook with a loud noise, and dust shot up into the sky. The ground was filled with white and red, and Luann’s eyes slowly lost their gleam.

_____________________

You have killed Luann (LV 58). You received 175,000 experience!

[Lethal Shot]: Unlock Progress 43/50

_____________________

“Luann!” Vanessa screamed in sorrow, rage, and hatred. Then… she turned and started fleeing.

Black Phantom was much stronger than expected. She did not want to die for nothing. She only had a chance to revenge if she stayed alive.

“That’s why I said, isn’t it good to be alive?” Han Xiao shook his head. He unbuttoned the heavy mechanical arm, and the enormous metal arm fell onto the ground with a thump. He then gave a command. The armor slid open on both sides of the ribs, and a row of concentrated small holes appeared. Dozens of arrow-shaped shadows shot out and landed around Vanessa, which then exploded and created a high-pitched sound wave.

These were all mini sonic bombs. Han Xiao had made them into even smaller arrow shapes and added a simple ejecting module onto Viper, which allowed it to shoot this kind of simple and portable disabling weapon.

The determining attribute for the sonic bomb was Endurance. Although Vanessa was a pugilist, she still could not endure dozens of sonic bombs. Thus, she fell to the ground in agony.

Han Xiao jumped over in a few steps then activated the Thermo-electrical Incisor Gloves and grabbed Vanessa’s eyes. He then turned on Sunworm flamethrower. With screams of pain and the smell of burning flesh, Vanessa turned into a piece of charcoal in no time. Vanessa’s struggling before death was all blocked by Viper.

Han Xiao let go of the body and let it fall onto the ground. He then activated all kinds of scanning modules. Through analyzing his smell, the scanning module highlighted Invisible Demon’s position. He was in the area where the sonic bombs exploded, trembling in pain.

Invisible Demon was absolutely terrified by Han Xiao. It had only been a few months since they fought, and Black Phantom had reached a height that stunned him. He deeply regretted accepting this mission and very soon had the thoughts of backing off. But unfortunately for him, he had been blasted away by the explosion just as he was secretly escaping.

“Saved me some effort.” Han Xiao broke Invisible Demon’s arms and legs then took out a mini GPS and injected it into Invisible Demon’s body roughly. He slapped him into unconsciousness and nodded in satisfaction. “I won’t lose him this way.”

The area became ruins. A large number of Alumera spectators had gathered, and their faces were filled with shock. They were all horrified by Han Xiao’s actions.

The revived players stood far away with their throat feeling dry.

“This… So strong!” Bamboo Rain Xuan exclaimed. She had recorded the entire fight, and she had a feeling it would definitely go viral.

Black Phantom had never shown the mechanical suit. The already high strength that they had seen before was just the tip of the iceberg—this was his true strength!

No, maybe Black Phantom was still hiding more.

Bamboo Rain Guild was excited. They realized that they had discovered information that others did not know about. They were the only ones that met this unexpected plotline out of all the players.

Lagos’ expression was terrified. His teeth were shaking, and his legs were trembling. The three people that he had high hopes for had been killed easily. They would most likely have been able to defeat Black Phantom if it was just his original strength, but who knew he hid such a horrifying ace card!

“How is this possible? All three of them were among the strongest superhumans and long renowned legends. I have consulted the experts. How did Black Phantom kill them so easily!” Lagos could not believe it.

Without anything to rely on one, Lagos entire body trembled as he faced Black Phantom with a strong murderous intent. ‘Filled with regret’ could not even begin to describe his emotions.

Han Xiao walked toward Lagos and tapped him on the shoulder. He said softly, “I have already given you a chance.”

“You can’t kill me!” Lagos looked fierce on the outside but was horrified on the inside. “I’m the person in charge of the Home Faction. If you kill me, Home Faction will—”

Before he even finished his sentence.

Slash!

The blade cut across his throat, and blood splashed slowly.

No hesitation.

Lagos’s eyes widened. He held his neck and fell down. His body temperature lowered as blood escaped from his body, and he looked at Han Xiao in disbelief.

Han Xiao looked at the high ranked officials of the Home Faction. He played with the blade covered in blood and said calmly, “Do you have any problems?”

Chapter 210 - The Real Killer (5)

The Home faction was furious as they looked at Lagos’ corpse, but they did not dare provoke Han Xiao. After all, a real-life example of what would happen if they did was right in front of them.

This time, Todd walked out of the crowd and said, “This was all Lagos’ idea; he deserved it. On behalf of the entire Home Faction, we absolutely won’t hold a grudge for this.”

The Home Faction was surprised. They did not expect Todd to stand out at this time, and he even admitted their fear toward Han Xiao.

Words said under such circumstances had to be taken with a pinch of salt, and Han Xiao did not agree or disagree with his words but asked, “You are?”

“Todd, Darryl’s younger brother, Lagos’s uncle, I’m in charge of the Home Faction now.” Todd forced himself to be calm as he spoke.

The Home Faction gave him a weird look. They were amazed by Todd’s ability to grab the opportunity to take over the Home Faction as soon as Lagos died, but Todd did indeed speak their mind. Therefore, they all kept silent and accepted Todd’s position.

The people that they had hired who had such great strength had easily been killed; Han Xiao’s strength was overwhelming. Everyone knew that if they still wanted to spark conflict, it would be no different from suicide.

One thought appeared in all the factions.

Black Phantom could not be messed with!

“Find another room for me,” Han Xiao said as he looked at the ruins and put his machinery away.

“I’ll arrange it for you,” Xiao Ming immediately replied as an order from Xiao Jin.

The high ranked officials exchanged looks after Han Xiao left.

“Black Phantom has overwhelming strength and doesn’t care if he becomes our enemy, yet he still insists to claim he’s not the killer. Maybe he really didn’t carry out the assassination,” Se Qi said.

“But he killed Lagos—that’s a new grudge,” the head of the Northern Faction said.

Todd stopped him and said, “Lagos did this to himself, and he deserved it. Our Home Faction will neither seek revenge nor hold grudges.”

The others looked at him with despise while selectively choosing to forget that they were thinking the same.

“Then what do we do with Black Phantom?” someone asked.

To let an undefeatable monster stay in the headquarter would make them feel very insecure.

“He just wants to get rid of the suspicion,” Xiao Jin said coldly. “Once the truth surfaces, he will naturally leave, so don’t mess with him.”

…

Upon arriving at his new house, Han Xiao woke up the captive Invisible Demon. He had planted a locating device in Invisible Demon’s body and could know where he was without seeing him.

“What do you want?” Invisible Demon was horrified.

Han Xiao took off Viper, returned it to his bag, and said with an interested tone, “I heard your invisibility came from a laboratory experiment accident and your skin mutated. If I strip your skin off, it must be worth quite a fortune.”

Invisible Demon was terrified and started to sweat all over. “Don’t—don’t do that.”

“You’re my prisoner now. Do you think you’re in any position to object?”

Invisible Demon had nothing to reply to with. Han Xiao stopped teasing him and knocked him unconscious, then injected a strong anesthetic, tied him up, and threw him aside. There was a reward from the Dark Net for Invisible Demon, and Han Xiao planned to take on the mission then turn in Invisible Demon alive, completing the mission immediately and maximizing the profit.

Han Xiao had shown an overwhelming level of strength through this conflict, so Alumera did not dare do anything to him at all. Although he had the absolute upper hand in terms of strength, he still chose to stay, which reduced his suspicion with many factions.

Also, Han Xiao was in a position where Alumera could not do anything to him, as Alumera was not willing to start another conflict with him. This whole framing conspiracy was to spark conflict between Han Xiao and Alumera, which had already almost completely failed. At least, Alumera did not dare turn against Han Xiao to his face.

But this was not enough. The person responsible for the framing had yet to be found. Han Xiao guessed that there were two possibilities—one being that the person had given up and decided to continue hiding, the other being that person was still trying to save the plan or even attack Han Xiao. However, the possibility of the latter was not high since Han Xiao had already proven that he was not to be messed with.

The Home Faction kept a low profile since Lagos died. Todd did not have any hatred at all, and he was more concerned about what benefit he could get at the moment. Other than ordering people to investigate for clues of Darryl’s assassination, he also actively contacted the other factions to earn support for the election of a leader successor.

Darryl’s son had the highest chance of becoming the next leader after Darryl died, but Han Xiao had killed him, and now the successor’s position had become vacant. All the factions were ambitious and planned to seize power. Thus, a heavy storm was about to arrive.

Everyone seemed like they were focused on the truth of Darryl’s death, but they were secretly more concerned about the election of the next leader.

However, before the killer was discovered, the election would not take place.

Han Xiao was one of the main parties in this, but he was also an excluded outsider. However, he did not mind it at all. He stayed in the room and gathered information about Alumera through Dark Net’s intelligence network and the Bamboo Rain Guild.

A few days after, Xiao Jin came knocking on his door. He told Han Xiao that he had found an important clue.

“Through checking the guards’ verbal information and comparing it with the recording from the surveillance cameras, I have found some traces. On the night of the assassination, an assistant of one of the Northern Faction’s high ranked officials left his house and disappeared for 27 minutes.

“This high ranked official of the Northern Faction is called Su Dinghua—45 years of age, a Northern Continent local, always kept a low profile. Actually, I have been paying attention to him for a very long time. A spy I sent into the Northern Faction discovered that Su Dinghua has secret connections with Raylen, and his assistant only changed a few years ago, the same year that he started to contact Raylen.”

Many high ranked officials contacted other organizations discreetly, but all for their own benefits. However, Raylen had obviously turned Su Dinghua into a traitor.

Xiao Jin brought along quite a number of documents, which all clearly lead to Su Dinghua.

Han Xiao gave it careful thought. Alumera was Theseus’s partner, and weakening Alumera meant weakening Theseus. To create a strong opponent for Alumera and spark internal conflict, Raylen would benefit from it as a third party, which was indeed a logical motive for Raylen.

The Northern Faction was the most inconspicuous, so they would be the most suitable party for any conspiracy.

“Were the other factions able to get this information, too?” Han Xiao raised the documents in his hands.

“Not sure.” Xiao Jin shook his head. “I acquired the information of Su Dinghua secretly working with Raylen by accident, so the other factions probably don’t know about it.”

“Then why did you come to me?” Han Xiao asked.

“Raylen might have planted quite few strong people around Su Dinghua. I was hoping you could help us capture Su Dinghua and his co-conspirators, and this is a good opportunity for you to get rid of the suspicion as well. I was thinking you would want to do it yourself,” Xiao Jin said with a sincere tone. “Rewards will not be a problem if you want them.”

Han Xiao stared at Xiao Jin for quite some time and smiled suddenly. “I will help you this time, at market rate.”

“Okay.” Xiao Jin nodded.

…

At night, Han Xiao started to act. Since he already exposed Viper, he wore it this time as well, but without the Heavy Mechanical Arm—a stealth operation did not require such a rough weapon.

Su Dinghua’s mansion was located in a rural area. Han Xiao took out his laptop and hacked into the local network to freeze the surveillance cameras. Then he avoided the guards and jumped over the wall into the mansion.

Su Dinghua was a high ranked official who had a rather low position compared to others. His guarding power in the mansion was weak, and with Han Xiao’s level and strength, sneaking in was a piece of cake.

When he quietly entered the study, the light was on. Han Xiao stood against the wall and scanned the room with magnetic scanning; there was no one in the room.

Han Xiao entered the room without making a sound. He looked through the room and realized that the building was made of normal brick and wood—it did not have any special metal that could prevent any detection device, and the structure of the room was clear and simple.

“There’s a hidden safe behind the painting on the wall beside the table.” Han Xiao’s eyes twinkled. Just as he was going to flip open the painting to open the safe, he realized something and stopped.

He carefully looked around the room, then left the safe alone and came to the table instead. He tried opening the drawers, but they were all locked. However, that was not a problem for him. As a Mechanic who could build firearms and robots, it would be a shame if he could not even open a lock.

Furthermore, Han Xiao was already experienced in lock picking.

The drawers were filled with paper documents, mostly Alumera’s internal information. There were some reports too. He dug through for a while and realized that they were all irrelevant documents. However, he found a slip of paper with a string of numbers written on it, which seemed like the passcode for the safe, and a small metal key that also looked like it was for the safe.

“Way too obvious.” Han Xiao shook his head. He closed the drawer and did not use the key to open the safe.

Hiding a safe behind a painting was too common. The key and passcode left in the drawer felt like it was done purposely; it looked like a trap.

There was a very high chance that the safe was either bait or a trap, which would trigger some sort of alarm, as one would usually remember the passcode to the safe instead of writing it down.

It could have been an incorrect assumption, but Han Xiao was just there to capture Su Dinghua—the safe could be opened any time after he captured him.

Han Xiao walked toward the living room. He heard a few guards that were chatting with each other, and after a strategic scan and a vital sign comparison, he noticed that these people were all around LV 20, which meant that they were not normal guards. They could be superhumans, and if they were not, it meant that they were normal people but very elite.

Seems like it was right. Han Xiao nodded. Su Dinghua’s guards hid their true strength, so there was definitely something suspicious going on.

Han Xiao turned and went upstairs to the bedroom. Su Dinghua was resting, so Han Xiao went in straightaway and shot a paralyzing bullet at Su Dinghua, making him unconscious before he could scream, then tied him up with the blanket.

There were eight guards in the mansion along with Su Dinghua’s assistant; Han Xiao was not planning to let any of them escape.

Returning to the living room, Han Xiao did not hide anymore—he broke through the door and entered.

“Who?” The guards pulled out their guns immediately.

However, with the mechanical suit, these four unprepared guards were defeated within seconds.

The commotion attracted attention. The radar detected other guards were coming quickly. Han Xiao broke through the wall with a loud bang and knocked out those guards one after another.

Su Dinghua’s assistant was hiding the most; he was at around LV 40. However, he still could not last for more than ten seconds before Han Xiao broke his arms and legs and knocked him onto the ground. The difference in strength was too vast, an easy victory for Han Xiao.

Han Xiao’s destruction power was like a demolition—the whole mansion turned into ruins, and the loud noise could be heard from very far away.

Xiao Jin was on standby right outside the mansion. He broke in as soon as he saw that Han Xiao had succeeded. Su Dinghua and his guards were all in the yard, and no one escaped.

Han Xiao stayed and stood to the side.

Xiao Jin did not avoid Han Xiao and started the interrogation in the yard. He poured water on Su Dinghua and the others to wake them up.

Su Dinghua knew that he had been exposed when he woke up.

“How did you know?” Su Dinghua was shocked and confused.

“I’ve known you were in contact Raylen for a very long time,” Xiao Jin said coldly. “You have changed your guards over the last few years—they are all strangers and sent by Raylen. You thought this was an opportunity when Black Phantom visited out of the blue and carried out the assassination, thinking that you did it very discreetly and destroyed many traces. Still, some clues were left behind.”

Chapter 211 - The Real Killer (6)

“You bribed Miri to bring Black Phantom to the scene as soon as the assassination was discovered, wanting to spark a conflict so that the scrimmage would bury more clues. You also arranged people to kill Miri during the battle.”

Xiao Jin listed many pieces of evidence. Su Dinghua closed his eyes in pain and softly spoke to himself. “I knew this day would come. Being found out means death.”

Then, Su Dinghua looked at his assistant and said, “I did kill our leader, but I’m not the mastermind—he is. Raylen gave me many benefits and promised me even more, so I did things for them. He’s a spy sent by Raylen to monitor and control me—this plan was also suggested by him!”

The assistant looked at Su Dinghua in anger and said, “You’ve lost your mind…”

“You think there’s a way to get away alive?” Su Dinghua stopped him and said, “I did things for you people because of the benefits you gave, which won’t be of use to me anymore. Now that I’m exposed, Raylen won’t have an easy time either.”

The assistant’s eyes suddenly turned white. His lips became purple, and white foam came out of his mouth. He died while twitching. When Su Dinghua was talking, he knew that he would definitely die, so he crunched down on the poisonous capsule between his teeth and committed suicide. The guards all followed his lead.

The people of Raylen were known for being cold-blooded and loyal, so no one was surprised.

Han Xiao stood aside and watched with no intent to stop them. Very soon, Su Dinghua was the only one left alive.

Xiao Hai sneered and said, “It’s too late to save yourself.”

“I’m not planning to. I know that death is my only option.” Su Dinghua shook his head.

Xiao Jin cut in and said, “Su Dinghua, you have been a member of Alumera for a very long time. The leader treated you well, so why did you do it?”

“Hahahahaha!” Su Dinghua suddenly laughed so loudly that even tears came out of his eyes. He said with a mocking tone, “Xiao the second chair, this doesn’t seem like something you would say. Your blood is much colder than mine.”

Xiao Jin remained expressionless and was not affected by it, but Xiao Hai slapped Su Dinghua and said, “Seems like you want a slow death.”

The people from other factions have arrived for quite some time. They watched this scene in shock and confusion.

Su Dinghua laughed for a while, then suddenly said with sorrow, “I will apologize to the leader myself.”

Xiao Hai took out a whole set of torture devices and said coldly, “Then you have a lot of time to think about what to say.”

“Enough, he has already confessed. Bring him back then interrogate him,” one of the chieftains of the Northern Faction said. Su Dinghua was a high ranked official of the Northern Faction, so interrogating and torturing him in public would bring a lot of shame to the Northern Faction.

Su Dinghua was a traitor who did not represent the Northern Faction’s position, but it did bring them shame.

Xiao Jin looked at Han Xiao with inquiry in his eyes. The others looked over as well.

Black Phantom was the one that had been framed, so his opinion was very important.

“The real killer has been found. Anything other than that has nothing to do with me,” Han Xiao said. He then turned away and left.

…

The real killer that assassinated Darryl had been found. The whole plan had been Raylen’s, and Han Xiao was cleared of suspicion.

Su Dinghua died in the interrogation. He spat out quite an amount of intelligence before he died. He was a very important chess piece to Raylen, and the assassination was to spark conflict between Alumera and Dark Net, but the plan had gone south. Han Xiao’s strength was far beyond their expectations. They had thought that Black Phantom would be captured or even killed, so the hatred between Alumera and Dark Net could not be resolved easily, but to their surprise, Han Xiao had the upper hand.

The assassination only went so well because of Su Dinghua’s years of planning. Raylen suffered a huge loss when he died.

Xiao Jin was a huge contributor to finding the real killer. He gained a large about of prestige, and the Home Faction had to thank him even if they did not want to.

Everything was settled. However, Black Phantom, who had cleared his suspicion, decided to stay. No one knew what motives he had. The factions did not have time to care about him since they were all busy with the election of a successor.

In the room, Han Xiao looked at the mission [The Real Killer] on his interface. Su Dinghua had been caught, but he did not turn in the mission.

This thing has yet to end.

A flash of coldness appeared in Han Xiao’s eyes; one thought had become clearer in his mind.

…

Three days after capturing Su Dinghua, Xiao Jin brought Xiao Hai along and came to visit.

“Why are you looking for me?” Han Xiao asked.

“I should be the one asking. What’s your goal in staying here?” Xiao Jin asked back.

“I was framed out of nowhere, and your people wanted to kill me. I need compensation.”

Xiao Hai was shocked and angry. “This whole thing was planned by Raylen, and you even killed our people. How dare you ask for compensation‽”

“Raylen is too far away, so I’m getting money from you guys first.”

“You’re robbing us!” Xiao Hai was filled with anger.

“That’s correct.” Han Xiao nodded calmly. He looked at Xiao Hai mockingly and said, “What can you do about that?”

Xiao Jin pulled the furious Xiao Hai back, then wrote a number on a piece of paper and said, “I will compensate you personally. Is this amount enough?”

Han Xiao gave it a quick look and said, “Barely acceptable.”

Xiao Hai was frustrated. He did not understand why Xiao Jin was willing to pay; there was absolutely no need to in his eyes.

“There’s another reason for you to have come to find me, right?” Han Xiao crossed his legs.

“Indeed, I have something to ask your help for. Darryl is dead, and the leader position is now vacant. Alumera is a large family, so there needs to be a leader. In two days’ time, an internal election will be carried out in a vote from the high ranked officials. Todd from the Home Faction, Se Qi from the Red Island Faction, and Angleton from the Northern Faction are all strong competitors. When I was focused on investigating Darryl’s death, they were already approaching the high ranked officials and drawing votes. I’m now at a disadvantage, so I hope you can help me,” Xiao Jin said in seriousness.

“Why should I help you?”

“For the sake of me helping you clear your suspicion, please help me.”

“I need a reward,” Han Xiao said coldly.

“How ungrateful. If it wasn’t for Father, you would still be the biggest suspect. Don’t push your luck!” Xiao Hai could not take it and yelled in anger.

Han Xiao looked at him and said calmly, “You should be grateful for me not killing you, or you would all be corpses.”

Xiao Hai’s expression turned twisted and furious. He trembled in anger because of Han Xiao’s attitude. He could only look at Xiao Jin, hoping that his father would do him justice. However, he was bound to be disappointed. Xiao Jin had remained calm all along.

“How much do you want?”

Han Xiao touched his chin, pointed at the piece of paper, and said, “Three times this.”

“Maniac…” Xiao Hai was stunned. This request was outrageous.

However, Xiao Jin accepted the terms without hesitation and said, “No problem.”

“Father!” Xiao Hai yelled in disbelief. He could not understand why Xiao Jin kept listening to Han Xiao. “It’s no use getting help from him. Outsiders cannot interfere with internal elections. He has no position in the internal meeting no matter how strong he is!” Xiao Hai said hastily.

“I have a way,” Xiao Jin replied coldly. “Mr. Black Phantom, are you willing to join us Xiao Faction?”

Join the Xiao Faction? What does that mean?

Han Xiao raised his eyebrows and asked with interest, “What do you mean?”

“Join my family with the same seniority in the family as me. My children will be your stepchildren.”

The atmosphere suddenly turned weird.

Xiao Hai almost staggered and fell. He was completely shocked. Xiao Jin had never discussed this with him, and now suddenly he’s going to have a stepfather?

“Damn, you can do that?” Han Xiao’s eyes twitched. Xiao Jin’s level of shameless exceeded his expectations. “Would such a childish method work?”

“Politics has always been childish,” Xiao Jin replied coldly. “As long as you join the Xiao Faction, you can attend internal meetings. Your strength will signify your power, and as long as you appear, it will represent a threat. However, you will be a part of the Xiao Faction by then, which means you’re not an exterior threat. The other factions will give up automatically in fear.”

The meaning of a family member and an outsider showcasing strength was different. One was an exterior threat and would only attract displeasure, but if it was a family member, it would mean that Xiao Jin’s power had grown tremendously and that he had earned a strong ally for Alumera in the big picture. It would mean a huge contribution for the family. Given the power that Xiao Jin had gathered through the years and the recent prestige that he earned by finding the real killer that assassinated Darryl, the other factions would wisely give up.

Up till now, Han Xiao had already gotten a basic guess of the entire situation. He smiled and said, “I see no benefits in joining the Xiao Faction, why should I do it?”

“You join the Xiao Faction, and when I become the leader of the family, Alumera will become your ally.”

“Seems like you’re willing to pay everything to become the leader.” Han Xiao laughed. He then said teasingly, “Okay, I will join the Xiao Faction and reluctantly become the stepfather of your children.”

Xiao Hai was so angry that he was losing his mind. He had to give Han Xiao benefits just to become his stepson. He had never been in such a shameful situation before, and the part that angered him most was that Xiao Jin had actually agreed. He began to suspect that his father had been brainwashed.

Han Xiao looked at Xiao Hai and smiled mockingly. “Come, let me hear you call me stepfather.”

Xiao Hai’s face turned green. He was an arrogant person, so this was a fate worse than death. However, he saw Xiao Jin’s strict face, then suppressed his anger with all his might and forced the words out through gritted teeth.

“Stepfather.”

Han Xiao dug his ears and teased, “I didn’t hear that clearly.”

“Stepfather!” Xiao Hai yelled. He used so much strength that blood came out of his teeth, and a metallic taste filled his mouth.

“Hehe, good boy.” Han Xiao could not control his laughter in his heart. His body’s origin was Xiao Hai’s younger brother. What would Xiao Hai think if he knew the truth?

Xiao Jin reached out his hand and said, “I look forward to working with you.”

Han Xiao accepted the handshake.

The father and son of the Xiao family stood up and left, neither of them saying a word as they did so.

After returning to Xiao Faction’s mansion, Xiao Hai could not hold back his questions. “Father, why did you do this?”

Xiao Jin replied without an expression on his face, “Black Phantom is greedier than I imagined. I thought that clearing his suspicion could make him grateful, but I didn’t expect to spend so much for him to join us. Anyway, it’s worth it. At least we are the only faction that could approach Black Phantom and get his help. When I become the leader, these losses can be made up with ease.”

“I see, when you become the leader, you won’t have to care about Black Phantom anymore,” Xiao Hai realized.

Xiao Jin suddenly turned to look at his son and said with a strict voice, “You’re wrong. There’s even more need to fulfill Black Phantom’s terms after I become the leader. It’s suicide to kick someone to the curb when they’ve outlived their usefulness. This is a world where the strong live, and the weak feed. Black Phantom is standing at the peak with his strength; his personal strength is as threatening as an organization. As long as Black Phantom is part of the Xiao Faction on the books, we can rely on him, and the other factions won’t dare step out of line moves. I know that you don’t accept this deep down in your heart, but don’t act on your impulses and ruin my plan.”

Xiao Hai had objections in his heart, but he could only clench his teeth and accept it.

“Yes, Father.”

Chapter 212 - The New Successor

The factions were all making moves in the dark. Xiao Jin had given Han Xiao the information of the other factions’ movements over the next two days, and he wired the agreed compensation and reward into Han Xiao’s Dark Net account—a total of 8,000,000 Aquamarine Dollars.

Han Xiao had a huge amount of money, a total of more than 40,000,000 dollars, more than ten times what he used to have. With such a large sum, he could splurge freely on machinery and carry out some of his ideas such as the robot army style that he once thought to be too expensive.

Two days passed in a blink of an eye. The internal meeting was carried out in the Alumera meeting hall as scheduled. High ranked officials across all the factions gathered within, and the guarding power was high.

Han Xiao wore a hood and disguised himself as an ordinary high ranked official of the Xiao Faction. He entered the meeting hall without attracting attention and sat down.

In the heart of the meeting hall was a circular shaped table. The leaders of various factions sat around the table, and the other high ranked officials sat on the more exterior seats. Those belonging to a faction sat behind their leaders. The factions were separated distinctively, forming smaller areas at different angles.

It was snowing lightly outside, but the meeting hall was warm thanks to the air conditioner. The people took off their coats and started talking among themselves. It soon became rather noisy.

Dang, dang!

Todd rang the bell on the table, and the meeting hall turned silent quickly.

“The meeting will now commence,” Todd said with a serious expression. “There are four candidates for the successor for the leader: myself, Xiao the Second Chair, Se Qi the Third Chair, and Mr. Angleton. Start voting when you’re ready.”

“I would like to say a few words before the vote starts,” Angleton said as he stood up and started his speech. It was a standard procedure to do a speech before the vote. Although the seated high ranked officials already had a basic idea of who they were going to vote for, this step was still not to be omitted.

Very soon, the four candidates finished their speeches. Todd looked around the table and said, “The voting shall begin.”

The high ranked officials spoke their choice.

Todd was nervous. He had been contacting other high ranked officials over the past few days and promised them many benefits. They had all agreed to vote for him when they had the discussion, so he could easily beat the other candidates in the number of votes.

But soon he became stunned. The high ranked officials who promised to vote for him all voted for Se Qi without even looking at Todd.

How did this happen? Todd was shocked and angry.

Se Qi had a bright smile on his face. He smiled at every high ranked official who voted for him. Watching his vote count becoming impossible to be beaten, his heart was relieved.

As soon as Darryl was assassinated, Se Qi had realized that the successor election was an opportunity. He had been in communication with Theseus secretly, and they had agreed to help him for the promotion, and he, in turn, promised many benefits to them if he successfully became the leader.

Although Alumera was Theseus’s partner, Theseus was very aggressive. They had been secretly wanting to control Alumera from the inside, and they had gotten into contact with Se Qi the Third Chair, who was not satisfied with his position. Theseus made use of their relationship network and discreetly drew in many high ranked officials to give Se Qi an advantage.

And for Angleton from the Northern Factor, he was basically there to watch the show. Even the people from the Northern Faction did not vote for him except for a very few—he sat in his seat with awkwardness on his face.

Angleton had been elected by the Northern Faction to just be a representative—he did not want to give up on fighting for the leader’s position, but he knew that he did not have a chance. Thus, he had mixed feelings about the matter.

Se Qi’s vote count was way ahead, and soon, it exceeded the half mark. The election was settled.

“Haha, thank everyone for your support and love. I shall not disappoint.” Se Qi stood up full of happiness on his face. He could not hide his satisfaction at all.

This time, Xiao Jin spoke. “Wait.”

Everyone looked over immediately with various looks on their faces, Xiao Jin was a powerful candidate as well, but he had not done anything up till now. They were very curious about what he was planning.

“Xiao the Second Chair, do you have any problem?” Se Qi’s heart skipped a beat, and he emphasized the words ‘Second Chair’.

Suddenly, a voice that was unforgettable to the seated high ranked officials came out of the Xiao Faction area.

“I have a problem.”

Everyone’s eyes widened, and their expressions turned into horror. They recognized that this was Black Phantom’s voice!

Xiao Faction’s members spit open and showed Han Xiao, who was hidden. Han Xiao was wearing the same black windbreaker and black gloves. His arms were crossed, and he said expressionlessly, “Xiao Jin is more suitable to be the leader.”

Se Qi was stunned for an extended moment till he regained his focus. “Xiao Jin, how dare you let an outsider interfere with our family issues. Are you intentionally breaking the rules‽”

“Black Phantom is not an outsider; he is a senior of my Xiao Faction. He is the stepfather of my children.”

As soon as Xiao Jin finished his sentence, the youngsters of Xiao Faction all bowed toward Han Xiao and yelled stepfather simultaneously, almost as if they had been practicing it.

The others were stunned in shock.

How shameless… Todd’s face was twitching.

According to Black Phantom’s previous actions, his stand was above all, and he did not care about Alumera’s internal changes at all, but now, he was suddenly interfering.

They gave it a thought and realized that, when Black Phantom was suspected, Xiao Jin was the only one that spoke for him, and it was Xiao Jin who discovered the real killer in the end, which cleared Black Phantom’s name. However, during that time, the other factions were all focused on drawing votes from the high ranked officials.

Then it occurred to all the factions that Xiao Jin might have gotten in touch with Black Phantom only because of this, which was why Black Phantom was willing to help Xiao Jin.

Also, Xiao Jin had definitely paid a huge price to attract Black Phantom into having diplomatic relations with the Xiao Faction.

Although the other factions were not happy, they could not deny the fact that Xiao Jin had increased Alumera’s overall strength by doing this, as this meant that Black Phantom had become an ally of Alumera.

Han Xiao sat down casually and scanned the entire place with a dangerous look.

The high ranked officials all turned away and did not dare look him in the eyes.

Words were not needed; Han Xiao’s intentions were clear just by sitting here.

A silent threat.

The atmosphere got awkward. The high ranked officials who had already voted became anxious and exchanged looks secretly.

Finally, a high ranked official could not take it anymore. He wiped his sweat and said hesitantly, “I’ve thought carefully and feel that Xiao Jin is more suitable as the next leader. Can I change my vote?”

Changing the vote was not allowed according to the rules. However, the host of the meeting, Todd, was cursing in his mind. Black Phantom was right in front of them, so he did not dare to say no. Thus, he nodded in dismay.

After the first, the second and the third followed, and soon came the rest. Han Xiao scanned around the room; whoever came into his sights immediately changed their vote. It was like his eyes had magic in it.

Se Qi did not admit defeat yet. He wanted to have a final struggle but realized that Han Xiao had looked over with eyes that were so sharp that they pierced right through his heart. Horror filled his mind, and he closed his mouth in fear, watching the position that had belonged to him moments ago slip through his fingers.

The result was a definite—Xiao Jin won with an overwhelming number of votes.

The people of the Xiao Faction were smiling brightly while the others had to suck it up and congratulate Xiao Jin one after another.

The Xiao Factions’ ways had the other factions feeling very uncomfortable, but the result was not unacceptable. After all, Xiao Jin was a very senior member of the family and had made a lot of contributions.

Who knew that Xiao Jin would win in the end? Todd’s heart was bleeding. The Home Faction had controlled Alumera for all these years, and now, they had lost their power all of a sudden.

Todd knew that from that day onward, the Home Faction would slowly become a vassal.

Seeing that things were settled, Han Xiao left. The crowd split open automatically, and the high ranked officials who were congratulating Xiao Jin also stopped to look at Han Xiao as he left.

Although Xiao Jin was the final winner, in the eyes of everyone else, the center of this meeting was Black Phantom. All he did was show up, and it decided Xiao Jin’s position.

This was the power of overwhelming strength.

The people were all very jealous of Xiao Jin. As long as Black Phantom remained in the Xiao Faction, Xiao Jin’s position would be forever stable.

Chapter 213 - The Fight Between the Sandpiper and the Clam

The structure of Alumera changed. Xiao Jin became the leader, and the other factions all congratulated him. The power to make a lot of important decisions has been moved from the Home Faction to the Xiao Faction.

At night, Xiao Jin invited Han Xiao to his mansion. All the high ranked officials of the Xiao Faction gathered around. Xiao Hai and the other children were there, too. They bowed to Han Xiao and called him stepfather when they saw him. No matter what these youngsters of the Xiao Family thought in their heart, they had no choice but to maintain respect for Han Xiao on the surface.

The butler led Han Xiao to the book room and closed the door, leaving Xiao Jin and Han Xiao alone in the room.

Xiao Jin’s wish had been granted, and he had become the leader. Although he was still expressionless, one could tell he was happy and satisfied from the feeling he gave off.

He did not forget the benefits that Han Xiao had given him, and because Han Xiao said that he was leaving the next day, Xiao Jin dropped everything else and invited Han Xiao over to express his appreciation on the first day of becoming the leader.

“I really appreciate your help,” Xiao Jin said sincerely.

Han Xiao did not sit down. He stood in front of the bookshelf, played around with the small items in the drawer, and said casually, “Get to the point.”

Xiao Jin took out a bottle of wine and poured two glasses. He then walked to Han Xiao and handed one glass over.

“Our agreement remains unchanged. If there’s anything you need me for, I’ll provide help.” Xiao Jin smiled. His tone was more confident now that he was the leader.

The wine was amber and fragrant; its taste was smooth and soft. This was Xiao Jin’s very high-quality collection that he treasured. It would only be opened for extremely important guests, and it had been stored for many years before that day.

Han Xiao took the wine glass but did not drink it. He just swirled the glass around and said coldly, “I’ve been thinking recently and have come up with a very interesting theory. You knew Su Dinghua was going to assassinate Darryl a long time ago, but you didn’t tell anyone and let it happen because there would only be a chance to become the leader after Darryl died.

“Then, when everyone was suspecting me, only you insisted to help me because you knew who the killer was, and it was a good opportunity to gain my favor. Later, when other factions had already established a bad relationship with me, you found an opportunity to throw out Su Dinghua as a clue and became the one who found the real killer, largely increasing your prestige while simultaneously starting good relations with me.

“You used that as a reason to gain my help to win the leader’s election by using my strength to overpower all the other factions. You’re not the real killer, but you’re an opportunist who acted while riding along the waves and harvesting the final fruit of victory.”

Han Xiao turned his head and looked at Xiao Jin. “What do you think about this theory?”

Xiao Jin shook his head in laughter. He sipped the wine and said, “It’s interesting, but it’s not true.”

“I think it’s true.” Han Xiao’s expression resembled a smile, yet it was not a smile.

Xiao Jin’s expression changed slightly and said, “That’s just your speculation…”

Han Xiao walked toward Xiao Jin. His body was leaning forward, and the pressure forced Xiao Jin to step back continuously until he hit the table.

They stood extremely close. Xiao Jin could only look at Han Xiao in his eyes because he had nowhere else to look. He felt a cold murderous intent in Han Xiao’s eyes, and cold sweat started dripping.

“I don’t need evidence. If I think it’s true, then it is,” Han Xiao sneered.

Xiao Jin had to tighten his facial muscles to control his expressions, and his heart began to sink.

“Remember, whatever you borrowed from me, I can take it back anytime.”

Han Xiao’s fingers pressed two times on Xiao Jin’s chest strongly. The act was provoking.

Xiao Jin had been promoted with the help of Black Phantom, and Han Xiao could do the same thing for the others anytime. Xiao Jin had no doubt that the other factions would be willing to spend a huge sum to make Black Phantom their ally. With Black Phantom’s strength, he could even duplicate the assassination. If their relationship turned bad, there was no way Xiao Jin could protect himself against a legendary killer every single day and night.

Xiao Jin understood what Han Xiao meant—threaten, intimidation, and blackmail!

Black Phantom was more fearsome than he had expected. This partnership with Black Phantom was catching a tiger by its tail.

The atmosphere became more and more intense, and when Xiao Jin was almost suffocating, Han Xiao took a few steps back to ease the atmosphere. He played around with the wine glass and said coldly, “What are you going to do with Raylen?”

Xiao Jin sighed. He knew that this was the time for him to show his stance. “I will make them pay. I’ll pursue and kill all of their intelligence agents, attack the organizations they support, and destroy their bases in the wilderness.”

Originally, it was not suitable to start a war right after he became the leader. His original plan had been to stabilize the internals in six months. However, Han Xiao’s threatening made him understand that he had no choice. He could only listen to Han Xiao and retaliate against Raylen immediately. Alumera’s damage was not in his consideration anymore; he had to listen to Han Xiao no matter how he much heartache he felt.

“Very good.” Han Xiao gave a faint laugh then left and said, “Enjoy your time as the leader.”

The wine glass was placed on the table. Han Xiao did not drink any from the start to the end.

The sounds of the youngsters yelling “Stepfather!” outside the door grew faint and distant. Xiao Jin only sat down after the sound disappeared. The happiness of becoming the leader became weaker because of Han Xiao’s threats.

“He’s got my weakness.” Xiao Jin laughed in bitterness and called Xiao Hai in.

“Father, Black Phantom left.” Xiao Hai could not hide his happiness. The position of leader finally belonged to the Xiao Faction.

“Pass my order down. The out of town divisions will be launching a full attack on Raylen’s forces in the wilderness!” Xiao Jin was back to expressionless.

Xiao Hai’s smile froze. Waves of shock filled his heart, and he said in disbelief, “Father, you’ve just become the leader, and the structure has yet to stabilize. If we start a war at this time, the power of the family will be hugely damaged, and our position will be even more volatile. The priority right now should be to stabilize the internal matters! Although Raylan set us up this time, there’s no need to seek revenge immediately. There are many more days to come, and there’s no benefit to what you’re doing!”

“Stop talking, do as I said,” Xiao Jin said coldly.

Xiao Hai was stunned.

…

_____________________

You have unlocked the Alumera Family. Current relationship: Respect (3000/6000) – [Partner of Xiao Faction].

_____________________

The starting relationship is ‘respect’. Seems like Xiao Jin gave in. Han Xiao was very satisfied.

He did not threaten Xiao Jin out of nowhere. The deduction earlier was made from his speculation through the pieces of evidence. Firstly, Xiao Jin’s actions were all very goal oriented and connected with each other, and these actions all brought him a benefit, which was very suspicious. Secondly, [The Real Killer] was a puzzle mission, but Xiao Jin found Su Dinghua straightaway. Thus, the mission had been completed too easily, which made him feel that Xiao Jin knew who the killer was all along.

If Xiao Jin knew that Su Dinghua was going to assassinate Darryl from the start and did not do anything about it, then the character that Xiao Jin played was neither the real killer nor the mastermind, but someone who waited for the opportunity to take on the position of the leader.

Han Xiao had already thought of this when Xiao Jin came to look for his help, and he had planned this back then when he agreed to help.

He acted like he did not know and let Xiao Jin use him to increase his rank, but at the same time, Xiao Jin had to rely on him to do so. Therefore, Han Xiao turned around and threatened Xiao Jin because, unless Xiao Jin wanted to give up his position as the leader, he had to listen to him and almost become his puppet.

From Xiao Jin’s actions, he was an ambitious guy who knew how to analysis his situation. The chance of him compromising was more than eighty percent. He definitely could not let go of the leader’s position that he had worked so hard to get.

Furthermore, Raylen was the mastermind who framed him, and there was no way Han Xiao was going to let them have an easy time. Therefore, he had ordered Alumera to clash with them without considering the costs for them. The people of Raylen would definitely not expect Alumera to counter-attack so strongly; it went the exact opposite way that they wanted it to go, and they had brought fire to themselves.

This way, Han Xiao could take revenge on Raylen without getting blood on his blades, and he did not even have to do anything.

It was easier to fight a large organization with a large organization.

During what happened in Alumera, Han Xiao had been watching like a bystander and only showed his teeth in the end.

The fight between a sandpiper and a clam benefitted the fisherman in the end!

Of course, there was a possibility that his guess was wrong. Xiao Jin might not actually have been someone who knew all along and acted on the opportunities that surfaced.

However, this was not important at all. It was as he had said before.

I don’t need evidence. If I think it’s true, then it is!

It must be!

Xiao Jin did not have a choice.

I should complete the mission. Han Xiao opened the interface.

_____________________

Please state the real killer’s identity.

_____________________

“Su Dinghua, Raylen…” Han Xiao described the situation. The mission requirement was to find out the mastermind who framed him, which was Raylen without a doubt.

_____________________

[The Real Killer] has been processed. Determining…

Requirements met. Mission complete.

You have received a chance to learn a random ability or talent. Please select.

_____________________

Han Xiao pondered for a moment. He felt that a talent would be better; there was a chance to get a rare talent or even a molding ability.

“Talent.”

_____________________

Randomizing… Completed. Please choose from one of the three below.

Duplicate Channeling: 2% – 8% chance of duplicating the ability during channeling. Triggering the ability depends on Luck.

Call of the Wild: Increases default affinity with beast type monsters with a chance to communicate. Charisma increases the chance of communication.

Frost Resistance: +35% resistance to ice element and makes it harder to receive debuffs from ice element such as slow or frozen.

Chapter 214 - Leaving

Between these three random talents, the one with the highest practicality on the surface should be [Frost Resistance], which had a very specific effect. However, in terms of usefulness, Han Xiao felt that [Call of the Wild] had a broader area of application.

Beast type monsters were a very large monster group. Other than planets that had been highly modified or had very little life, every planet across the entire Galaxy would have some beasts. Beasts were a very important part of the biological chain, and there were many types of beasts living across land and sea. There were even some stronger beast species that lived in space, unharmed by the radiation, meteoroids, and many other forms of danger existing in space. These types of species were all BOSSes that would appear in later versions of the game.

As for [Duplicate Channeling], it was a sorcerer talent. It did not apply to any ability other than magic, so it was completely useless for Han Xiao, who was a Mechanic. If it was not for the random factor, Han Xiao would have never gotten in touch with any talents from another class.

After some consideration, Han Xiao decided on [Call of The Wild]. Although his Charm was a little low, it was still a rather useful talent.

Planet Aquamarine in version 2.0 would be filled with monsters, beasts would be crawling across the planet. Han Xiao had a feeling that [Call of The Wild] would be useful by then.

His plan was to leave Planet Aquamarine before version 1.0 ended, but he had a thought in his mind. The main storyline of version 2.0 was [Mutation Disaster]. It was a virus that came from space and caused mutations in many planets, including Planet Aquamarine. The cure was later invented by a higher civilization. Han Xiao was thinking that he could return with the cure in the future and bring an end to the storyline earlier.

After he spread intelligence of the Germinal Organization before the game’s official release, Han Xiao knew that there were a lot of benefits to bringing large impacts to the main storyline.

This was just a blueprint of the future; Han Xiao was still focusing on the current issues.

The accident in Alumera had come to an end, and the result was satisfactory.

Not only did he not lose anything, he also gained quite a number of benefits. Although his schedule was delayed because of the days that he stayed in Alumera, no one disliked having more side missions; the more side missions there were, the more benefits they would bring.

The players would always be there, and they were not complaining or anything, so there was no rush for Han Xiao.

The next morning, Han Xiao left Alumera. All the high ranked officials came to see him off.

The cold of the north seemed to have pierced into the hearts of Alumera’s high ranked officials. They held on tightly to their beast hide coats.

Black Phantom had become a member of their family on the books, so this outsider was now the strongest in the family. The high ranked officials were willing to suck up to him, and they gifted him an SUV to save him the trouble of walking.

Everyone in the Xiao Faction arrived. They all greeted Han Xiao with manners and respect, displaying their closeness by having their youngsters calling Black Phantom ‘stepfather’ one after another. The other factions despised this yet were jealous of it. If they could get Black Phantom’s support, they would do the same willingly. They sighed in their hearts—that Xiao Jin had grabbed the opportunity before them.

Xiao Jin was having mixed emotions. He looked Han Xiao in the eye and nodded lightly. Only they themselves knew the deals that they made behind everyone else’s back.

Although Xiao Jin’s wish came true, he could not help but feel some bitterness deep in his heart.

Han Xiao waved as he got into the SUV and left in the wind and snow.

“He finally left.”

The tensed bodies of Alumera’s high ranked officials all relaxed. It was like a huge stone had been removed from their heart, and even breathing felt easier.

Not far away, the players of the Bamboo Rain Guild cheered with joy; their mission was finally completed.

_____________________

Black Phantom captured the real killer and brought a huge impact to Alumera’s structure. As his helper, you witnessed the entire process. Bonus reward: 15,000 experience.

_____________________

The experience from this mission was a lot for the players at the time, so they were very satisfied.

“By the way, Xuan, didn’t you make a recording of Black Phantom?” Guild Leader Bamboo Rain Fragrance asked.

Bamboo Rain Xuan said with pride, “I’ve already sold it and emailed it to Galaxy Times. They have given me a reward.”

The mechanical suit, men’s romance.

The background of Galaxy had players guessing about all sorts of combat system, and the mechanical suit was a very popular topic among them. Articles about mechanical suits created countless fans, and many players looked forward the day of them battling in a mechanical suit. Between the five main classes, only the mechanic class fit the speculations, but since the official release, no one had seen an NPC that fought in a mechanical suit.

Han Xiao was the first person who had showcased the mechanical suit, and he had created another first without noticing.

The impact of this on the players would only show after the next episode of ‘Galaxy Times’ was released, but before that, it first impacted the local organizations.

When Han Xiao killed Luann and Vanessa, he had used his mechanical suit. It had been recorded by the people of Alumera and leaked into the Dark Net, which triggered waves of shock within the organizations.

Everyone could see that Viper had an astonishing level of performance. It was a very advanced mechanical suit. Black Phantom was a Mechanic, so this had undoubtedly been built by himself, possessing a higher quality than the military experiments of many large nations.

Han Xiao was famous for his identity as a killer, but he had shocked the world again with his standard as a Mechanic. The organizations immediately updated his documents.

At the same time, there were also many organizations who were interested in obtaining this mechanical suit.

One of them was the Germinal Organization!

“This is a very advanced single unit combat mechanical suit. If we can gain control of it, the strength of our soldiers will increase tremendously, and the chances of winning this war will be higher.”

In their headquarters in Andrea, the leader and Cyberlos were watching the short combat recording on a large screen. Cyberlos’ eyes opened wide and were filled with fanaticism.

The leader, on the other hand, thought of something else.

“The guy who claimed to be our member and made a mess in the Louis Research Institution was wearing this mechanical suit, too. Turns out it was Black Phantom.

“During the evacuation in the Northern Continent some time ago, Black Phantom was involved as well, and he took us as an enemy.

“Not a guy to be easily messed with.” The leader frowned. “His mechanical suit is of high importance to us, but we don’t have enough forces in the other continents, and his movements are difficult to predict. Unless we send the strongest executive officers of the organization, no one can fight him.”

The leader did not want to give up easily on Black Phantom’s mechanical suit, but his senses told him that he would have no chance to deal with Black Phantom once the war started unless Black Phantom came to the battlefield.

The leader shook his head. The chances of that were close to none.

…

Two days later, Han Xiao accepted the reward mission for Invisible Demon in one of Dark Net’s based of the Northern Continent and only handed Invisible Demon away after a notification popped up on the interface.

Interestingly, the person in charge of the stronghold was very confused.

“Mr. Black Phantom, where’s the Invisible Demon who you’ve mentioned?”

Han Xiao pointed at an empty space on the ground and said, “Right here.”

The person wiped off his cold sweat and said, “I—I can’t see him.”

Han Xiao used more than ten torturous ways to prove Invisible Demon’s existence, and after the heavily wounded and mind broken Invisible Demon was retrieved, the mission was completed.

More than 200,000 experience and 150,000 Aquamarine Dollars. He had made another fortune with Invisible Demon. Although Han Xiao had amassed a small fortune, he was not going to give up any opportunity to make more—it was an accumulation process.

The players with the top spot on the level leaderboard had reached level 20 and were such on the class advancement missions, and at this time, Han Xiao had arrived in the last novice village of the Novice Village and made it in time for the last opportunity to make a huge amount of experience.

Upon arrival, Han Xiao realized that he was even more popular, especially among the male players who all surrounded him.

“What the name of your mechanical suit?”

“Do you sell the mechanical suit?”

These questions appeared the most. Han Xiao browsed through the forum and noticed that ‘Galaxy Times’ had released a recording of him battling in his mechanical suit.

This episode of ‘Galaxy Times’ was not as interesting, but this recording became the highlight of the episode. The quiet comments section exploded upon seeing the recording.

No wonder the players are so excited. Han Xiao could understand. When he was a new player, if he had seen a mechanical suit, he would have reacted the same.

The most direct influence was that players had even more of an interest in the mechanic class. More people came to this novice village to change their class, which in turn increased his sales.

An official announcement showing the various statistics of the game would be released some time after the official launch. Han Xiao was looking forward to seeing the percentage of players that chose the Mechanic class. In his previous life, this percentage had been a single digit, but now, with his influence, he was expecting it to at least double.

The more mechanic players, the brighter Han Xiao’s business future was.

Duu—Duu—

His phone suddenly rang.

Han Xiao looked at his phone, and it was Hao Tian who sent a text message. He had completed the mission, and he was the first among all the other highly skilled players who had taken on the [New Era—Origin] mission!

Not bad, no wonder he’s a god-tier pro. Hao Tian’s eyes twinkled. Hao Tian had completed the mission before he had even left the Northern Continent, and the players who had accepted the mission much earlier in the Western Continent had yet to do so.

Hao Tian accepted the mission [Ending of The Survivor], whose the requirement was to retrieve [Sully—Document 485]. The text content was the entire process of Hao Tian completing the mission, and the information included in the document was included as well.

Chapter 215 - Flow of the Main Storyline

In the age of virtual gaming, interaction was very important. The players felt that Galaxy had done an exceptional job in that regard. The interaction with NPCs was very free, and players could casually write text messages, emails, and such sorts to communicate with NPCs from a far range.

The popular games at the time all had a certain extent of reality and virtual socializing functionalities. There was an old but always popular game, Ruthless, that was very good in this regard. Text messages could be written freely even though it was a single player game.

When VR-Capsule technology was invented, Ruthless designed a version for it as well. At the time, due to the level of reality and the rough play style of Ruthless, a debate was triggered, and the NPC Protection Society that people had only talked about was actually really created. It was a very interesting phenomenon.

_____________________

[Ending of the Survivor] completed.

_____________________

One of the five requirements in the hidden main storyline turned green, which represented its completion.

_____________________

You have received [Sully—Document 485]. From the document, you acknowledged a buried past.

_____________________

This mission has a commentator, damn. Han Xiao was surprised.

_____________________

The document recorded an old action plan, with a lot of information missing. Before the war of the old era, a country sent a team to a village in Andrea for a secret mission. What happened afterward was unknown, but all the residents of the village were killed by gunfire. That country is already dead now.

_____________________

That’s it? Han Xiao was confused. This description was a clue of the mission, but it was way too vague. He thought about it and sent it to Hannes. That old guy had more information on hands—maybe he could discover something more.

Completing the mission was enough for Han Xiao.

…

Hao Tian stood beside the mission character ‘Old Devin’ and stared at his phone, waiting for Black Phantom’s reply.

This mission had been very cumbersome. Old Devin had the document, so he had needed to gain Old Devin’s trust first, which he had done by completing many chore missions. The difficult part was that Old Devin suffered from mental illnesses. He had Paranoia, Amnesia, Schizophrenia, was prone to anger, spoke nonsense, and dozens more. He would quickly become anxious, and he would mistake a trash can on the road for bomb and passers-by for enemies who were chasing him.

Old Devin had been a member of this plan, and from what he said, after he completed the mission, the nation had killed his family and hunted him down. The hiding and stress he suffered through the years gave him the mental illnesses.

“Do you know why war broke out during the old era?” Old Devin would always look around his surroundings and make sure that there was no one before he started chatting with Hao Tian. “It was because of me. Every nation was looking for me, so they fought each other. Enemies were everywhere. They still have not given up. Look at these surveillance cameras in the city. They are all set up for me.”

Of course, Hao Tian did not understand a single word he said, and he did not care about the story anyway. He was just doing the missions, and with his high efficiency and strong will, he completed the mission.

Hao Tian soon received Han Xiao’s reply and the notification of the mission being completed, and a sense of relief washed over him.

‘You’re the first to complete the mission. I feel that you have quite the potential. Are you interested in helping me?”

“Sure.” Hao Tian gave a very simple reply.

“Wait at the border of Raylen, coordinate R1565.842. I will bring you along when I leave the Northern Continent.”

“Sure.”

Although Hao Tian had a very steady personality, he still felt a sense of excitement when he thought of the benefits of Black Phantom’s hidden storyline in the forums.

…

Han Xiao finished his journey of making a crazy amount of profits when he left the last novice village in the Northern Continent. Before leaving the Northern Continent, Han Xiao came to an ice field where high-level ice bears lived. He spent a few hours and used the Ghost sniper rifle to fulfill the requirements for [Lethal Shot].

_____________________

Lethal Shot: 12 – 25% chance to activate true damage with the first shot on target. This cannot be reactivated on the same target within 5 minutes.

_____________________

By changing the target, the talent could be triggered multiple times, which was very useful. Although it did not quite meet the standards of Bennett’s cheat-like molding ability [Legendary Battle Techniques], it was still a rare attacking talent.

After counting, Han Xiao had twelve talents, which was exceptional in version 1.0. Half of that would already be very high for a LV 55 player.

Han Xiao also gave the recently obtained [Call of the Wild] talent a try. The ice bears above level 50 was not affected by it at all—they were still as aggressive as they had originally been.

He lowered the level of his targets and realized that a bear cub was very friendly toward him. It was white, chubby, and furry, only as tall as his waist level. It hugged his leg and showed off its cuteness.

There’s quite some use to this talent. The cub is only at level ten-something, but there should be other hidden elements to the Call of The Wild. Other than it being affected by Charm, the level difference between me and the beast should also be part of the reason as well as the characteristics of the beast.

Han Xiao contemplated the matter. Suddenly, he saw this furry ball trying its best to climb up his leg. The Great Han Xiao squinted and kicked the cub away.

The white and chubby cub rolled over a few times and then came back again. Han Xiao just could not chase it away no matter how he tried; it was very clingy.

Its furry butt kept shaking, and it looked stupid. Its small, black eyes were filled with innocence.

Tsk, how adorable. Han Xiao could not resist its cuteness. He held the cub upside down and gave it a look. And it’s a female.

They looked at each other for some time, then Han Xiao reached out his arms. The cub climbed up laboriously to Han Xiao’s shoulder and hung onto it like a swing.

“You definitely have some koala blood. Didn’t expect you to be a cross-breed,” Han Xiao said in surprise. He twisted his arm, and the cub shook swung around it as well. It was like he was carrying a bag.

I shall bring it along as a pet.

Raising a pet was a spice of life. With a pet, Han Xiao suddenly felt much more relaxed. No wonder people in the big cities liked to have pets—it was such an effective stress reliever. When they were unhappy, they just had to bully their pet, and they could find back their sense of superiority as an intelligent species.

This was a Sharp Claw Ice Bear cub, only a few months old. Han Xiao was too lazy to give it a name, so he just called it Bear Cub.

Bringing along Bear Cub, Han Xiao boarded the plane to the border of Raylen and picked up Hao Tian. Following which, he immediately headed toward the Southern Continent.

On the plane, Hao Tian lived up to his image of a highly skilled player and kept silent, did not ask about their destination, and did not make any interactions. Han Xiao saw that he had nothing to do, so he gave him a mission to take care of Bear Cub. Hao Tian’s expression became interesting on the spot.

Galaxy’s details were all very real, especially the look and smell of urine and feces.

Flying from the Northern Continent to the Southern Continent required a little over half a day. Han Xiao received a call from Hannes on the way, saying that Old Devin’s document filled missing information of their clues, and it was a very important finding. Han Xiao knew that this would affect the next round of the hidden main storyline missions.

The earnings in the Northern Continent were not lesser than the Western Continent. Han Xiao’s experience and money had all almost doubled. Every time Han Xiao looked at the accumulated experience in the interface and the total of his Dark Net bank account, he would feel a surge of happiness.

…

When the plane landed in the Southern Continent, Antonio was waiting. Han Xiao saw his rough face as soon as he came out of the plane.

“Welcome back, my friend.” Antonio laughed out loud and gave Han Xiao a bear hug. The strong odor on his body almost made Han Xiao lose his health points.

“Hug a while more, and I’d be dead.” Han Xiao rubbed his nose with a frown. The odor was lingering in the air.

“Only out for a month, and look what you’ve done!” Antonio said with surprise. He remembered that Han Xiao said that he would not get into trouble, but it seemed like Han Xiao’s standard of trouble and his were very different.

Things about Black Phantom had been spreading like a disease recently. Many organizations had to spend some of their focus on Black Phantom; the man had most likely become one of the top names in many organizations’ threat lists.

Black Phantom had officially reached the top of Dark Net’s killer leaderboards.

After chatting for a while, Antonio noticed Bear Cub. His eyes immediately twinkled, and he ran over to pet it. Han Xiao was not surprised that Antonio liked furry things judging from his appearance—the two furballs were probably cousins.

Han Xiao walked aside and called Bennett.

“I’ve returned.”

Bennett breathed a sigh of relieved and said with a hint of sorrow, “I’ve waited for you for so long.”

Han Xiao went straight to the point and said, “The ‘Shelter Plan’ you talked about, what help do you need from me?”

Bennett was very touched. Han Xiao mentioned about helping the first thing after he returned, how noble!

In the society of lies and deception, people who had such good qualities were going extinct.

This was a friend that was worth building a stronger relationship with!

Bennett decided to make Han Xiao one of the people in charge of the plan and share even more details with him. “Let’s talk when we meet—I have a very important mission for you.”

Hearing that, Han Xiao knew there was a chance and got excited. He was very familiar with the main storyline [Shelter Plan], and he knew how much benefit there was in becoming a core member.

The Six Nations had been making a lot of moves in the dark recently—the preparation for expedition war was almost complete, and the expedition would probably officially commence in that month. The Germinal Organization was finally about to meet the disaster that had been created by Han Xiao, and the war was going to break out in Planet Aquamarine. The wanderers, militaries, warlords, financial organizations, secret organizations, and all the other organizations were nervous about it.

To open the [Shelter Plan] main storyline at this time completely messed up the sequence of the storyline, but its benefits were also clear. Under the threat from the war, Bennett would do anything to carry out the plan.

And the players’ attention would also be diverted by the main storyline [Shelter], which would reduce the number of players taking part in the main storyline of the war between the Six Nations and the Germinal Organization, which was beneficial to Han Xiao. The smaller the impact that the players made, the more advantages that the Six Nations had.

Chapter 216 - Dark Net Director, Third Sanctuary

The invitation from Bennett signified his trust. The meeting point this time was the first shelter that Dark Net was building, located in a city ruins named ‘Ruins of Lloyd’ in a wasteland in the Northern Continent. It had once been the financial center of a dead nation in the Northern Continent.

Han Xiao sat in Bennett’s private helicopter. When he looked down at the city from the sky, he could see the building process of the shelter. The first thing he saw was the tens of meters tall enormous wall that was being built. In the areas that had yet to be completed, he could see workers welding steel bars together onto the scaffolding. The concrete of the wall was mixed with other materials and had a metallic feeling to it. With Han Xiao’s professional knowledge, he knew that the wall was so strong that smaller rockets would at most only leave traces of burn marks on it. The wall was built to the standards of a fortress; it was extremely expensive.

The Dark Net’s symbol was painted on the wall in dark red together with the new name of this city.

Bennett Sanctuary One!

The helicopter flew past the wall, and the construction machinery came into sight, clearing the roads and the abandoned buildings. Countless workers in gray uniforms ran around doing their job to lay the foundation for the new buildings and planning the layout of the city. Steel bars, bricks, wood, and other stacks of industrial building materials lay out in the open, and it looked exactly like a gigantic construction site.

“You named the shelter after yourself.” Han Xiao patted Bennett’s shoulder with a smirk. “I didn’t know you’re this shameless.”

Bennett slapped the palm on his shoulder away and said, “Let’s go. Come to the high ranked officials meeting with me.”

“What has the meeting got to do with me?” Han Xiao asked in surprise.

Bennett shook his head and laughed. “You’re a high ranked official, too.”

Han Xiao blinked.

Bennett cleared his throat and said, “I strongly recommended you to be a director personally. You won’t disappoint me, will you?”

Dark Net had recently reconstructed their high ranked officials, with the highest ranking being the founders such as Bennett and one level lower being the various directors.

“What are you talking about?” Han Xiao asked with a serious face. “When did I disappoint you?”

Bennett did not know whether to laugh or cry. He led the way, and Han Xiao saw the construction of the shelter at a close range.

“Sanctuary One is our test. I’ve put in plenty of resources, and it’s progressing quite well. The basic layout should be completed within a year. The layout of the shelter is divided into a few sections. In order to have enough basic infrastructure to meet the requirements of its residents, the plants and livestock also needs to form a self-sustained ecosystem so that even if war breaks out in the outside world, the shelter can provide for its own, and the defensive measures are, of course, to defend against enemies.”

Boom!

An abandoned building in front was being demolished, and dust filled the area as it fell down.

Han Xiao waved the dust away and said in awe, “Just this shelter would’ve cost you a huge sum.”

“The Six Nations’ resources can only support two to three sanctuaries,” Bennett said with his hands behind his back. “My plan is to build at least three to five sanctuaries across the continents.”

“That will be outrageously expensive.”

“This sum of money is insignificant when it comes to preserving our civilization.”

“Wow, I could almost see the halo above your head,” Han Xiao mocked.

Bennett’s mouth twitched.

After arriving at the new fortress, directors of the Dark Net gathered in the meeting hall. They stood up and bowed slightly to show their respect when Bennett and Han Xiao walked in.

Black Phantom had displayed his strength and was now the top fighting force of Dark Net, and with Bennett’s support, the high ranked officials present all agreed that Han Xiao’s position was at the same level as theirs.

The high ranked officials reported the progress of Sanctuary One in turn, and when Bennett was done settling them, he said, “Sanctuary One has been proven to be practical. The message has been sent out. Many wanderers came to look for protection upon hearing the message. With more residents, the building progress can be sped up.

“At the same time, we can give them job opportunities to take part in the construction process of the shelter, which will aid in strengthening unity. I foresee that in the months to come, as the message of the shelter gets spread out further, more wanderers will come.

“The construction of shelter has to start sooner rather than later; I have decided to commence the construction of Sanctuary Two and Three immediately.”

The high ranked officials exchanged looks, and one of them asked hesitantly, “Mr. Bennett, wouldn’t that be too much of a rush? Why don’t we wait for Sanctuary One to be completed?”

“Because we don’t have much time. We need to speed up the progress.”

“Sanctuary needs someone to be in charge. Who will be in charge of Sanctuary Two?”

“Xena will be in charge of Sanctuary Two,” Bennett said. Xena was currently the highest director of Dark Net and had been recommended by many senior officials. Of course, no one opposed this decision.

“As for Sanctuary Three, Black Phantom will be in charge.”

Han Xiao’s eyebrows shot up. He did not expect Bennett to trust him this much and let him be in charge of an entire shelter. The power of this was very huge.

The directors were shocked as well.

Black Phantom had just become a high ranked official, and now he was in charge of such an important issue. It seemed to many that he was not senior enough to do so. Many directors wanted to object, but Bennett had already seen through their thoughts. One simple sentence made their mouths shut.

“Each shelter needs someone with extraordinary strength to guard. If any of you have the confidence that your subordinate is stronger than Black Phantom, feel free to object.”

Stronger than Black Phantom? The directors laughed bitterly. Across the entire Dark Net, other than Bennett and two others who had already retired, no one could beat Black Phantom.

Bennett ended the meeting since no one opposed the decision and brought Han Xiao to a private meeting room. They chatted for a while before Bennett stopped debating with Han Xiao over if there should be a reward for being the person in charge of Sanctuary Three. He faced Han Xiao’s look of contempt without any shame and showcased the detailed plan of Sanctuary Three.

“Sanctuary Three’s construction is basically completed. Its location will be in Graymetal Ruins.”

Han Xiao thought that place sounded quite familiar, and then he remembered that Graymetal Ruins was where he had set up his secret base. It was quite a coincidence.

Bennett briefly explained the layout and that Han Xiao’s mission was to sit in, monitor the construction team, and when any threat arose nearby, he could settle it entirely by himself. There was only one requirement—complete the construction of the shelter.

Han Xiao almost fell asleep because of how boring and tedious the explanation was, and at this time, a notification popped up in the interface. Han Xiao was immediately awake.

_____________________

You have unlocked a new organization, [Dark Net Organization]. Subsidiary [Blood Pact Society] detected. Relationship status: Respect (4450/6000) – [Rank One of Killer Leaderboard]

[Dark Net Organization] initial relationship: Friendly (2225/3000) – [Director]

_____________________

Part of the reason Han Xiao was able to become a high ranked official of the Dark Net was because of Bennett. If a player wanted to gain a high position in Dark Net, the relationship had to be at least Respect, and to become a high ranked official, it had to be at least ‘Reverence’. However, the prerequisite for Han Xiao was not that strict, which was a benefit of being an NPC. It was not restricted by the rigid requirements in the interface.

_____________________

You have triggered the rank-A mission [Sanctuary Plan — Sanctuary Three]!

_____________________

Seeing the mission requirements, Han Xiao smiled. It was as he expected. As the person in charge of Sanctuary Three, his mission was construction, and the mission type was also a series mission that was divided into tens of requirements. Each of them was one part of the construction blueprint. For every part of the construction that was completed, one requirement would be considered met, which included defensive measures, residential areas, bases, buildings, cleaning the ruins, plantations, farms, and many more. It was like modifying a city.

The mission also notified him that if an unexpected situation appeared, he would also be entirely in charge of solving it, and the grading might become lower or higher depending on the situation and results.

The more requirements that were completed, the higher the completion grading would be, and the rewards would be given based on the grading.

For the players, they could take on this main storyline normally, but their situation was completely different from Han Xiao’s. The players had to take on different missions from the lowest ranked or middle ranked personnel and take part in the construction from side missions. On the other hand, Han Xiao received the overall mission, which included all the side missions and main storyline missions. This was a benefit of becoming the core member of the plan—he was very clear on what needed to be done.

Also, his reward was far greater than the players’. The fragmented missions that players completed would all be considered as part of the construction in the end, which indirectly met his requirements. As mentioned before, the requirement for the same mission might even differ based on who was doing it, and with the special relationship Han Xiao had with Dark Net, he received this mission that had loads of benefits.

“However, there are some problems.” Bennett cleared his throat and said, “Due to funding constraints, the resources are concentrated in Sanctuary One and Two. Therefore, there might be not as many people who will be working with you to build Sanctuary Three.”

“How many?” Han Xiao suddenly had a bad feeling. Sanctuary One had tens of thousands of workers, so he would require a similar workforce.

“About a thousand…”

Han Xiao squinted with an expression that said, Are you kidding me‽

“It’s mainly because of the flow of the funding not reaching its destination,” Bennett said awkwardly. “This will only be the case for the first month. We will hire more people to help you afterward.”

Han Xiao picked Bear Cub, who was sleeping on his laps, and threw it toward Bennett. Bear Cub fell onto the sofa upside down and finally opened its eyes slowly.

“Hit him.” Han Xiao pointed toward Bennett.

Bear Cub blinked in confusion and only understood after staring at Han Xiao’s finger for a very long time. It then turned over and slapped Bennett’s left cheek.

Bennett laughed bitterly. He rubbed Bear Cub’s furry buttock then pushed it aside and said, “I know it’s difficult, but you’re the only person that can help me. No one else has the ability to.”

Han Xiao pondered for a while before he nodded and said, “No worries, I will be able to build a basic layout within a month.”

Bennett’s requirements for Sanctuary Three were very low. As long as the construction was stable and the ruins were cleaned within a month, it was more than enough. He took Han Xiao’s words as a joke and didn’t take it to heart at all.

“By the way, I have another requirement,” Han Xiao said.

“What is it?” Bennett replied.

Han Xiao laughed and said, “Sanctuary Three has to be named after me.”

Since Bennett had already done that, how could the Great Mechanic Han Xiao not received the same treatment? And by naming the shelter after himself, it would definitely create a strong, long-term impact.

Chapter 217 - Class Advancement of the Players

Many of the directors were not happy with the fact that Black Phantom was in charge of Sanctuary Three, but when they heard that Sanctuary Three was short of labor and that Han Xiao had actually received a very difficult task, they felt much better.

That should be the right way, letting the newcomer do the difficult jobs.

However, Bennett gathered the directors and announced an appointment.

“Black Phantom is my friend, and he doesn’t have much experience. Everyone here was involved in the construction of Sanctuary One, so I will appoint one director to be Black Phantom’s consultant and assistant.”

The directors panicked for a little. They exchanged looks discreetly, all hoping not to be appointed.

Going to Sanctuary Three was like being sent to the borders; there would not be any contribution within a month, and there was really not much benefit in being Black Phantom’s assistant. There also was not much credit to working under someone. All in all, it was a terrible job, and they would much prefer to stay and wait for other opportunities.

Although the motive behind Bennett’s Sanctuary Plan signified greatness and justice, the directors under him did not feel the same. All they saw in the shelter plan were the benefits that they could garner from it. In their eyes, this was a new round of power reshuffle, if they could be in charge of a shelter, the weight of their words would become much heavier in the future.

Bennett knew what these high ranked officials were thinking, but he did not give any explanation because the benefits could motivate the directors to work harder. Bennett did not expect everyone to be so noble; this was all part of his plan.

Not many people could catch Bennett’s eyes, but Han Xiao was one of them. This guy was really a great friend. All he wanted was to help, and even when he mentioned rewards, it was mostly in a joking manner—he never insisted on it

Bennett was someone who took profits very lightly, and he noticed that Han Xiao had a similar quality, which was why he felt a sense of closeness toward Han Xiao.

He decided to appoint someone who was very capable to be Han Xiao’s assistant.

Bennett looked around and said, “Huang Yu, you’ll help Black Phantom.”

The face of the guy called Huang Yu immediately dropped. He answered unwillingly, and when he saw the gloating faces of the other directors, he became even more unhappy.

Among the directors of Dark Net, Huang Yu was someone with very high capabilities. He was often entrusted with important issues as he excelled in taking care of all types of cumbersome issues and had always arranged them very neatly. Yet, this time, he had been appointed by Bennett to be an assistant. He was not happy and was not willing to do it, which would, of course, lead to him not taking things seriously. He had already decided to face Black Phantom lackadaisically and pass the one month without being serious. He took it as giving himself a holiday.

…

The idea of shelters had appeared in the minds of others during the old era war as well. Back then, when the nations were busy with the war, many people had lost their homes and wandered the streets. Therefore, one private group started to build a shelter and helped war refugees at all costs. It succeeded initially and protected tens of thousands of people.

However, because of the shortage of resources, the food distributed to the refugees became limited, which sparked unhappiness among them.

Humans cannot be content, especially during times of war, and even a slight idea of malice will be expanded indefinitely.

Those refugees had forgotten the people who helped them in their time of need and fought back. In the end, they took over the shelter and killed its original owners.

In such a chaotic world, things like that happened very often. It was not the shelter that did not work, but the old era did not allow it. Coincidentally, the person who created the shelter during the old era was Bennett’s friend. Bennett had never given up on the idea, and he felt now was the right time.

Han Xiao was familiar with the storyline. He knew that Bennett’s Sanctuary Plan had succeeded, and it grew like a snowball. Even the people in the cities were willing to move to the shelters; it was so successful that it was almost on a trend to become a nation, which caused an alarm within the Six Nations. If it was not for [Mutation Disaster] during version 2.0, the Six Nations might even have become hostile toward the shelters.

The shelters only fully utilized themselves during version 2.0. By then, they were considered to have lived up to their name.

“I’m now in charge of Sanctuary Three. This time, it’s truly a large part of the main storyline. The manpower assigned to me is not enough, but I still have the players.”

Han Xiao had already thought of how to do the [Sanctuary] mission a long time ago.

A helicopter landed in Sanctuary One. Frenzied Sword and Bun-hit-dog walked out and looked around in curiosity. They trotted toward Han Xiao with smiles on their faces as soon as they say him.

Frenzied Sword had a lot of questions to ask, but it all stuck in his mind when he saw Hao Tian who stood on the side

“God— God Player Hao Tian‽” he exclaimed in surprise.

Hao Tian gave him a faint look and did not say anything—too cool.

“Wow, legend!” Bun-hit-dog widened his eyes and asked, “Did you trigger the hidden storyline as well?”

Hao Tian turned his head and did not reply.

How cold of the legend. Bun-hit-dog was speechless, and Frenzied Sword was much better after all.

This time, Bear Cub made a sound.

Hao Tian immediately dashed forward and picked Bear Cub up. He took out tissues from his back with seriousness on his face.

The duo suddenly understood why Hao Tian did not want to speak. They discretely took a few steps backward; the smell was really bad.

Seeing Hao Tian’s serious expression and skilled actions, Frenzied Sword felt respect toward him. What a true legend, doesn’t even change his expression.

The first meeting between the players was very peaceful to Han Xiao.

He looked at Bun-hit-dog. This ‘reporter’ would be of use for what he was going to do next.

…

Three days later…

“Congratulations to the player [White Mask] for completing the first class advancement!”

Every player received a notification from their interface. The first player to reach LV 21 in the level leaderboards, White Mask, was a foreign player. He shared the changes after his class advancement on the forums.

The players on Planet Aquamarine suddenly discovered that [Energy Training Technique] would automatically be awakened with the class advancement!

The people had doubts at the start, but as more and more players advanced in their class, it was proven that everyone would awaken this ability after their class advancement.

The players on Planet Aquamarine was stunned. The ability that they had spent experience to learn was actually an ability that would automatically be awakened after class advancement.

Was that bad?

Many players did not think so. To learn a high-level ability in advance did not seem like a bad thing—it was a growth ability after all, and it had a very good effect. It could largely increase one’s strength during low levels, which was very useful for these players who were discovering new locations.

The people who really suffered were the players in the Northern Continent who only learned it at LV 18 or 19. They had wasted their money on an ability that they would very soon awaken upon class advancement. They were filled with grief.

The Southern Continent players, who had been depressed for a very long time, suddenly realized that they were not the unluckiest, and they suddenly felt much happier.

Although the truth of [Energy Training Technique] was revealed, many low-level players still felt that it was worth it to learn this ability in advance.

Therefore, many Andrea players were still waiting for Han Xiao’s arrival, but what they were faced with was only shock.

Black Phantom had returned to the Southern Continent!

He was not going to Andrea anymore!

When Han Xiao had been in the Western Continent and the Northern Continent, players in Andrea had anticipated that they were going be the last ones, but the truth was too cruel—Han Xiao was not going there at all.

Their hope had resulted in disappointment; the players in Andrea were full of sorrow.

The Planet Aquamarine section on the forums was heated—even foreign players from the other planets joined in—yet players in Andrea had no position to say anything.

It had almost been two months since the official public launch. The average level of the earliest players was close to 20. With more and more new players joined the game, the number of players on Planet Aquamarine had reached hundreds of thousands, and it was still growing. The high-level players started to slowly interfere in the storyline of their planets, digging through the history, the environment, and joining the main storyline.

It was the same for Planet Aquamarine, more and more players were recruited by the Six Nations to be a special unit. The players had heard from the NPCs that the Six Nations’ expedition against the Germinal Organization would commence at any moment.

However, the interface had notified them that their level was not high enough to meet the prerequisites for the expedition mission, which meant that even if they followed the army to join the expedition, most of them would not receive any rewards.

Most importantly, with the current strength of the players, they would be easily slaughtered by the army.

This was the effect of Han Xiao bringing the main storyline forward; the players had lost the time that they should have had to become stronger and join the war immediately.

Also, the organizations of Planet Aquamarine had finally noticed that there was a limit to the number of times the players could revive, which made them more relieved. They felt that at least the Inhumans had flaws; they were not as nervous as before and started to take the Inhumans as a special kind of mercenaries.

At this time, a new issue of Bun-hit-dog’s ‘Galaxy Exploration Journal’ was released.

Chapter 218 - Didn't Know You Are This Kind of Black Phantom

Wild Boy, a member of Sky Territory Guild, was a loyal fan of Bun-hit-dog.

There were many types of Galaxy video hosts on the forum, but Bun-hit-dog was the only one that had first-hand information about Black Phantom, which meant that he was always ahead of other video hosts. Wild Boy liked videos about Black Phantom very much; he was really attracted to the dark and mysterious feeling that Black Phantom gave.

As soon as Bun-hit-dog updated, Wild Boy saw it. He clicked into it immediately and commented before the video even started. “International rule, ask for new updates before watching!”

The video started playing, and Bun-hit-dog’s bitchy voice appeared.

“Pure white legs and cherry red lips, rip your skin and harden your bones, take off these clothes and these pants, drunk by choice but not by booze, cup of Viagra is all I need—I will last through the night! Hello everyone, welcome to the Galaxy Exploration Journal. Audience, this is me as always, the different kind of Bun-hit-dog!”

Wild Boy spat out a mouthful of water. It was a standard procedure to always start with a poem every episode. The words used became more and more shameless. Even Wild Boy, who had a strong ID, could not take it anymore.

The comments would always explode when the poems came. It was so much that even the screen was obstructed.

“I once had both knowledge and fighting skills, but now I can only yell 666.”

“Clear theme, good poem.”

“I’m calling the police!”

“I sang along although I’m a girl…”

“Extraordinary level of dirtiness!”

“I can’t stop singing it!”

“Please be considerate toward the feelings of lady fans!”

“Reported, you’re welcome!”

The last episode had been about Bun-hit-dog and Frenzied Sword making a mess in Black Pine. This episode was a continuation, and the audience enjoyed it very much. When the mission was completed and the show entered the second half, the scene suddenly changed to a city that was being built. The large ‘Bennett Sanctuary One’ came into audiences’ sights.

In the scene, Han Xiao wore a black coat and stood with his hands behind his back.

The comments stopped for a moment before suddenly exploding.

“Wow, I get to see my Uncle Black again!”

“Great video host, have a recommendation ticket.”

After so many days, Black Phantom could finally be seen in Bun-hit-dog’s video, and Bun-hit-dog was the only person who could do this. The audience felt a sense of grace; it was like seeing someone they knew.

Since the public launch, Han Xiao had been in the sights of the players, and he had already made an impact and occupied a special position in the hearts of the players.

Wild Boy opened his eyes wide; he did not want to miss even one second.

“Black Phantom brought us into a special scene going during construction. During this time, I discovered main storyline missions from Black Phantom…”

The audience discussed among each other within the comments. The players knew that Han Xiao gave out main storyline missions, and the requirements for receiving the hidden storyline were very high. Could this main storyline mission be a different one?

Bun-hit-dog showcased his mission list, and a new mission appeared within, [Black Phantom Sanctuary Three]!

“What’s this?”

“There’s Black Phantom in the mission name…”

“What’s a sanctuary?”

“It is very similar to the name of this place.”

Bun-hit-dog explained the inside information with excitement. Dark Net was building shelters, and Black Phantom had brought a group of thousand people to Graymetal Ruins to build a city. This information had been gained from Han Xiao himself.

There were not any prior requirements this time; the mission could be triggered easily.

After the mission introduction ended, the comments section was filled with shock once more.

“It’s the construction of a city. My god, that’s such a large main storyline! Almost as huge as the expedition war.”

“This should be part of the Planet Aquamarine main storyline, too!”

Wild Boy paused the video. He read the mission requirements carefully again and again then swallowed his saliva before playing the video.

Without even having time to think about what the sanctuary actually was, he saw in the video that Han Xiao was yelling at the people below him.

“The overcast of war obscured the blue skies like the wings of death, and the scars of the previous war have been torn apart before they could even heal. Only a few decades have passed, but no one has forgotten the pain that the war cast upon the land. Up till today, it is still affecting the ground under us and the skies above us. Radiation, specks of dust, wasteland, and dead nations!

“How ridiculous! After the old era, our civilian technology regressed, but the military technology that is used against our own kind has been advancing continuously. They fight for their ideals and the nations’ benefits; they used iron and fire to spread death!

“For these empty and false reasons, they slaughtered those of their own kind who had no power to defend themselves! Countless people have been killed in the fires of war! The world became wounded and broken because of them, and it is on its way to the end. The ending of the world might quietly be upon us one day. The construction of the shelters is for preserving our civilization. Even if the world ends tomorrow, I still want to save the last bit of tinder for the civilization!

“I don’t possess greatness, but too many are small.

“If no one wants to pay the price, okay, I will be the first!

“But I know, I won’t be the last!”

Han Xiao’s tone was filled with cadence. Wild Boy felt short of breath. Although he was watching a video, he could feel his blood turning hot in his heart—that raw emotion was extremely infectious!

Wild Boy was not the only one who was shocked by this. The comment ‘I don’t possess greatness, but too many are small’ passed by the screen with three exclamation marks behind. It looked very impactful.

“Didn’t Know You Are This Kind of Black Phantom!” Many comments similar to this also flew on the screen. In the players’ mind, Black Phantom was quiet and did not speak much, but this speech that he had given had turned this impression completely upside down. Many players felt more familiar with Han Xiao—they had not expected Black Phantom’s ideals to be this great.

Wild Boy was very excited after he finished watching.

This time, he saw Jade Green Sky announcing a message in the guild channel.

“Attention everyone, the guild will be collecting Graymetal Ruins’ location and information. The intelligence provider will be rewarded.”

…

One day earlier…

Han Xiao gathered the group of a thousand people who followed him to build the city and gave out the speech in the video. Bennett just wanted him to say something casually at the time, but he did not expect him to say this much. Bennett was as shocked as the players.

The workers around stopped what they were doing and gathered. The number of people became more and more. They all looked up at Han Xiao, who was standing on the tall platform.

Seeing the crowd turning excited, Han Xiao knew that it was extremely effective. This paragraph had been copied from Bennett’s speech in the future, and its intention was exactly to shock everyone. Back then, Bennett’s position in the hearts of the players had been decided because of his noble ideals. Now that Han Xiao had said it first, no matter what happened in the future, the players would be reminded of him when they brought up Bennett, which would make stronger impacts in the impression the players had of him, making himself more valuable.

He knew that players liked to see such things. A character with noble ideals was usually very popular, and Bennett did not need to care about the players’ impression of him, so Han Xiao grabbed the opportunity.

At the same time, Bennett would be touched as well. Doing this had many benefits.

Players all love the story that a character has as it shows unique sparkling points of their personality. Han Xiao nodded discreetly. He wanted the players to seek him out after the impression that he had created, and whether or not those were his real thoughts, no one would know if he did not say.

Han Xiao turned around and saw Bennett’s expression. It was filled impassioned; these words had really expressed his mind.

Of course they would since they originated from him.

Bennett was very touched. Han Xiao had voiced the deepest thoughts in his mind. He realized that he was beginning to like Han Xiao more and more.

It was like rain and poured on the desert in his heart, Bennett realized that he was not alone anymore; he had found someone that was walking down the same path as him.

It’s all for the continuation of the civilization—he understands me. Bennett gave Han Xiao a pleased look.

Speech is a very scary ability; it can encourage the hearts of the people.

Originally, many workers there went for the money, but now, they felt like their hearts were filled with something more, and they became much more motivated.

The directors were shocked as well. They did not think that the Black Phantom, who had killed countless people, had such ideals. Despite their own motives, they were immediately impressed.

…

The next day, the construction team of Sanctuary Three gathered. The enormous convoy crossed the desolate wilderness and disappeared over the horizon, leaving only dust behind.

The convey was equipped with a scouting helicopter that was flying at a low height. It was the ride for important personnel so that they could escape in the face of danger. However, Han Xiao decided to take the car. Huang Yu, on the other hand, took the helicopter without hesitation. He was not going to be sucking up to Han Xiao.

Han Xiao sat in the back seat. He felt the vibration of the off-road truck and browsed the information of the team.

A notification popped up on the interface at this time.

_____________________

Current Target: Protect the convoy until it arrives at Graymetal Ruins.

Current Population: 1,034

Upon arrival at the destination, 250,000 experience will be rewarded if the damage is below 20%. Mission grading will also be increased.

Current grading: E

_____________________

A sudden notification of the mission goal. This is a characteristic of long-term missions. Han Xiao raised his eyebrows. Suddenly, he realized that he has been moving his eyebrows too much recently. That was not good; he needed to be more serious.

[Sanctuary Three]’s mission grading changed in real time, and the grading could be seen to increase when a requirement was met. The mission had just started, and nothing had been done yet. Thus, it was at the lowest grade, E.

700 people in the team were workers and technicians. The rest of the 300 were soldiers and guards. Divided into teams of 20, the guards stationed around the exterior of the convoy.

Military power is not enough. I have to strengthen the team.

The power of one person was limited. However, he was a Mechanic with a lot of assets.

Chapter 219 - The Brutal Force of Mechanic!

It required four to five days to travel from Sanctuary One to Graymetal Ruins across the wilderness, so the convoy could only camp in the wild.

At around dusk of the first day after departure, at Han Xiao’s orders, the convoy found a safe terrain in the wild and settled down. It was dangerous to travel after the sun set, and many beasts were active during the night.

The soldiers of Dark Net patrolled the surrounding areas in shifts. Han Xiao gathered the important people in the team for a meeting—Assistant Huang Yu, Head of Construction Coney Fury, and Guard Captain Liu Zhao.

The blueprints of the Graymetal Ruins Modification Plan were laid out on the table, and Coney Fury was speaking.

“The initial modifications of the entire city were estimated to be completed in three months, including weeding, getting rid of the beasts, cleaning of ruins, then completing the basic layout of the shelter, planting of the electricity network and water pipes, etc. But this is a plan based on 30,000 workers. We only have 1,000 in the first month. There’s nothing we can do, not even cleaning the ruins.” Coney Fury sighed.

Han Xiao nodded without giving approval or denial. He looked at Huang Yu and asked, “Do you have any suggestions?”

Huang Yu said perfunctorily, “No.”

Noticing the careless attitude of Huang Yu, Han Xiao roughly guessed what he was thinking. But Han Xiao didn’t care about it; it was not like he needed an assistant. He turned his head and said, “Manpower is not a problem—I plan to complete the blueprint construction within a month.”

Coney Fury was stunned. “That will need at least 100,000 workers. Even Sanctuary One doesn’t have that many workers.”

“I have my ways.” Han Xiao did not explain his plan in further detail.

Huang Yu stood by and watched. The amount of money needed to hire 100,000 workers was extremely large, and even with so much money, it was not certain they could hire that many workers. He did not understand where Han Xiao got his confidence from.

Liu Zhao suddenly pressed his headphones and said hastily, “Mr. Black Phantom, an airplane is closing in!”

“Let’s go out and take a look.”

Walking out of the camp, the guards looked at the sky on alert. In the dark night sky, a large airplane flashing signal lights was heading toward them—whether it was friend or foe was unknown.

“It’s ok.” Han Xiao smiled. “That’s the airdrop I called.”

The plane flew past above their heads and dropped a few huge resources boxes that were tied together. The parachute opened, and it landed not far from the camp. The symbol on the boxes belonged to the Fabian Company.

Han Xiao made use of his relationship network and had Fabian’s plane airdrop him a large number of mechanical parts. It definitely was not free, but Han Xiao had a lot of money. Such a small spend meant nothing to him.

Everyone was relieved upon hearing that it was a false alarm.

Huang Yu was secretly surprised. To be able to call an airdrop from the renowned munitions company Fabian, Han Xiao’s relationship network was broader than he thought.

These parts were worth millions of dollars. Han Xiao ordered people to load them onto the resources vehicles and started to build a large amount of machinery. He was very rich now, so he could build all sorts of combat machinery, and they could be used to protect the team as well.

The most famous combat style of Mechanics was the sea of machinery.

Han Xiao stayed in the car and worked for the next two days of the journey.

…

The convoy had arrived at the desert. The sun shone brightly in the sky, and the high temperature had turned the sand as hot as burning steel. Even light was distorted around the air not far from the ground.

The convoyed stopped under a Barbera tree. This type of tree was unique to the desert of Planet Aquamarine. It was also called ‘umbrella of life’. Its shade was like an island that insulated the heat, and its juices were plenty and sweet, which could be used to quench thirst immediately.

The people were very thirsty. The soldiers patrolled around, and everyone was covered in sweat.

Boom!

The desert far away suddenly turned into waves. A huge number of enormous beetles crawled out of the ground. Each of them over half a meter long, they had brown and shiny shells, six feet, and two claws. They moved toward the Barbera tree like a wave.

“Beast attack!”

The alarm was activated. Three hundred soldiers immediately stood in position holding their guns. When they noticed that the sea of beetles had surrounded them from every direction and there was nowhere to escape, their faces became horrified, and their hands started trembling.

The Desert Blood Shell Crab was a strong predator in the deserts that destroyed every life form wherever they passed by, and there were at least 10,000 of them here.

“Into the cars and drive open a path!” Huang Yu yelled hastily. He then rushed up the helicopter and hurried the pilot to take off immediately.

No one had the thought of fighting when they faced this many bugs. When they heard Huang Yu’s order and were just about to enter the cars to escape, Han Xiao walked out of the car and said, “Don’t panic. Everyone stand in position. Get ready to face the enemy.”

“The number of bugs is too huge,” Captain Liu Zhao said hastily. “Our defense can’t cover all directions. We will most likely suffer a huge loss if we fight.”

“Black Phantom, come to the helicopter quickly,” Huang Yu shouted.

Han Xiao waved his hands.

Huang Yu cursed in his head. Seeing that the sea of bugs was coming even closer, he told the pilot to take off immediately without caring about Han Xiao. The pilot was afraid as well; therefore, he followed the order and piloted the helicopter off the ground.

The troops on the ground did not dare disobey Han Xiao’s order. They stood their ground and watched nervously as the swarm of bugs rapidly approached.

At this moment, Han Xiao took out his laptop and pressed a few buttons.

Hum!

Twelve Combat Rangers drove out of the logistics vehicles as fast as normal cars. Everyone’s face was filled with shock as they looked at these rover robots rapidly spreading out into all directions like guards of iron. The cold metallic color reflected the light shining through the leaves like pieces of golden scales.

These rovers were the newest and improved generation 2.5. Han Xiao had leveled up the blueprint many times. The basic attributes of the machinery that he had built was much higher, and its quality was at blue as well.

The Generation 2.5 Rovers were all equipped with an auto fire control system, which improved its firepower and magazine continuation ability. They were around the same height as humans, and their mobility was much higher because of the triangular caterpillar tracks that they were equipped with, which could traverse much tougher terrain.

Han Xiao knew that it would not be peaceful during the journey when the mission notification showed up, so he had called for airdrop and built a lot of machinery over the past two days.

Han Xiao’s building speed had become much quicker, and the rover robot that would have taken him days to complete at LV 20 could now be completed in just tens of minutes.

When the building speed of a Mechanic exceeded a certain limit, they would be able to build on the spot in the battlefield. With enough materials, weapons could be built non-stop. Only high-level Mechanics could have this ability after learning [Instant Assembly]. This was also a very important factor in the rise of Mechanics in version 3.0.

“Unload all the round metal plates in the car and place them in every direction.”

The Dark Net soldiers completely followed whatever he said. They immediately did as they were told and placed the twenty round metal plates on the ground. Han Xiao activated the program, and the plates started to transform. Their base fixed into the ground, and the stacked modules assembled into gun barrels. The entire process only took four to five seconds.

These were Mini Folding Batteries. Han Xiao had also leveled up the blueprints, and they now had smart firepower control.

Seeing the thick, black, and long gun barrels, the soldiers felt safer.

When the swarm reached within 400 meters, the generation 2.5 Rovers and the mini batteries fired simultaneously. With the camp under the Barbera tree as the center, a storm of bullets bloomed toward every direction.

The sound of fire was in sync, and the rain of bullets spread all over the place!

Ta ta ta ta!

In an instant, green-colored gunk exploded within the swarm as steel and fire penetrated the huge beetles one after another. In the face of the killing machines built by mankind, the shells that the Desert Blood Shell Crabs were so proud of were as fragile as egg shells.

A trench had formed 400 meters away from the camp, filled with corpses of the bugs, stopping the swarm from moving closer. Even the desert was damped by their blood. After a round of fire, the swarm became at least a third smaller.

A few Rangers drove out of the camp. They were equipped with Sunworm flamethrowers. The cone of fire covered the swarm, and the sound of bugs being burnt alive soon reverberated in the convoy’s ears. The claws of the Desert Blood Shell Crab could not harm the platinum alloy armor of the Rangers at all.

With the fearsome firepower, it was a one-sided slaughter.

This was the brutal force of a mechanic!

Group combat was the advantage a Mechanic had. Esper and Pugilist might be very strong fighters, but their physical strength had its limits.

However, money was the limitation for a Mechanic. That machinery had cost millions of dollars, and even a max level player in version 1.0 could barely afford it. The ammunition cost was also extremely expensive as thousands of steel core armor piercing bullets were used every second.

Money had been a problem for Mechanics since the beginning. Building an army of machines was a very strong combat style of the Mechanic class, but it was also the most expensive one.

When the average level of the enemies become higher and they become stronger, the machinery army had to have higher standards and technology in them, which meant that their cost would increase as well.

Normal players could not master the army combat style very well. Even if they used all their money to build an army, they would not be able to withstand the cost of repairing the damage after combat. The army style was usually used as a last resort. However, Han Xiao was not bothered by the money problem since he had his ways of making a lot of money. He still did not want to go for the army combat style—he just wanted to build a simple guarding team that had enough firepower in times of need.

Liu Zhao held his assault rifle all the time and waited to fire when the swarm entered the range of 300 meters, but the swarm was completed stopped at 400 meters away by the rain of iron.

His hands were even tired from holding the rifle, yet he still did not see any need to fire.

This firepower is way too strong.

Liu Zhao looked at the batteries beside him that were firing bullets continuously, their bolts moved front and back automatically, the bullet shells poured onto the ground, some even hit his face.

With surprise, Liu Zhao realized he had nothing to do, Black Phantom’s machinery had dealt with all the enemies; the guards assigned by Dark Net had been of no use at all. There were completely not any need for them.

Chapter 220 - Arrival

The battle only lasted for fifteen minutes. The waves of iron slaughtered the entire swarm, and white slurry covered the ground, giving off an extremely stinky odor as it was vaporized by the high temperature.

The team was completely unharmed. The people looked at Han Xiao, who was calmly smoking a cigarette, and felt very safe. They had been rather afraid when they left the sanctuary, as the wilderness of Planet Aquamarine was filled with danger, but with the way they looked at it now, there would not be any danger as long as Han Xiao was around.

Liu Zhao realized that the team of guards that he led had become the ones being guarded instead, and admiration toward Han Xiao blossomed in his heart. The strong would always be admired.

_____________________

Your machinery killed Desert Blood Shell Crab (LV 15). You Received 10 Experience.

_____________________

When one’s level was too much higher than the monster killed, the experience received would be largely reduced. One bug only gave 10 Experience, but there were at least 10,000 of them. Han Xiao looked at the interface—he had received more than 100,000 Experience.

The circling helicopter landed. Huang Yu had been watching from the helicopter earlier on, and he was overwhelmed when he saw the endless swarm falling like patches of wheat being cut down, the endless rain of bullets blooming like flowers, and the camp remaining completely unharmed.

Huang Yu had actually been planning to escape in the helicopter, and he had almost wanted to leave the others behind. Now that danger has been averted, his expression became quite awkward. It felt like the surrounding people all looked at him with disgust and unhappiness in their eyes.

The Mechanic class is actually this strong… Hao Tian contemplated as he held Bear Cub. He was a Pugilist, and now he was unavoidably worried about his future in the pro scene.

On the other hand, Frenzied Sword, who had been a godly Pugilist player in Han Xiao’s previous life, was even gladder that he had chosen the Mechanic class.

More material. Bun-hit-dog’s face was filled with happiness. He did not have to worry about finding contents for his videos as long as he followed behind Black Phantom.

The three players who had triggered the mission to protect the team received a rather good amount of experience without having to do anything. Frenzied Sword and Bun-hit-dog were used to this uncommon occurrence, but it was the first time for Hao Tian.

Seeing the experience bar growing a rather large amount, Hao Tian had mixed feelings. The amount of earning that he had gotten from doing missions tirelessly was not even worth it compared to following Han Xiao and doing nothing.

No wonder so many people wanted to trigger Black Phantom’s hidden storyline—even a godly pro player like him almost wanted to do the same.

The danger of the wilderness came from beasts, robbers, and radiation, but with the iron war machines protecting them, the numerous beast attacks that they met along the way were all easily resolved. It was a scary journey indeed, but there was no real danger.

…

When they were just one day away from arriving in Graymetal Ruins, the convoy set up camp.

It was a night with clear skies, and if one looked up the skies, the entire river of stars would be reflected in one’s eyes. The technological environment of Planet Aquamarine was similar to Earth, but its nature was more beautiful.

In Star Zone 9 of the Garton Galaxy, the civilization density of the star zone was very low, but the planets were very concentrated. Many empty planets were caught by planets with higher density and started to orbit around them. Planet Aquamarine was one of the planets orbiting around a fixed star at a distance just nice to have the temperature suitable for human habitation. There are also a few natural satellites orbiting around Planet Aquamarine, which were ‘moons’ that reflects light from the fixed star to the planets at their dark side of self-rotation.

Before the old era, there were countries that had built a rocket ship to land on the natural satellites, but they were desolated.

The opportunity that made the Godoran Civilization contact Planet Aquamarine happened when one of Godora’s Interstellar Spectrometers captured the waves in space made by Planet Aquamarine’s primitive rocket ship.

Godora was a galactic civilization in the Garton Galaxy. The areas that they explored included many star zones of the Garton Galaxy, but they were more of a law enforcing organization, contacting civilizations with friendly motives.

Recently, Han Xiao had read a bit about the research that the nations in Planet Aquamarine had regarding astrology. The players could access this information through various sources as well, and it was incredibly detailed and real, which made the players feel a very strong sense of reality. With the perspective of an NPC, Han Xiao could see more information.

In the camps, as Han Xiao and Coney Fury were discussing the blueprint, a guard came in to report.

“Your Excellency, we captured a wanderer. He has been lingering near our camps.”

It was a teen wanderer with worn out clothing. He had a double barrel hunting gun, which had been confiscated by the guards. Upon seeing the camp that was filled with armed guards, horror showed on his face, and he started trembling.

Han Xiao had an idea and asked, “Is there a colony nearby?”

Liu Zhao looked at the map and said, “There are a few medium-size colonies.”

Han Xiao nodded and looked at the teenager with a pondering look. The teenager felt that the eyes of this man in black before him were so pressurizing that his legs started to soften. Before Han Xiao questioned, he explained in tremble and said, “I’m a wanderer from a nearby colony. I was out to hunt for food and coincidentally saw you guys passing by, so I wanted to take a closer look.”

Han Xiao touched his chin and contemplated for a while. Seeing this teenager looked undernourished and emaciated, he said, “Liu Zhao, get him some food.”

The teenager was stunned for a moment.

“Return to your colony and tell your people that my team will be building a city in the Graymetal Ruins. We will provide a large number of paid jobs. They’re also welcome to join us. Let your chief know my intentions. We hope they can move in and take residence.”

The heavy bag of food brought the teenager back to his senses. His face was filled with relief and surprise.

He was a hunter of the colony. With very little prey recently, the people in the colony had not eaten much food and had been starving—this food could give them several filling meals.

The teenager had been very scared when he was captured, but now that he had found that these people were not evil, he was much more relieved and started to consider Han Xiao’s suggestion.

Most of the wanderers did not have the luxury to enjoy full stomachs, so the prospect of work in exchange for food was indeed tempting.

After having someone send the teenager away, Han Xiao took out the map and said, “Graymetal Ruins is isolated. There’s no human habitation within thirty miles, but there are about more than a dozen colonies further away, mostly small ones, totaling at about two thousand to three thousand people. Liu Zhao, take some people and food along with you, and spread the news about us building a sanctuary.”

The original intention of a sanctuary was to protect wanderers in the wilderness. Thus, it was normal to attract wanderers to move in. Huang Yu thought that he had seen through Han Xiao’s plan and thought to himself, He actually wants to hire wanderers as workers, but it’s still too few.

Han Xiao wanted to complete the basic layout of the sanctuary blueprint in a month, which needed at least 100,000 people. There were way too few wanderers for that.

Huang Yu shook his head. He felt the one-month plan would very most likely fail. It would not damage the organization, but it definitely would damage Black Phantom’s prestige and face. Being unable to live up to his word, other high ranked officials’ impression of him would definitely worsen.

I will appeal to return to the headquarters after staying for a month anyway, Huang Yu thought. There were no opportunities to contribute or gain benefits, so he did not want to waste his time being an assistant in Sanctuary Three.

Concerned with that arrangement, Liu Zhao said, “But if we spread out the guards, the defensive power of the team won’t be enough.”

Han Xiao pointed toward the Generation 2.5 Rangers that patrolled the camp with their preprogrammed routes and gave a faint laugh.

“I’ll give you another chance to respond.”

“I ensure the completion of the mission.” Liu Zhao changed his words immediately and stood straight.

…

The endless plains of Karst were maroon and looked like coagulated blood. Han Xiao had returned once again; it was a familiar view.

Come to think about it, I haven’t been back to my base for quite a long time, Han Xiao thought. His base had been in standby mode as he did not really use it.

The outline of the Graymetal Ruins appeared in sight.

There had once been a broad road on the plains, but after years of no maintenance, it was now filled with weeds. The concrete had cracked open, and greens grew from within. Old newspapers flew slowly on its roads, and the long extinguished street lights were covered in vines.

It was a view filled with despair.

The entrance of the Graymetal Ruins was a broad abandoned road. The convoy moved forward along the road, and the only sound was the sound of the engine and the wheels pressing on the roads.

The huge amount of work needed to turn this abandoned city into a sanctuary had the people feeling greatly pressured.

_____________________

You have arrived at Graymetal Ruins.

Current Population: 1034

Damage: 0%

Target complete.

You have received 250,000 Experience.

Mission Grade has become D-.

_____________________

The main storyline mission that Han Xiao had received was [Construct Sanctuary Three]; it was a large mission that oversaw the entire process. Therefore, according to the tens of building types that a sanctuary required, it was divided into tens of construction requirements.

The current mission target changed.

_____________________

Current Target: Complete blueprint construction in three months

Current Time: Day 1

In three months, complete all the 13 construction requirements as stated below: [Expand/Collapse]

Rewards: 800,000 Experience, +1250 Dark Net Prestige, Increased Mission Grading

Extra Requirement: If construction is completed in advance, bonus rewards and grading will be awarded based on the number of days. Experience reward: +10% per day

Chapter 221 - Gathered Players

These thirteen construction requirements were all basic tasks, including evicting the beasts, cleaning the ruins, and building the water and electricity network, residential areas, and walls. There were tens of requirements for [Sanctuary Three]—these were only part of it.

Construction of the blueprint was originally a three-month plan. The target is to complete the basic layout within that time. It took Sanctuary One a month to complete around half of the basic layout. Using them as a reference, three months seems plenty.

Han Xiao suddenly remembered something and thought, No, Bennett has tens of thousands of workers over there; I have only one thousand for the first month. There will not be enough time if the missions are done the regular way.

Suddenly, the noisy sound of human voices came from the front. The convoy stopped hastily—thousands of people had gathered at the entrance of the abandoned city.

“There’s a problem!”

The guards got out of the cars immediately and surrounded the team in the middle. The group of people had also noticed the convoy and started moving toward them.

The people of Dark Net immediately recognized their identity by their strange clothing.

Inhumans!

Nervousness filled their hearts. Everyone felt a lack of confidence when they faced the mysterious Inhumans. Inhumans were much more dangerous than beasts because they could come back to life! Just by depending on the machinery that Black Phantom had built might not protect everyone.

Huang Yu was shocked.

“So many Inhumans‽ Why are they gathered here? The organization sent people to the Graymetal Ruins to investigate the terrain not long ago, and there was no one here!”

In Han Xiao’s eyes, the concentrated and large number of IDs above these players’ heads made him dizzy. He then flipped the corner of the coat to the side and walked out of the car with a lot of style. He walked out of the crowd and stood at the front of the convoy with hands behind his back.

Standing in between the two parties, his standing posture was like a javelin that pointed straight at the sky. A gust of wind blew on his coat, and it waved in the air like a black flag. Just with this awesome and stylish appearance, all eyes were focused on him.

What happened next had the people of Dark Net stunned. The Inhumans stopped as soon as they saw Han Xiao.

“Black Phantom, we’re here to do missions,” said someone straight in front of him.

“Heard you are building a sanctuary. We are here to help,” said by someone who seemed to be role playing.

“I almost thought it was fake news after waiting for so long,” commented one relieved player.

With his hands behind his back, Han Xiao stayed in character and gave a faint nod. “I appreciate everyone’s help; it’s all to serve the people. Our convoy is going to enter the city. Please open a path. After we settle down, we will plan the construction targets of the city. There will be many job opportunities then.”

The players followed his order and opened a path in between.

The people of Dark Net opened their mouth very widely, their faces filled with surprise.

These Inhumans have come here just to help Black Phantom, since when did Black Phantom have so much influence among the Inhumans?

Huang Yu was stunned. Han Xiao had the confidence to complete the basic layout in a month because he could order the Inhumans?

To Planet Aquamarine, the appearance of the Inhumans was a very strange phenomenon. Everyone was wary about them, and those who came in contact with the Inhumans all did it with caution and a cold attitude. Therefore, Huang Yu could not believe what he had just seen.

How did Black Phantom do it? Why do the Inhumans respect him?

I have to report this to Mr. Bennett.

With the players joining in, the team multiplied in size, and they entered the Graymetal Ruins.

The convoy found a placed and stopped before Coney Fury asked hesitantly, “Your excellency, we need to first clean out a place for a temporary residence. It’s getting late, and it’s best to complete that before dawn. We don’t have much manpower, so we’ll have to start now.”

“You, ask for help from the Inhumans.”

“Me?” Coney Fury was a little scared.

“I’m here, what are you scared of?” Han Xiao patted his shoulder.

Coney Fury did not have anything else to say. Without a choice, he went out of the car, took out a horn, prepared what he wanted to say, and loudly declared, “I need some people to help me clear out a safe area nearby big enough for everyone to camp in temporarily. Since all of you are here to help, I would like to trouble you guys.”

These words triggered missions immediately; every player received it. They split out within seconds and started work right away.

The surroundings became a construction site in a flash—the cleaning of the area and eviction of beasts had started.

Coney Fury’s face was filled with surprise as he did not expect these Inhumans to give him so much face.

He turned around and looked at Han Xiao. He knew that it was not him whom the Inhumans gave face to but this mysterious boss of his.

…

With the help from the players, a safe area had been cleared out by evening. It was a stadium, naturally suited for camping, and the dangerous insects and beasts around had all been chased away by the players.

The people of Dark Net received permission from Han Xiao and placed the mini batteries around the stadium for guarding purposes, and it attracted many players’ curiosity.

The camps were protected by vehicles, which acted as barriers, and the players were resting in the remaining areas. The inside of the stadium was filled with people. Thousands of players conversed with each other—many of them knew each other, and some people even started a store. The despair in the air of this abandoned city had been taken over by liveliness.

A sound had appeared again in this ruins that has been silent for decades.

“Le—legend!”

Hao Tian heard someone calling him when Bear Cub was walking him. He looked back, and Jade Green Sky and a few core members of the Sky Territory Guild were all behind him, looking at him with excitement.

Hao Tian nodded. He looked at them and said, “Thanks for your hard work.”

“It’s what we should do.” Jade Green Sky was filled with excitement. The Sky Territory Guild was under the Long Sky club, and Hao Tian was a pillar of Long Sky, so they were colleagues and knew each other.

Club Guilds had to provide help to the pro players because they were the face of the club. Hao Tian’s position was even higher—he was also an idol to their guild members.

A very important reason that Jade Green Sky had brought people to the sanctuary without hesitation was because he knew that Hao Tian was with Black Phantom, and he hurried over to provide him with help.

Among the players who came to the sanctuary, Sky Territory was the only large guild—most of the others were casual players. Bun-hit-dog was instantly recognized. As the most popular video host at the moment, he had many fans, and they were very ‘passionate’.

“Dog author, stop running!”

“Reach out your head, I will show you something special!”

“Taste the anger of Africans!”

“Still not an update‽ I’m going to break your leg!”

A group of fans filled with hatred chased after Bun-hit-dog while yelling. The other players gave them a path and rubbernecked from the sides. There were even people who started selling snacks. There was a loud commotion, and phrases like “Kill him!” could be heard multiple times, together with laughter.

Bun-hit-dog did not forget to record even as he was running. He yelled at the camera lens, “This meeting has been going very well; the fans are very passionate.

“You know what they say, beating signifies closeness and scolding signifies love. I am indeed very pleased at heart.

“Come on, smile at the camera for your daddy.”

Bun-hit-dog turned the lenses to record the players who were chasing him, living up to the phrase ‘not knowing what death is’. This was a well-known culture among video hosts—how else would they be able to capture moments that normal players would not be able to witness if they were afraid of trouble?

“Eat my axe!”

Huuu—

An axe flew past his head rubbing against his scalp.

Bun-hit-dog retracted his head in fear then escaped in a flash without turning back. The players chasing him all became short of breath.

“What the hell, how does he run so fast? My stamina is almost finished.”

“He followed Black Phantom after all. His level is higher than any of ours.”

“Ah, damn European!”

The players outside the camps were joyous, but Frenzied Sword was facing a very important and serious decision.

He had successfully advanced his class and was torn between the three paths—Cannon Master, Mechanic, and Mechanical Pugilist.

The power of Mechanic that Han Xiao had displayed was scarily strong, but Frenzied Sword was more interested in Mechanical Pugilist personally. His intuition told him that the Mechanic path was not suitable for him.

Han Xiao had given him a suggestion before as well, saying that he had more potential in close ranged combat, which hinted that the Mechanical Pugilist path was more suitable for him.

This main account was the one that would join pro leagues, so if he made a wrong choice, the disadvantage would be way too vast when he created another account. Therefore, this decision was extremely important.

Frenzied Sword could not make a decision, so in the end, he decided to toss a coin…

They say that the moment the coin is tossed, the answer will appear in one’s heart.

As the players were not allowed to enter the convoy’s camp, the players formed a fair near the camp and waited for Black Phantom to come out and give missions.

A petite and delicate female player walked in the fair carrying a backpack that was bigger than herself. She looked left and right in curiosity.

Crossing through the fair, Maple Moon stopped outside the camp. She took a deep breath and held tightly onto the phone in her hand.

“Level 20 finally.”

A hint of nervousness and anticipated appeared on her lively, adorable face.

Chapter 222 - Arrival of People from Everywhere! (1)

In the center camp, Han Xiao looked at the blueprint on the table and wondered how to maximize the advantages of the players.

His mission reward limit had increased—his single mission reward limit was a little more than 60,000 experience, coming up short of a C-ranked mission with 80,000 experience. The daily limit was seven times the single mission limit, which meant that he could give out missions worth up to 420,000 experience daily. He realized that the easiest way to increase this limit was to build relationship points with organizations. Level and ranks would come naturally, and the legendary level could not be gained easily.

Any experience points given out as a mission reward would not be deducted from Han Xiao’s own experience points as long as it was within the stated limit.

For such a large mission like constructing a city, his own quota was insignificant. Thus, Han Xiao pondered carefully and decided on the way that he was going to distribute the missions. That was to divide the construction of Graymetal Ruins into many different departments to take charge, then assign one person to each department who would be responsible for the distribution of missions. That way, he did not have to use his own quota.

Constructing Sanctuary Three was a main storyline, and since he could give out missions to the players, logically, the other NPCs in the team should be able to do so as well.

This should resolve the problem of mission quotas. Although the other NPCs don’t have an interface, they definitely can distribute missions since they are part of the construction team.

The other NPCs would not be limited by his quota when publishing missions for him, and it would still contribute to his mission progress as the mission that he had received was an overall mission. Therefore, the final result of the city that the players helped to build would also be his final result. This difference in the mission was an advantage that Han Xiao had being the overall in charge of the sanctuary; it was the difference in their identities.

Han Xiao suddenly had a new idea—if he ever faced this type of large mission again, he could duplicate this and use his advantage as being an NPC to gain a higher relationship with organizations, thus becoming the distributor of missions and using the players’ power to achieve his goals.

By doing that, I only need to manage the people that are in charge of distributing missions and nothing else. Then, I will have a lot of free time to build machinery to try to meet the class advancement requirement of building five purple quality equipment, Han Xiao thought as he nodded to himself. He could do main storyline missions and also have time to make his own progress at the same time. It was perfect.

Furthermore, this was not an act to con the players. The players could also do missions and benefit from it. Them joining in with the city construction would build a sense of unity. All of the people that took part would have a sense of achievement when the sanctuary was completed, and they would feel honored with the thought— This city was built by us, the players.

It was a win-win!

Han Xiao had an ambitious idea.

I could maybe make this sanctuary into something like a main city for the players, and that would remarkably increase my influence. Everyone that comes to the sanctuary would see my name!

Having decided on the details, he summoned the cadres of the construction team and guard team for a meeting.

Han Xiao looked around and said, “Where’s Liu Zhao? Why isn’t he attending this meeting?”

The people could not react for some time. Then someone carefully said, “You sent him out to approach the wanderers.”

“Nonsense, you think I’d forget that?”

Han Xiao gave a stare. Before anyone could react to it, he coughed and said in all seriousness, “It’s an enormous construction project to start building a sanctuary from nothing. I have divided the blueprint into thirteen departments. This is the information for the construction, exploration, and so on. Every department will have a head who will be in charge. My target is to complete the blueprint construction as soon as possible, best in a month.”

“We don’t have that much manpower, even if we include all the Inhumans outside,” someone said.

“Don’t worry about that. There will be more people sooner or later,” Han Xiao said. He knocked the table with his fingers and asked once more, “All clear?”

Everyone had no choice but to nod. One month was way too much of a rush, but since it was an order from a higher-up, they had to do their best, otherwise they would be in trouble. Although Han Xiao was considered to be rather easy going, no one had forgotten the fact that he was one of the strongest in the organization, a legend who had killed countless people and had the top spot in the current killer leaderboard.

Han Xiao then names the heads of departments. Huang Yu was not mentioned.

Huang Yu was happy that he had nothing to do. Although thousands of Inhumans had come to help, it was still far from being enough. It was impossible to complete the basic layout in a month, so Sanctuary Three would still end up doing it the regular way and take months to complete its construction. By then Sanctuary One would have long been completed. As an assistant, he really did not have many benefits, so he did not even plan to help.

When Huang Yu informed Bennett of how the Inhumans came to help Han Xiao, which Bennett was very calm about and did not have any problems with. It was clear that Bennet had a very close relationship with Black Phantom and trusted him a lot. From that, Huang Yu also had a rough understanding of why Bennett assigned him to be Black Phantom’s assistant—it was because Bennett wanted a capable assistant to help a friend of his.

Sighing, he lamented, It’s all because I’m too capable.

The meeting was coming to an end. When Han Xiao had finished clearing up all the responsibilities of the various departments, his face then turned very serious, and he said in a low voice, “I’ve said all the things I needed to. Now, there’s this extremely urgent mission that must be done first.”

Seeing the seriousness of Han Xiao’s face, everyone became nervous as well.

Han Xiao looked around the table and said seriously, “When you write the name of the sanctuary, remember to include my name.”

The tightened expression on everyone’s face instantly collapsed.

…

The heads of the various departments left the camp and organized their men orderly, following Han Xiao’s instructions. The long-awaited players immediately rushed over and triggered different city construction missions based on their own likings.

The Graymetal Ruins was divided into five distinct areas—North, South, East, West, and Central. The missions that were given to the players were also divided according to the areas. Upon receiving the missions, the players immediately formed teams among themselves and started doing mission together. The night was even more lively than the day.

The first and most important task was to expel the beasts and clean the ruins, only then could the construction commence. Teams of players spread out from the stadium into the various areas of the Graymetal Ruins.

The sound of gunshots could be heard very often—there was quite a number of beasts that lived in the Graymetal Ruins, so the players had plenty of opportunities for combat.

Those construction missions could be repeated, and the rewards were quite handsome. Also, the interface informed the players that they were taking part in the construction of Sanctuary Three, and there would be a large amount of bonus experience when it was completed, which made them even more motivated.

Black Phantom Sanctuary Three—the name of this city had the words ‘Black Phantom’, so the players’ impression of Han Xiao became even deeper.

Having one’s name in the sanctuary sounded very honorable.

By the night of the first day, the players had already cleared out a very large area. Their efficiency had the people of Dark Net completely stunned. This could match up to the amount of work from ten thousand workers!

The players were all superhumans, which enhanced their working ability, and they had guidance from the interface, which gave them very clear and straightforward goals. Every action they made was to complete that goal.

When the players and the Dark Net construction team was busy with the construction, Han Xiao received a call from Maple Moon. He remembered that he had given her a mission to find him when she reached LV 20, so he brought her into the camp.

After a long time apart, Maple Moon looked left and right curiously. Han Xiao also called the other three players—he was going to give these four some extra missions.

The four spare tires had finally met. With Hao Xiao’s ability at the moment, it was more than enough to cultivate four players—Frenzied Sword and Hao Tian, both god players in his previous life, now a Mechanical Pugilist and a Pugilist; Maple Moon, one of the first Mechanics in his previous life who had risen to the pro scene; Bun-hit-dog, a well-known video host.

These four people all had their own uniqueness, and they could assist Han Xiao in different ways. They stood in front of Han Xiao and looked at each other.

As the only female player, Maple Moon received special treatment. The other three nodded toward her as an act of showing friendliness.

“Ah, so cute!” Maple Moon stared at Hao Tian with sparks in her eyes. Her expression looked so thirsty it was like she was going to eat Hao Tian alive.

Beads of sweat rolled down Hao Tian’s forehead. He stood straight and still as he watched Maple Moon dashing toward his arms… more specifically, Bear Cub, which he was holding. She rubbed and stroked Bear Cub and would not let go.

Bear Cub was very confused. It shrank into Hao Tian’s arms and gave Maple Moon’s fingers a few light bites.

“Ah, this is way too cute.” Stars appeared in Maple Moon’s eyes. She looked up and pleaded with Hao Tiao, “God Hao, can you let me hug it?”

“Be clear next time.” Hao Tian’s expression was stiff. He immediately passed Bear Cub to Maple Moon and took two steps backward in relief.

Bun-hit-dog came over, too. He reached out his fingers and teased Bear Cub. Bear Cub was cute and stupid, so its reaction was always a second slower. Its paws kept slapping away the hand that rubbed his butt. Frenzied Sword stood on the side and looked straight at Han Xiao all the time, looking like he was always awaiting an order.

“Enough, enough, stop playing with my bear.” Han Xiao coughed to stop them and said, “I’m building a sanctuary. You guys go help too.”

As he was speaking, he designed extra missions for the four people, which gave them bonus rewards if they complete a certain number of missions from the various head of departments.

Other players did not have this kind of special treatment—Han Xiao only did this because these four were his people.

Naturally, the four did not have any objections. They accepted the mission and walked out immediately. However, Maple Moon stayed. She cautiously asked, “Can I learn abilities?”

Han Xiao nodded and opened up the interface for her. He could teach abilities anytime to these four players. Other than the abilities at the bottom of his chest, the others could all be used to earn him experience.

Maple Moon had also chosen to become a Mechanic, so he could cultivate her like an apprentice. Maple Moon was a casual player who preferred real-life simulation type of gameplay. It was very smart a choice to train her into an assistant. Han Xiao was not stingy about it anyway, plus he quite liked Maple Moon.

In his previous life, Han Xiao had started playing during version 1.0 as a completely new player. He had also chosen the Mechanic class and had experienced losing streaks during PVP[1. PVP stands for player vs player.). There was a time when he had lost hope in the Mechanic class despite how much he liked the class, and he had almost even changed his account. Then, later on, during the pro competition in version 3.0, Maple Moon became a completely unexpected black horse in her first competition, which signaled the rise of Mechanic class and gave a lot of encouragement to Han Xiao. He had even been a fan of Maple Moon for some time when he was young.

Later, when he got more and more skilled, he became one of the masters that represented the Mechanic class. Although he did not become a pro player, legends of the Great Mechanic Han went around. There were always discussions on the forum regarding what a non-pro master player could achieve in a pro league if they had gone, and the Great Mechanic Han had been a constant hot topic.

Great Technician Han grew stronger with time, but Maple Moon was like a comet, leaving an unforgettable mark in the milestones of gaming history then soaring through the sky and disappearing in a flash, only shining during the third and fourth versions of the game. Maple Moon was a casual player after all, so her skills in PK grew at a very slow pace—not everyone had so much interest in improving in a game like the Great Technician Han.

In the later versions, Maple Moon disappeared from the pro scene. It was said that she had discontinued the contract with her club, so her light only lived in the memories of the old players.

The Maple Moon in front of him was pretty and cute, and Han Xiao could not associate her with the person in his memories who had caused a storm in the pro league. Looking at Maple Moon, who was torn between which skills to learn, Han Xiao had complicated feelings.

What will happen this time?

With him changing the storyline, would Maple Moon’s future still be the same as it was in his previous life?

Chapter 223 - Arrival of People From Everywhere! (Two)

The sanctuary construction was enormous, it has always been difficult to start from nothing, but Coney Fury was quite good in what he did, the plan was detailed, the construction was orderly, and the division of work between departments was clear.

The Sanctuary main storyline had created a storm in the forums, it was the first large main storyline mission since the expedition war was still in preparation, the attention of the players was immediately attracted to it, and with the thousands of players that were already part of it, it was proved to be a reliable piece of information.

Since this was a large main storyline mission, the number of players participating would never be too high, since the more players there was, the faster it would be completed.

The Sanctuary Three became lively all of a sudden, the players called their friends and headed towards Sanctuary Three in groups, it became a huge festival, the number of players in Sanctuary increased like a snowball.

There were hundred thousands of players in Planet Aquamarine at the moment, and more than a hundred thousand just in the Southern Continent. After only two days, more than 20,000 players came to Sanctuary Three from various places, the attractiveness of Han Xiao and the main storyline missions had exploded the amount of passion the players had.

The 1000 Dark Net people that were present since the start were all completely stunned, inhumans came to help continuously, they were all called by Han Xiao, it was like a dream.

Terrifyingly influential!

The work efficiency of one inhuman could match up to many workers since they don’t sleep, these more than 20,000 inhumans could almost match up the manpower of 70,000 to 80,000 workers, and even more inhumans were coming.

Completing the basic layout of the sanctuary in one month didn’t seem impossible anymore!

When the entire construction team realized this, they all became extremely motived and gave all of their effort in the construction.

If Sanctuary Three could be completed even before Sanctuary One, it would be a huge contribution that would shock the entire organization!

In only three days, the camp had a complete makeover, rough houses were built, all the people of Dark Net had a roof above their head.

Huang Yu loitered outside Han Xiao’s house for quite a long time, then finally made a decision and knocked on the door.

“Squeak.”

The door opened, Han Xiao appeared in sight wearing a Mechanic working suit, the protective goggles were still on his face.

“Yes?” Han Xiao said coldly.

Huang Yu suddenly felt very unconfident when he heard that, he smiled awkwardly and said, “your excellency, I…”

Before he could finish, Han Xiao turned around and walked back into the house, “talk inside,” he said.

Huang Yu entered hastily, seeing Han Xiao pointed with his fingers, he found a place and sat down with his butt only occupying a small fraction at the front of the seat, with a fawning expression, he said, “your excellency, I wish to help you take care of some matters, I’m your assistant after all…”

As players became more and more, Huang Yu shockingly realized the one month plan really had a chance to succeed, and once it does, Sanctuary Three would be the first completed sample, this contribution would be extremely huge, and even as an assistant, he could be written in the Dark Net’s book of merit.

Huang Yu couldn’t sit still anymore, he would regret his entire life if he let this credit slip pass, he felt that he’s already offended Han Xiao because of his perfunctory attitude earlier since Han Xiao didn’t assign any mission for him, if Han Xiao rants even a few words to Bennett about him, this credit would have completely nothing to do him any more. He was originally happy that he had nothing to do, but now he was in total panic and couldn’t wait to join the construction, which was why he came to Han Xiao’s doors and fawned over Han Xiao, wanting to make up for his disrespect back then.

Han Xiao left Huang Yu and didn’t bother about him, seeing that Huang Yu was very nervous and fidgety, he finally said in a slow tone, “didn’t you not want to do anything, I understand my and gave you a holiday, are you not satisfied with it?”

“your—your excellency, I’m your assistant, I could contribute something as well.” Huang Yu wiped his sweat and said sincerely.

Han Xiao folded his arms and looked at Huang Yu meaningfully, but didn’t say anything. Seeing this, Huang Yu’s heart kept sinking, he felt that this credit would probably have nothing to do with him anymore.

Unexpectedly, Han Xiao turned around, took a stack of documents and threw it to him then said, “these are the construction progress of the sanctuary, go through and arrange them, report to me if there’s anything.”

Huang Yu held the documents and immediately felt more energetic, he stood up hastily and said, “I will ensure these are well taken care of.”

“Go,” Han Xiao waved his hands and went back to work.

Huang Yu walked out of the house filled with excitement, he breathed a sigh of relief, Black Phantom definitely knew the potential of Sanctuary Three, but he didn’t hold any grudges and gave him a chance to join in and share the credit, for this he was very thankful to Black Phantom.

Compared to his perfunctory attitude earlier, Huang Yu felt ashamed, Han Xiao was now fully respected by him.

…

Han Xiao thought of it clearly, there was no need to have a bad relationship with his assistant, what was between them was hardly even a disagreement, seeing that Huang Yu had put down his pride, Han Xiao didn’t want to ruin his future on purpose, and he did indeed need an assistant to take care of the construction matters of the sanctuary, these were complicated and cumbersome, which he wasn’t fond of.

Now he truly had nothing to do and could do his own stuff all day long.

Only three days had passed since the construction started, its progress was already like a horse out of its leash, completely unstoppable. The energy of the players had far exceeded The Great Technician Han’s expectations, they were working even harder than migrant workers that they could all be considered as labor role models.

In Han Xiao’s previous life, the early stages of the game had already ended when the players came in touch with the sanctuary main storyline and Dark Net approached and hired players, back then many sanctuaries were being built at the same time, the players had choices so their numbers were dispersed.

And for now, the players also noticed Han Xiao was in Sanctuary Three, which means there have to be other sanctuaries that need to be constructed, but the information regarding Sanctuary One and Sanctuary Two was way too vague, as there were very few information sources. On the contrary, Sanctuary Three had the well known familiar face “Black Phantom”, it was an easy choice.

The majority of people followed with the trends, as the players in Sanctuary Three became more and more, other players were attracted too, the number of people grew like a snowball. The future of the “players’ main city” plan Han Xiao had was looking really great.

Sanctuary Three was filled with all sorts of yelling, the players created fairs and areas one after another, some were for selling items, some fore friendly PKs, the lively look did indeed feel like a “main city”.

Even the players belonging to the Six Nations had left the expedition gathering call and came to build the city.

The expedition mission had a level requirement and had yet to start, some players chose the more relaxed sanctuary missions.

Han Xiao had a sense of achievement that felt like people came from everywhere to respond to his summon!

“Seems like my image building plan is going very successfully.” Han Xiao was satisfied with the players’ response, at the same time paying attention to the respond of the forums and Dark Net.

Sanctuary Three didn’t only make an impact within the players, it was also a shocking view in the eyes of the organizations of Planet Aquamarine.

The problem of inhuman has always been focused highly on, the Six Nations were very confused when they investigated the situation after noticing a large number of inhuman gathering in the Southern Continent.

Why is Black Phantom so influential amongst inhumans? Why can he command the inhumans? What is the relationship between them?

The organizations raised their alert, the danger level of Black Phantom increased another level.

Dark Net was the first to receive this intelligence, even Bennett was stunned, thinking back of when Han Xiao said he wanted to exceed the progress of Sanctuary One in a month, he realized it was actually not a joke.

Seeing its current progress speed, that could really be done.

Bennett was not shocked but surprised, as long as sanctuary could be built successfully, it didn’t matter which one was first, it would all be a contribution. He only entrusted those who he had trust in, so he didn’t ask Han Xiao anything about how he got help from the inhumans.

The directors of Dark Net, on the other hand, felt chills up their spines, having a colleague like this, they didn’t know whether it was fortune or disaster.

…

Sanctuary Three, West, Clock Tower Area.

The signature building of this area is an enormous clock tower covered in vines, it had now become a base for the players, nearby was a large square, a dried river with a broken bridge that separated the East and the South, and a little bit further was an area filled with factory buildings, this area was originally a mix of residential area and factories.

A factory outline had already been built around the clock tower, inside was large amounts of construction materials and electricity generators, the terrain here was unobstructed which was suitable for a power station that would provide energy for the sanctuary.

There were hundreds of players in this area cleaning the ruins and evicting the beasts.

A team with five players was walking in the drainage pipes of the river, it was pitch black, the only light was from the flashlight.

“It’s quite smelly here,” a player held his nose and said.

“They said the electricity network will be planted here, so they needed people to scout the area to see if there’s any danger,” another guy said.

“No wonder no one wants to do this mission, it’s too dirty…” this guy seemed like he had mysophobia, he was walking very carefully.

Even after decades, this drainage pipe was still damp, the floor was very sticky, almost like rotten mud.

The team of players took a few more steps forward, suddenly an inhale that sounded like a wind tunnel appeared from deep within the dark.

Huuu——

“Something’s wrong!”

The player was shocked, just as they were about to move, they realized they were unable to, a notification showed on their interfaces.

[You are affected by the intimidation aura of a high-level beast and entered “Fear” state!]

“What is this?” The expression on their faces changed.

“Boom!”

The ground shook vigorously, a black shadow that filled the entire tunnel dashed towards them in an extremely high speed.

With a loud “bang”, the team of players flew away like they were hit by a train, they bashed against the wall and died instantly. They were not the first batch of players, but they were level 15 and yet they died with just one hit, which means the damage was at least 200 to 300!

There was more than one shadow, a string of shadows of the same size followed behind, not making any stop and dashed out of the tunnel straight away and were exposed under the sun. Like furious tanks, they bolted up the ground and headed towards the most conspicuous building, the clock tower.

The players resting in the clock tower were met with a sudden situation, they all stood up and tried to stop the shadows but anyone who did it ended up flying away and dying.

Unstoppable!

A large number of shadows scraped through the players and destroyed the unfinished power generator, it exploded with a lout “boom” and fire broke out. These shadows didn’t stop and plunged into the clock tower.

The ground shook!

A large amount of dust burst out of the clock tower, with a loud squeak sounding like the last scream of a dying person who had lost all hopes, it collapsed.

The movements here shocked the entire city!

Loud and fearsome roar also came out of the mouth of these black shadows, quaking the entire sky!

Chapter 224 - Shadow Stalker Viper

An hour later, the fire in the clock tower area was finally extinguished. There were burn marks everywhere, the unfinished power generator had been completely destroyed, and the collapsed clock tower had created an area of ruins. This place had become a mess, adding to the burden of cleaning missions.

The area nearby was fenced off. Huang Yu took charge of the scene that was in a complete mess. Fortunately, the players did their best to clear the ruins, so the situation was slightly under control.

Thousands of players gathered afar and looked at the broken scene. These black shadows had stomped on the brick floor and left a string of cracks with their footprints. The footprints had three claws that were long and thin. The name of the creature was unknown.

At the time, those black shadows had disappeared and returned to the river tunnel, which was clearly their nest, and no one dared to mess with these unknown monsters.

“What kind of beasts could create this level of damage?”

“The monsters that we met these few days were LV 20 something at most. I thought there are no strong monsters, so this is where they’re hiding in.”

“I heard from the experienced people that the results of their scan were all question marks, and the danger level was ‘Extremely Lethal’.”

“Wow, that should mean it’s at least LV 40.”

“Let’s wait and see. Maybe there will be missions for us in a while.”

Huang Yu finished arranging the jobs, and he activated the communication device. “Your excellency, the situation is temporarily under control.”

“How’s the damage?” Han Xiao asked calmly.

“Not good. The power station that we were building has been completely destroyed, together with the construction materials and engineering machines inside.”

Han Xiao had expected this to happen. Since the sanctuary was a main storyline, there would very likely be twists and turns, and it really did come without any warning. He had not expected the Graymetal Ruins to have powerful monsters in it. The loss of construction materials and engineering machines was not the most important problem, but the construction period would be largely slowed down if there was no solution to these beasts.

“What is the species of these beasts?”

“It’s still under investigation, but they are hiding in the drainage pipes that we have no knowledge about, so it is very dangerous.”

“Wait for me to go over.”

Ten minutes later, Han Xiao arrived at the scene. The people came to him and reported the situation. Han Xiao listened for a while and waved his hands to tell them to quiet down, then walked to the footprints and observed them in detail.

“Able to crack open the brick floor with their feet, which means the leg power of these beasts is very high, and they are monstrously heavy. Likes to live in damp and dark places, lives in a herd, aggressive…” Han Xiao took out his laptop. He searched through the Planet Aquamarine beast database and found many matching species.

After some thought, Han Xiao lifted up his coat, and about seven spider detectors slid down his legs and landed on the floor. They slowly crawled into the tunnel and started surveying its internal structure. The laptop was showing the night vision and infrared vision of the detectors.

While waiting, Han Xiao asked casually, “Are there any other powerful beasts nearby?”

“No,” Huang Yu replied immediately, “this is the only place. The clearing tasks at the other areas have all been completed.”

The shocking incident that had taken place here did not slow down the other construction projects. The construction of the walls, residences, garages, power stations, internal life support facilities, greenhouse farms, and so on were all progressing well. Han Xiao was the only one that could do this because he had tens of thousands of players to help him, unlike Sanctuary Two, where they were still exploring the city, progressing at a much lower speed than him.

The image of the tunnels was relayed by the spider detectors. The walls were covered in a strange mucus in the deep area of the river tunnel. It was sticky and looked disgusting, and it was dripping continuously.

One spider was covered in the dripping mucus. Its machine legs twitched, and it shut down completely, like being covered in amber.

As the spiders went deeper, an even more shocking scene came into sight. The beasts had dug countless split paths at the end of the river tunnel. Under Han Xiao’s control, the spiders entered the different paths, and as more images got sent back from the spiders, the people became more and more shocked.

Under the surface of Graymetal Ruins, there was an enormous sized underground nest! It covered more than half the West Area!

These beasts had been living in this abandoned city for many years!

“Holy…” Han Xiao felt a slight chill up his spine.

The hidden beasts’ outline was shown under the infrared vision. Han Xiao hastily opened the database, and this time, he was finally able to narrow down the target.

“Scientific name, Nygaro Shadow Viper Beast, also known as Shadow Stalker Viper. It is oviparous, born with six feet and three claws, and covered in chitin exoskeleton. Adults can grow up to four meters long. Usual forms of attack are through its claws, tail, and teeth, and it is able to secrete a type of corrosive slime from its mouth and anus, which is used to dig its nest. It likes dark, warm, and damp places, usually underground near volcanoes…”

Other than not having a bug that jumped onto people’s faces, this thing looked really alike to aliens 1 !

After studying the database entry, he realized that the vital signs of these Shadow Stalker Vipers were at around LV 40, which meant that every one of them was a mini BOSS to the players at the moment.

There were roughly more than a thousand Shadow Stalker Vipers in the nest, so this was a huge hidden danger to the sanctuary. If it is not resolved, accidents like today would continue to happen and slow down the construction of the West City Area.

Han Xiao suddenly noticed something abnormal.

Despite the fact that Shadow Stalker Vipers like hot environments, they are still attracted to the underground of the flatland, which should be cool and damp. That is really weird. Could it be that… there is abandoned reactors or high energy waste underground?

He contemplated and decided it was best to have the players detect the radiation strength inside.

If Han Xiao had guessed correctly, there should be a wild BOSS level Beast King in a herd of Shadow Stalker Vipers, and he was the only one that could deal with that thing.

The complicated nest was the Shadow Stalker Vipers’ territory. Han Xiao didn’t want to deal with an entire herd himself as he would suffer tremendous damage even with his mechanical guards.

The players would be able to kill a normal Shadow Stalker Vipers by overwhelming them with numbers, and since so many players were present, he might as well make full use of them.

Come to think of it, the corpses and eggs of Shadow Stalker Vipers are both used in manufacturing drugs. Han Xiao’s eyes twinkled, and a plan formed in his mind.

Huang Yu was actively giving suggestions on the side and said, “I think we could use a large number of explosives in the empty spaces underground to create a landfall and destroy the Shadow Stalker Vipers’ nest. Although the ground of the West City Area will also sink because of that, it shouldn’t be a problem because this is an abandoned city, and it can also be used for modifications…”

“Good idea.” Han Xiao’s eyes twinkled. He always liked to maximize the benefits to the best of his ability. All the Shadow Stalker Vipers would go to waste if he simply blew everything up, but Huang Yu reminded him that Shadow Stalker Viper would turn extremely aggressive if they were disturbed and by doing so would lure them out of their nest. Han Xiao could then plant traps in advance so that he could deal a large amount of damage once they were lured out.

Han Xiao was someone who was action-oriented. He immediately gathered all the patrolling Generation 2.5 Rangers around the river tunnel before ordering the people of Dark Net to move the mini batteries over and lay out a battle frontier that aimed at the river tunnel.

“Throw in a flashbang.” Han Xiao gave a mission to Frenzied Sword. Frenzied Sword dashed in immediately without saying a word.

Seconds and minutes passed by. Everyone waited, completely focused. It was quiet. Players watching from further away occasionally chatted among themselves while staring at the scene.

Fearsome growls broke the peace, and with a short scream of pain, the ground started quivering. The sound from the tunnel got closer and closer; something was coming out.

Booooom!

A huge number of Shadow Stalker Vipers galloped out of the tunnel, they were covered in black carapace and had hideous bone spurs. There were three pairs of tiny, bloody red eyes hidden between their exoskeleton that was filled with fury and wrath. At least a hundred Shadow Stalker Vipers showed up. They noticed the group of humans gathered far away instantly and stampeded over with a loud growl.

Tu tu tu tu!

The next second, they were faced by a thunderstorm of bullets and cannons that overturned these Shadow Stalker Viper and stopped them from charging any further. The steel core bullets penetrated and tore open their chitin carapace. Thick and sticky bodily fluids splashed all across the place as growls turned into wails. They struggled to stand up but were beaten by the hail of bullets pressing them again the floor and shattering them into pieces.

The flashing gunfire reflected onto Han Xiao’s face. He lit up a cigarette and watched as more than a hundred Shadow Stalker Vipers broke into pieces.

Not long after, the magazine was cleared, and bullet shells covered the ground.

The smell of smoke pervaded the air, and the scene turned silent. The corpses of Shadow Stalker Vipers were all over the ground, shattered into pieces.

The faces of many players who were watching turned pale. They were disgusted by this image of monster parts scattered all over the floor.

“Collect the corpses and keep them in the frozen storage,” Han Xiao ordered.

Everyone cleaned the battlefield quickly. Han Xiao gave the flashbang mission to Hao Tian this time, but the Shadow Stalker Vipers did not fall for it again. They killed Hao Tian and stayed in the nest, refusing to come out no matter what.

The mechanical guards became temporarily useless because of that as this tactic worked best in open areas—they would one by one be torn into metal waste if they entered the narrow nest. But tricking the enemy once was good enough.

The players had been watching for quite long, so it was time to give them something to do.

“I need some people to clean this nest, within three days,” Han Xiao yelled. He then set the mission quickly and gave it out.

“Prize-Pool Mission: Clean the Nest!”

Many days had passed since Han Xiao had last issued a prize-pool mission, and he realized that prize-pool missions were the easiest way to draw out the players’ enthusiasm, and as he expected, the rubbernecking players immediately dashed toward him to accept the mission.

The prize-pool accumulated more than 1,000,000 Experience very quickly, and it was still growing. The mission requirements were to hunt down Shadow Stalker Vipers and bring back their eggs—these two tasks would give them contribution points, and the ten teams with the highest contribution points would be rewarded.

The players were all excited and ready. They swarmed into the nest to kill Shadow Stalker Vipers, making up for their difference in strength with numbers.

Han Xiao turned and said to his four spare tires, “Take this device and detect the radiation strength of the nest. At the same time, be wary of any strong Shadow Stalker Vipers—that will be the Beast King. Notify me immediately if so. Also, if there are any other discoveries, let me know as well.”

The four people nodded and entered the nest together.

Looking at the passionate players, Han Xiao pondered.

Shadow Stalker Vipers are too strong for the players at the moment, but in order to reach higher positions in the prize-pool mission, they will definitely have more demand for better weapons. There will definitely be someone who is interested in my group of mechanical guards after seeing them.

Han Xiao had more than enough spare parts to build and sell weapons to earn him another fortune.

This again showcased his innovative business philosophy. If customers don’t have a demand, just create one!

Chapter 225 - Radiation Crystals

Han Xiao would never make a losing deal. The price that he asked for was very high, and most players would not be able to afford his equipment. He soon thought of launching rental services for his weapons to gain a profit through low margins but high sales.

However, Han Xiao rejected this idea immediately after.

If the players damage the weapon, I will make a loss, and there might even be some players that don’t return my equipment. Before ensuring that the weapon can be retrieved in perfect condition, rental service is not a good idea, Han Xiao thought.

The concentrated sound of gunfire came from the nest under the West City Area, together with explosions. The ground trembled lightly, shaking up the sand and dust on it.

While the players hunted the Shadow Stalker Vipers, the people of Dark Net were not doing nothing. They drew out the map of the underground nest from the images of the detectors and divided the nest into areas on the ground.

“Your Excellency, the habits of the Shadow Stalker Vipers are alike to ants. Their nest is very labyrinthine and complicated; it can be roughly divided into two areas—the core area and the activity area. The activity area makes up to 95% of the entire nest, and we are still looking for the core area,” Huang Yu reported.

Han Xiao nodded. If his guess was correct, the Shadow Stalker Viper Beast King should be in the core area.

The Beast King should be between the level of 50 to 60 and have a BOSS panel. This difference in strength could not be filled no matter how outnumbered it was by the players at the moment. Han Xiao would have to do it himself, which he planned to do as soon as they found the core area.

The nest was the Shadow Stalker Vipers’ territory. On the first day, the players split up and marched in at a very slow pace. Most of the players were completely thrashed. After all, it was the first time that these new players had faced a monster with such a high level. Thus, their weak spirit and mind were beaten.

Han Xiao did not focus on the West City Area all the time. This was just a part of the sanctuary construction, and as a responsibility of the overseer, he patrolled the other areas’ construction progress and went back to building machinery.

The class advancement requirement was five purple quality equipment. He could already stably build Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades, Iron Fist—Mounted Heavy Mechanical Arm, and Mini Maneuvering Equipment with dark blue quality. One time of over performance was all he needed to achieve purple quality for these pieces of equipment.

The failed products—those that did not reach purple quality—filled almost half of the entire room.

Only Han Xiao, who had so many assets, could afford such expenses.

…

Some players finally came to visit during the evening.

Jade Green Sky brought a group of guild members to visit. They expressed their intention of wanting to buy equipment.

A large number of players resided in the sanctuary at the moment. Players could be seen all over the place requesting to team up and do missions. Many Mechanics opened up stalls for repairing, building, and enhancing services, and even Maple Moon would sometime open a stall to pass the time. The sanctuary did have the feeling of a main city indeed.

These Mechanics were able to gain the blueprints of various low-tier machinery through Knowledge Fusion, each having its own uniqueness, and firearms were the most common type.

The Mechanics who opened stalls demanded very low prices, so many not-so-rich players were very willing to buy from them. However, Han Xiao did not bother to do such things as it was a waste of time for him. The market that he was aiming for was high-end as his product quality was far beyond that of the players, and he had a lot of blueprints that they did not have.

He was irreplaceable—he had no competition.

“You want to buy equipment?” Han Xiao put down the parts in his hands.

Jade Green Sky nodded hastily.

Sky Territory had accepted the prize-pool mission, and they had a chance to go for a higher position, but other large guilds had arrived at the sanctuary a few days ago, and they were all strong competitors. Thus, Jade Green Sky wanted to buy Black Phantom’s equipment to stay ahead.

Jade Green Sky had bought a Light Mechanical Arm when the public launch had only just begun, and it was his main weapon even now, so he was very confident in Han Xiao’s products.

The Great Mechanic Han had an outrageous amount of 230,000,000 experience in his interface at the moment, so he could afford to spend some of that experience and gamble out some new blueprints, which made his inventory full of various types of equipment. To match the ever-increasing level of players, he had put in some new machinery.

After some consideration, he also added Iron Fist—Mounted Heavy Mechanical Arm and Mini Maneuvering Equipment into to his store. He had a lot of blue-quality products for these two types of machinery, which he had no use for, so this was a chance for him to get rid of them and gain some profit at the same time.

However, he did not sell Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades. This was almost god-tier equipment for the players in the early stage, so Han Xiao did not want to sell it to players easily.

The people of Sky Territory took a deep breath when they opened up the store. The huge variation of products had their hearts beating faster, and everyone’s eyes twinkled brightly.

“God, even the lowest quality is green. There is even some blue quality equipment. I have never even seen blue equipment before!”

“All of them are so tempting!”

Jade Green Sky stared at the Heavy Mechanical Arm with excitement. This thing was stronger than the Light Mechanical Arm; it could largely increase his strength.

He looked at the price—120,000!

“So expensive!” Jade Green Sky’s face twitched. Although the guild was rich, 120,000 was still a significant amount; it was the price of dozens of firearms and many boxes of gunpowder.

After some hesitation, Jade Green Sky decided to buy it. He believed that it had more worth than anything else he could buy with that money!

Large guilds were rich. They purchased many pieces of equipment that totaled to 300,000 dollars, and they were given to Core Group One for the prize-pool mission.

Han Xiao earned a fortune and offloaded some machinery that was useless to him at the same time—a very profitable deal.

He had set security measures within the machinery that he sold. The Mechanic players at the moment would only be able to pass through these measures only in their dreams, so it was impossible for the blueprint to be leaked. Therefore, Han Xiao was very confident when he sold them.

Having sole possession of the technology meant a monopoly—it was the most profitable business as there would not be another place where these products could be bought.

Du du!

Frenzied Sword and the other three returned right after Jade Green Sky left, bringing along new discoveries.

“We have detected a very high radiation strength, almost reaching the maximum on the measuring device,” Maple Moon said and passed the device back to Han Xiao.

Han Xiao was a little shocked. With such high radiation, creatures that lived near it would very likely go through mutations. Whether the mutation enhanced one’s strength or the other way around depended on the species and habits of the creature. Stronger creatures that had a higher resistance would more likely have enhancing mutations.

Which means there might be elite mutated variants in this Shadow Stalker Viper herd, Han Xiao thought.

“We have also discovered the source of the mutation—it’s these things,” Frenzied Sword said as he took out a bag of blue crystals and laid them out on the table. The crystals were filled with mist and cracks—they looked very turbid. The blue crystals reflected a mist-like aura from the light. They looked magnificent and almost magical.

_____________________

Unknown Crystal: A crystal formed by unknown reasons. It is highly radioactive.

_____________________

The measurement on the device increased noticeably as it was moved closer to the crystal.

Han Xiao wore a pair of gloves. He held up a finger-sized crystal and looked at it carefully. “Where did you find this?”

“On the walls deep inside the nest.” Hao Tian gave a very simple answer.

Frenzied Sword added, “These crystals were embedded in the wall. We wouldn’t have found it either if the slime on it wasn’t scraped off during the battle. Furthermore, these crystals became more concentrated as we went deeper into the nest as did the monsters. We were unable to go even deeper, so we came back early.”

Han Xiao could feel the warmth from the crystal itself even with gloves, which solved one of his questions. These crystals provided the heat energy that made the Shadow Stalker Vipers build their nest here.

Han Xiao waved at Frenzied Sword.

Without a hint of hesitation, Frenzied Sword walked toward Han Xiao, who suddenly did something shocking. He grabbed Frenzied Sword’s mouth and stuffed the crystal into it. Then he blocked his mouth, not letting him spit it out.

“Swallow it.”

“Wuuuuuu—” Frenzied Sword’s face was filled with shock. He struggled all he could, but Han Xiao’s hands did not budge even an inch. Then, the crystal went down his throat. The three people watching from the side were stunned.

“Any reactions?” Han Xiao stared at him.

Frenzied Sword let out a sigh like he accepted his fate. He touched his chest and looked at his interface.

_____________________

You have swallowed a type of high radiation strength crystal (Unpurified).

Race Detected: Human

Endurance is less than 50.

No related ability gained.

You have entered the ‘Radiation Damage’ state!

_____________________

Radiation Damage: -33% Maximum Health, -33% Maximum Stamina, -50% across all attributes

Duration: 2 hours

Related medication can be used to recover in advance.

_____________________

Frenzied Sword described the status. Undying players were the best choice to test drugs. Han Xiao gave a large amount of experience to Frenzied Sword as a reward and said while nodding, “Well done.”

Frenzied Sword felt much better when he saw the experience. He looked at the rest of the crystals on the table and pondered, Will there be more experience if I eat all of them? It actually tastes like sweets.

Han Xiao knew what Frenzied Sword was thinking from the expression on his face. He awkwardly collected all of the crystals, denying Frenzied Sword’s thoughts.

From the experiment, the rough uses of the crystals could be seen—purifying this type of radiation crystals would create crystal-formed energy, which was a form of clean energy.

Han Xiao had a thought. There were a lot of such crystals in the nest. He could use [Basic Extraction] to purify them and turn them into energy storage, and these energy crystals could even be used on all kinds of machinery if he made an energy transformation device. It was a valuable discovery.

Crystal energy was most commonly used in magic civilizations, it would also appear sometimes in technological civilizations. In a more fashionable way, such clean energy crystals could also be called ‘Non-Elemental Crystal’ or ‘Magic Crystal’. Mages would use magic techniques to harvest energy from these crystals to become their own energy or to power magic, so there were many uses for it.

The concentration level of the crystals should lead to the core of the nest, Han Xiao thought and called Huang Yu over immediately.

After describing this discovery, Huang Yu instantly marked an area on the nest map that they had drawn.

“There’s a ninety percent chance that this is the core area.” Huang Yu pointed at the map confidently.

“Very good.” Han Xiao nodded.

Time to act!

…

At midnight, players continued to fight in the nest as they did not need to sleep.

The prize-pool mission motivated the players. Although there was no direct mission, they still received quite a lot of experience from killing the Shadow Stalker Vipers, which were a much higher level than them.

Sky Territory was at the top of the rank!

“Quickly, T3 (third tank) pull the monster. T1 (main tank) and T2 (secondary tank), come back here now!”

“Pugilists attack at close range quickly!”

“Come on Espers, last longer! Go to the side to recover if you’re out of energy!”

“Mechanics don’t go too close, stand further away to deal damage!”

“Those carrying eggs leave quickly, don’t get hit by the fallout!”

The people of Sky Territory were surrounding a Shadow Stalker Viper and took it like a BOSS. Jade Green Sky was commanding and yelling, and they were having a very exciting time. The cooperation of Core Team One was very in sync.

The slime in the nest would lower the players’ speed, but although the nest favored the Shadow Stalker Vipers, it still was a fish in a net when facing the core team of Sky Territory, which was extremely experienced in fighting BOSSES. The Shadow Stalker Viper could not break out of the net no matter how it tried, and its health was decreasing at a steady rate.

“Killing Line 1 ! Everyone, deal damage now!”

All kinds of attacks downed on Shadow Stalker Viper. Its carapace started cracking, and slime splashed all over.

Jade Green Sky charged forward. He wore a Heavy Mechanical Arm much thicker than his hands on his right arm and activated the active ability of the Heavy Mechanical Arm.

The motors made a loud noise. Heated steam shot out of its ventilation pipes, and the iron fist hit straight at Shadow Stalker Viper’s head. At the same time, Jade Green Sky shouted out loud with passion!

“Haaa! Iron Fist Burst!”

Chapter 226 - Demolition‽

The iron fist punched the chitin carapace. The skull of the Shadow Stalker Viper shattered, and its health reached zero. It screamed in agony and fell to the ground, dead. The air in its lungs came out of its mouth and nose, and its swollen body slowly deflated.

Jade Green Sky took a deep breath and looked at the damage ranking—he was unexpectedly first once again. The damage of the Heavy Mechanical Arm would not be exceeded easily by the players at the moment.

The Heavy Mechanical Arm also had very high armor stats—it can even be used to withstand damage from the monster. Several times, they had been in danger of being wiped out, and it was Jade Green Sky who had saved the situation. While the other players got wiped out once in a while, they had not died once. Thus, their contribution points increased steadily, and they reached rank one.

Buying this weapon was more than worth it!

Black Phantom’s products were expensive, but they were worth every penny. It was really a great deal—Jade Green Sky was very contented.

Vice Team Captain jokingly complained, “How old are you already Captain? Are you not ashamed when you yell out the name of the ability?”

“I like to do that. None of your business. Plus, why bother to play Pugilist if you’re not going to yell out your ability names?” Jade Green Sky replied.

The carcass and eggs of Shadow Stalker Vipers were both contribution points. The team members started to clean up the battlefield.

Wuuu—

Suddenly, the sound of a piercing wind echoed from further down in the tunnel. Something was approaching at very high speed!

A shadow passed by them in an instant and created a strong gust of wind that almost made everyone in Sky Territory lose their balance. It was so fast that they could not even capture it with their eyes—no one could see what had passed them.

“What was that?”

“It disappeared in a flash!”

Jade Green Sky looked in the direction where the shadow disappeared and said with surprise, “That’s probably toward the deeper part of the nest!”

Everyone exchanged looks of surprise.

“Let’s follow and take a look.”

The speed reducing slime was everywhere in the nest. They chased for a while, but that shadow was long gone. The players of Sky Territory felt a little beaten.

“Stop chasing, we can’t catch up.”

“Wait… what’s that?” Someone noticed something abnormal.

The flashlight shone over, and a pungent smell entered their nose as they saw the carcasses of Shadow Stalker Vipers all over the tunnel and extending all the way into the darkness. It was a shocking view.

The carapace that players tried so hard to penetrate looked as fragile as eggshells. The carcasses were still fresh, which meant the shadow had gotten rid of all the beasts obstructing his way within the short period of their chase. The LV 40 beast herd did not stop him for even a second.

Everyone instinctively thought of Han Xiao.

“It was Black Phantom that just passed by, right?”

“The monsters we took so long to beat were killed by him within seconds. He’s definitely at max level.”

When the players scanned Han Xiao, the information they got was always all question marks except the danger level being [Extremely Lethal]. People had tried guessing his level, and now that they had something to compare with, they had a more accurate deduction. Black Phantom was definitely one of the strongest in Planet Aquamarine.

Jade Green Sky suddenly became happy. “He opened up a path for us. We can follow along.”

…

Han Xiao, who was covered in his black combat mechanical suit, dashed through the nest following the route from the tactical screen.

Slosh…

Two Shadow Stalker Viper pounced out of the darkness, where the human eyes could not reach. However, the mechanical suit radar had detected the vital signs and heat energy long ago. Without dodging, Han Xiao activated Enhanced Mode, and the biological muscles under the armor swelled up. Power surged from his fists and smashed straight at the Shadow Stalker Vipers!

Devastating strength difference!

Shattered carapaces, splashing slime, and screams of pain.

Claws hit on the mechanical suit and only left a string of sparks. Han Xiao passed the two beasts without pause and sent out several punches within an instant, killing these two beasts immediately. With the LV 55 attributes, Viper’s advanced performance, and the difference in level, Han Xiao could kill those Shadow Stalker Vipers within a second easily.

He did not stop.

Wiping off the slime on the wall, the radiation crystals were becoming more concentrated.

“The core area should not be far away—monsters are appearing at a higher rate,” Han Xiao muttered as he casually killed a Shadow Stalker Viper. He looked at the map on the screen and confirmed that he was on the right route.

The screen showed that the temperature on the outside was increasing. The crystals contained heat, so the higher the temperature, the more likely it was that the Shadow Stalker Viper Beast King would be living nearby.

The high temperature from the crystals had turned the infrared and night vision images completely red. Han Xiao changed it back to normal vision, and it darkened immediately. However, a few seconds later, it was bright again. This was because of the [Night Stalker] class talent [Bat Habit], which provided vision in darkness and bonuses when fighting in the dark.

Passing through a cave, the space suddenly became much larger. A thick, pungent smell filled the place, and slime on the ground was thick and dense. This was an underground cave that looked like a honeycomb. The walls were embedded with large, dark-blue radiation crystals, surrounded by more than a dozen entrances of a tunnel that lead to many places. This was the center of the nest.

Dense red eyes blinked in the dark. Dozens of Shadow Stalker Vipers lay low on the floor and bared their teeth, demonstrating their authority over the unwanted guest. There were also a few more frightful looking elites in the herd.

The Shadow Stalker Viper Beast King was the most conspicuous one surrounded by the herd; it was three times larger than the others. It looked down on Han Xiao with condescension as the slime in its mouth dripped down onto the ground, corroding the floor and emitting a pungent odor.

It’s so big. It has to be the Beast King, Han Xiao thought.

The Shadow Stalker Vipers pounced toward Han Xiao fearlessly. The Electromagnetic Hover-boots allowed Han Xiao to ignore the slimy terrain and move freely. He dodged the attack and took out the Ghost sniper rifle from his back, using it as an assault rifle. Blue flashes appeared on the muzzle as ‘Needle’ magnetic bullets were being shot out rapidly.

He changed targets continuously—doing so was to keep triggering [Lethal Shot], which did not trigger on the same target within five minutes. This talent was more useful during group combat, and the right way to use it is to keep changing targets and maximizing the damage output.

Flesh exploded one after another—the Needle bullets penetrated the carapaces easily and slaughtered the herd at a very fast rate. An elite monster snuck behind Han Xiao and pounced toward Han Xiao, thinking that he would not notice. However, Han Xiao turned around and slammed his leg on the skull of this Shadow Stalker Viper like he had eyes behind his back. Its skull was flattened.

The herd charged toward Han Xiao one after another in waves, but Han Xiao was like a reef—he did not budge at all. The herd became less and less dense as they fell one by one around Han Xiao.

“Roar!” The Shadow Stalker Viper Beast King growled. The soundwaves echoed in the nest, summoning their own kind.

The players in other areas realized that the Shadow Stalker Vipers that were fighting them stopped simultaneously and dashed toward the center of the nest without looking back.

The tunnel rustled, and the ground shook. A large number of beasts were approaching. The longer the battle lasted, the more difficult it would be. Han Xiao’s eyes focused. He activated [Overload], [Flaming Will], and [Lethal Critical Hits] at the same time and fired at the Beast King lingering at the edge of the battlefield.

Buzz!

The firing sound of the Ghost sniper rifle was a buzz made by its electrical circuits.

A flash of dark blue appeared and disappeared the next second, penetrating the carapace of the Beast King and exploding its empty cavities.

This shot also triggered the True Damage from [Lethal Shot]!

– 2853!

An astonishing damage number appeared. The health bar of the Beast King dropped a huge portion instantly, and it growled and rolled on the floor in agony. Han Xiao saw the attributes of the Beast King from the interface.

LV 53 BOSS, very high Dexterity and Endurance… but only 9,000 Health‽ Han Xiao was surprised. His shot just now had taken almost a third of its health—this health amount didn’t match up to its BOSS status.

Is it one of those Dexterity-type Beast Kings that are more focused on attacking? But it doesn’t look like it with such a huge size.

The Beast King rolled over, but unexpectedly, it did not pounce over immediately. Instead, it ran to a corner of the cave and took many large bites into something stiff. Han Xiao looked over through the gaps in the herd and was shocked when he saw it clearly—the Beast King was eating barrels of high energy waste marked with radiation symbols.

Beasts consuming wastes in long term would very likely induce mutation, or they would gain a special ability—he realized that the Beast King’s health was recovering at a remarkable speed, gaining back 1,000 HP within seconds. Clearly, consuming waste materials quickly recovered its health.

Then it occurred to Han Xiao that this Beast King was the type that stalled people to their death. This environment had put him at a very bad disadvantage. He took a deep breath and adjusted himself to his peak performance, before jumping up high into the air and flying over the herd in an arc, slamming on the back of the Beast King with a huge amount of energy. Upon impact, they both rolled over.

Before standing up, Han Xiao bent his fingers, and blades shot out. He stabbed them into the Beast King’s carapace, and at the same time, he activated the Thermo-Electrical Incisor Gloves and burnt through the carapace.

Suddenly, the wind whistled. His back was hit by the Beast King’s tail, and he almost flew out. He could feel the enormous power even through the mechanical suit, and the durability dropped a little.

Han Xiao was fully focused. The light from the Bonfire Reaction Furnace behind his back brightened, and with force from both his hands and legs, he pushed the Beast King to knock the wall.

The ground shook!

Pebbles fell down like rain!

The man and the beast collapsed the wall and fell onto the tunnel on the other side. The Beast King growled, wanting to recover health in its nest, but Han Xiao grabbed onto it tightly and pulled it outward. Energy flew into the Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades on the back of his hand. The blades hovered in the air, slashing open the carapace of the Beast King rapidly, showing its dark purple flesh.

It was like two beasts of the same size were clashing—they destroyed walls continuously, and the entire nest started to shake as if it was going to collapse.

The players were shocked and soon started to escape.

“Run, we are going to be buried alive!”

“What is this, demolition?”

Jade Green Sky also followed the crowd and ran for a while. Then he suddenly realized something. “Wait a minute, since we can revive, this is the best chance to kill already wounded monsters and gain contribution points!”

Just as he finished the sentence, the wall on his side exploded. Han Xiao pushed the Beast King in his direction. Jade Green Sky was in their way, and he was immediately squished.

The vice-captain of Team One held his head and yelled in shock, “Ah, you died so tragically captain!”

Chapter 227 - Profit from the Nest

The slashing slime could not corrode the mechanical suit. Shadow Stalker Viper’s carapace cracked all over its body, covered in blood and slime. Pressed on the floor by Han Xiao, its health decreased steadily.

The herd charged toward them one after another like they had lost their minds. Han Xiao used the Beast King’s body as protection and dodged most of the attacks with his agility. The vision on the tactical display screen was jumping all over the place. Normal people would have a headache by looking at it for just a few seconds, but Han Xiao was completely used to it and was not affected at all.

Every punch, every kick, was sent out with incredible power that the surrounding terrain looked like it had been destroyed by a tornado.

With his basic combat skills all being at max level and the performance enhancement from Viper, Han Xiao’s close-range combat ability was way above average, the Beast King’s health very soon arrived at the killing line, as it was unable to eat waste materials and regenerate. Han Xiao’s energy flew into Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades and formed a high speed spinning pointy cone around his arm like a drill, piercing right into the Beast King’s head.

Ignoring the wail, Han Xiao grabbed onto the wound to not get dropped by the struggling Beast King, he then turned on the Sunworm and sprayed at the bloody brain of the Beast King. A smell of burnt meat spread in the air, the Beast King’s body suddenly became stiff, like a fish out of water, giving his last struggle before death.

_____________________

You have killed Shadow Stalker Viper Beast King (LV 53). You have received 132,000 Experience.

_____________________

As soon as the Beast King died, the surrounding Shadow Stalker Vipers growled in agony and pounced toward Han Xiao dauntlessly, wanting to shatter this enemy that was harder than iron, submerging Han Xiao instantly.

But the next moment, a strong repel force pushed all of the Shadow Stalker Viper away at a speed even quicker than when they attacked. They hit against the wall of the nest as the Field Repulsive Machine on Viper’s arms made a buzzing sound.

Boom!

This repulsion force caused a chain reaction, and the nest started crumbling down piece by piece. The ground was shaking so rapidly that it was like an earthquake.

Han Xiao did not want to be buried alive, so he concentrated all the power in his legs and jumped up. The floor cracked open from the strength of his jump, and he flew up in the air. He then turned on the Mini Maneuvering Equipment to give him further boost in speed. With the combined forces of the jump and the Mini Maneuvering Equipment, he rocketed up and burst through the mud above his head.

The next second, the ground exploded, and a black figure bolted out of the ground. The vision became obstructed, and the night sky came into sight.

The West City Area collapsed. Cracks opened from the sunk ground, and dust splashed out from within. Some players got buried and died; some players escaped and watched the scene, stunned.

“The entire city collapsed because of the fight. Such strong destruction power!”

“Isn’t that Black Phantom? Did he do it‽”

“He’s got to be a max level BOSS with such strength!”

“All the Shadow Stalker Vipers are buried alive. Does that mean our mission is completed? There’s no notification though.”

The players were shocked and confused. They looked at Han Xiao at the side who was wearing the mechanical suit with fire in their eyes. They had seen the video of the mechanical suit in action on the forums, and now they had finally witnessed that themselves. It was even more impressive than in the videos.

Jade Green Sky trotted over after he revived and was shocked by the completely different scene than before. He hastily asked about the situation, then contemplated and said, “The mission is not completed yet. There are chances to make use of the situation.”

At the same time, signs of life appeared within the ruins, Shadow Stalker Vipers that were still alive crawled out with struggle. Only a small half of the nest had collapsed, but all the tunnels were blocked, so all the beasts had nowhere to escape.

Seeing this, the players dashed over in a hurry to get the last hit.

Han Xiao was only responsible for dealing with the Beast King—the other small monsters were to be dealt with by the players. The sound of cracking came out of his neck as he twisted it to relieve his tight nerves.

Huang Yu brought some people over and waited on the side.

“When the Inhumans are done the cleaning, you guys go dig through the ruins. Bring the radiation crystals and the carcasses into the warehouses, especially the Beast King’s—that’s rare material. Although I broke quite many parts of it, it should still be of some use,” Han Xiao said casually.

Huang Yu took a look at the sunk ground, gulped, and nodded hastily.

Half an hour had yet to even pass since Black Phantom came, and he had already settled the problem. Even though the West City Area had almost been destroyed, this astonishing efficiency left Huang Yu in complete awe.

After returning to his room, Han Xiao took off Viper and repaired its damage.

…

At around midnight, Huang Yu finally came with the information that the cleaning of the ruins was completed.

“We have stored 846 Shadow Stalker Viper carcasses. 27 of them are mutated, and one is the Beast King. More than 300 undamaged eggs have all been stored in the frozen warehouse. Also, we have collected about two tons of radiation crystals—the 300 pounds that were collected near the center of the nest seem to have a higher concentration.

“By the way, Coney Fury has discovered the source of the crystals. These Shadow Stalker Vipers have been consuming high energy waste as their food source. The slime secreted in their bodies has gone through special reactions, which caused them to harden and thus become crystals.”

Han Xiao was stunned for a second. “So… these radiation crystals are actually Shadow Stalker Vipers’ feces?

“You could say that.”

Han Xiao scratched his head and thought of Frenzied Sword.

Never mind. The truth is too cruel for me to tell him. I don’t think he can take it.

…

As the nest was finally cleaned finish, the players felt relieved, they looked at their interface with anticipation.

_____________________

[Clean the Nest] has been completed.

Current Prize-Pool Experience: 1,340,000

_____________________

Damage ranking:

First: Jade Green Sky (Team)

Second: Red Carp (Team)

Third: No Sleep During the Day (Team)

…

_____________________

The players on the leaderboard were delighted. Although it was unfortunate for those who did not make it, they did not make a lose anyway as the experience from killing the Shadow Stalker Viper was more than enough to cover the experience spent to take part.

“We’re first!” Jade Green Sky and the people of the Sky Territory Core Team One were filled with joy. The players beside them looked over with envy, focusing their eyes on Jade Green Sky’s Heavy Mechanical Arm.

“Sky Territory really is steady.”

“What equipment is their guild leader wearing? Looks really powerful.”

“I have a friend in their team. He said that equipment is a god-tier weapon for Pugilists. It can both tank and deal damage, but it is very expensive, and only Black Phantom sells it.”

Seeing the effect of the Heavy Mechanical Arm, many players started to desire it. Desire would create demand, and demand meant potential customers.

The ruins needed reconstruction. The head of West City Area gave out more missions, and the players rested for a while before starting to help once again.

…

The next day, Han Xiao woke up to the construction noise surrounding him in all directions, and he rubbed his temples helplessly. It was indeed much quicker to have the players help to build the city, but there was one tiny flaw of that, the players didn’t sleep or rest and worked throughout the day—this non-stop noise pollution almost made him mentally fatigued.

The secret base, however, had very good noise reduction measures, and it was in a rural area where no one had done any construction. Han Xiao had gone there secretly a few times and brought some supplies over for storage. He had also enhanced the security measures.

On the surface, Han Xiao did not work in the base.

Han Xiao came to the boisterous workshop then walked to his VIP room, which he had entered many times. Inside were many neatly arranged boxes emitting a magnificent, beautiful, but strange aura.

However, knowing that these are the feces of monsters, Han Xiao could not appreciate their beauty no matter how magnificent they were. He made sure his gloves were on tightly.

Radiation Crystal—can be turned into energy block after purification, non-elemental pure energy. Although it says these are of high concentration, these should be of the low tier in the standard of the universe. The conversion rate is roughly 100:1, so two tons of it should probably be able to produce 45 pounds of energy blocks. These can be used as emergency energy storage; it is a surprising but welcome income.

There were many types of energy—magnetic, electrical, nuclear, light, planet, antimatter, dark, psionic, and many more. If these were psionic energy blocks, they would be as valuable as the entire Planet Aquamarine. However, only very advanced civilizations could acquire, convert, and make use of psionic energy; low-class civilizations would not be able to use it even if they were able to acquire psionic blocks. Those civilizations that had discovered psionic energy too early had all destroyed themselves. To research and experiment on psionic energy without the required technology was suicide—thus, their entire planet was vaporized.

There were also 300 pounds of dark-blue crystals with higher concentration. Han Xiao guessed that it was the feces of the Beast King. The Beast King owned the most amount of high energy waste, so it produced crystals with the highest concentration compared to the others. It could barely be considered middle-tier concentration. The purification rate would be much higher, and they should be able to produce 10 pounds of energy blocks with higher Ona.

300 pounds… this guy really can take sh*ts. Han Xiao shook his head.

Han Xiao’s [Basic Extraction] was at max level. The knowledge from the energy brunch could be infused into the Energy Block Extraction Device, which was a rather precise device. Han Xiao contemplated for a while and remembered the knowledge combination. He had plenty of experience points, so he successfully gambled out the blueprint after a few infusions and started to build the device.

It was completed after two hours.

_____________________

Basic Energy Block Extraction Device: Extracts energy blocks out of minerals or crystals containing radiation or energy. Ordinary conversion rate, a rather slow conversion speed.

_____________________

This thing was very steampunk. The input port was in a funnel shape and could automatically take in original materials. Energy Block Extraction Devices were most common in crystal civilizations where magic and technology were both present, and energy blocks were the main energy resource. The headquarter of Japan, Planet Lonnie, was one of such civilizations. It was a unique kind of civilization, but anything was possible in the wide universe.

Han Xiao arranged the crystals nicely and activated the auto drop. The extraction process was fully automated.

It should take about half a day to extract everything. I shall just wait. Han Xiao patted his hands. All that was left were the carcasses and eggs in the frozen warehouses. These could be used to make drugs, but he was not a Pharmacist.

Louis Research Institution was in the Western Continent—it was too far, and the transportation cost would be too high. Also, the time it would consume during transportation would cause the materials to lose their freshness.

Han Xiao pondered for a while and decided to hire a Pharmacist.

Suddenly, he had a flash of insight, and a name buried deep in his memories appeared in his mind.

Chapter 228 - The Exchange

A secret meeting was being held in the headquarters of Division 13, and many important members of the Hesla military intelligence department were present—Gu Hui had welcomed them himself.

The expedition was drawing near, so the Six Nations contacted each other frequently to discuss and adjust some final details.

In the meeting room, both parties were calmly discussing the expedition.

Buzz!

The entire place turned silent upon the sound of phone vibration. Everyone looked over with dissatisfaction in their eyes.

This is a very serious occasion. Who’s so disrespectful?

Seeing that the sound came from the deputy director-general of the Division 13, Gu Hui, their expressions became complicated. The expressions on Hesla people’s faces looked like they were saying— Is this your leader? So unprofessional.

Gu Hui frowned. He had many phones, and most of them were turned off during meetings except for the one for emergency matters. Only very important calls would go to this phone.

However, once he took out the phone and saw the number, his pupils constricted. “Pause the meeting. I have to take this call.”

Without paying attention to the reactions of the others, Gu Hui left with his phone hurriedly after he finished the sentence.

The people of Hesla were shocked. Whose call could make the deputy director-general of the Division 13 leave an important meeting in front of everyone?

Who was so important? Was it the superiors at the highest ranking? Then why did they not call the internal line?

Coming to the quiet and isolated room next door, Gu Hui picked up the phone and said in a serious tone, “How come you’re calling?

“Surprised?” Han Xiao’s mocking voice came out of the phone.

Han Xiao used the number and identity of ‘Zero’ to call Gu Hui. Since the intelligence he provided last time, he had become a very important focus target of Stardragon.

Ever since the battle in Dark Crow Valley, Han Xiao had disappeared without a trace. Even Stardragon’s intelligence organizations could not find him. In the face of such a valuable communication opportunity, Gu Hui could not give it up no matter what, even if it meant he had to leave the important meeting.

“What do you want this time?” Through precious contact with Han Xiao, Gu Hui had a rough idea of his personality. Han Xiao was goal-orientated and would not call for nothing. Thus, he went straight to the point.

“I want a person.”

“Who?”

“She’s called… wait, let me go through the wanted list. Her code is Emerald Grass; she’s a pharmacist.”

Gu Hui was stunned for a moment. He told his secretary to check on this person, and very soon, the results came back.

Emerald Grass—her superhuman ability was controlling plants, and she was a top-notch Pharmacist. Once, she had spread an infectious lethal disease with a drug that was not experimented on and caused a large number of deaths, which lead to her wanted status. She had been captured a few years ago and was currently tightly imprisoned on Bell of Death Island.

Bell of Death Island was a prison of the Six Nations for the highly-dangerous criminals. It was an isolated island in the sea with mysterious coordinates and tight security.

“What do you want her for?” Gu Hui questioned.

“Something.” Han Xiao gave a vague answer.

Gu Hui contemplated and said, “Even I can’t bail people out of Bell of Death Island casually. It’s against the rules.”

This was a roundabout rejection.

Han Xiao laughed. He suddenly changed the subject and said, “I heard the expedition is going to start very soon. Tsk tsk, Six Nations coming together for a battle, attacking the land of Andrea from more than a dozen directions, with planes, aircraft carriers, and all sorts. Tell me, will the Germinal Organization accept their fate without resistance?”

Gu Hui’s hand tightened on the phone.

“What intelligence do you have?”

“Plenty. Base locations, military power, missile layout, and the Germinal Organization’s various Inhuman plans,” Han Xiao said in a very tempting tone.

Gu Hui was angry, but he had to fall for the trap. “Emerald Grass is yours.”

“Done.” Han Xiao agreed without hesitation. He had already planned on giving every piece of intelligence he had on the Germinal Organization before the war to give more advantages to the Six Nations anyway, and now, he could even use that to exchange for a very important person.

In version 2.0 of his previous life, Emerald Grass had been a very important character in Planet Aquamarine. As a top-notch Pharmacist, she researched on the mutation virus, created drugs that suppressed the virus effectively, and made a very strong impact.

In his previous life, Bell of Death Island had been a mysterious place. No player could find its coordinates, but they did have some information on it in version 2.0—the mutation virus had spread to Bell of Death Island, causing a very dangerous change, but the criminals imprisoned by the Six Nations in the Bell of Death Island resolved the disaster. They had fought their way out of the island and escaped. Emerald Grass had also escaped during this.

As the saying goes, there are always crouching tigers and hidden dragons.

The prisoners poured into the outside world and became new characters of version 2.0 like dragons flying over a river, causing a storm in the world on top of the disaster.

“The intelligence will be sent to you. I will decide the location to retrieve Emerald Grass,” Han Xiao said then hung up the call.

Gu Hui’s expression changed several times—only Han Xiao dared to hang up on him casually, and he could not do anything about it.

A prisoner in exchange for key intelligence, this deal was a definite win.

Furthermore, Gu Hui realized another benefit.

“He has been lost for so long. This meetup is a chance to follow up on his whereabouts!”

Han Xiao still had a position in the field agent files. Whether he went where, did what, or if he joined any organizations during his disappearance, this was all unknown to Stardragon despite their interest. It was just the right chance to investigate.

…

In the workshop in Sanctuary Three, Han Xiao waited thirty seconds after hanging up the call, only then did he send the first set of intelligence to Division 13 and held onto the rest temporarily. He knew full well that he should not give out all the intelligence at once.

If I can get Emerald Grass this time, not only can she help to research on drugs, I can even make Sanctuary Three be the first place that suppresses the mutation virus in version 2.0. The Sanctuary has my name in it. The safer it is, the more influential I become.

However, Stardragon will know they exchanged Emerald Grass with me. They won’t give up this investigation chance, and if they find out that Emerald Grass works here, they might guess I’m Black Phantom, and my identity will be exposed.

While evaluating the risks and benefits, Han Xiao suddenly realized something. He had kept his identity hidden at the start because he had been too weak, but now, with Dark Net backing him up and his strength being at the top of the planet, there was no need to hide from the enemy anymore. At the same time, the Germinal Organization was facing its destruction and could not even take care of themselves. Hiding his identity did not matter anymore.

He suddenly felt delighted.

Without him noticing it, his arch enemy was not gigantic in his eyes anymore. He had grown to be able to face the strongest organization on the planet.

From another perspective, exposing his identity could combine the influence of Zero and Black Phantom and cause a chemical reaction, and he was eighty percent sure that he would get legendary points. The players’ impression of him would also increase to another level.

With the things he had done, the players might even mistake him to be the main character of Planet Aquamarine instead of Bennett.

I should take things steadily instead. I will think about my identity after the war starts.

Although Han Xiao saw some benefits, he still decided to act on what would happen.

The Energy Block Extraction Device was still operating, so Han Xiao locked the door and left, surveying the construction progress of the various areas with his hands behind his back.

As he passed by the wall construction area, he suddenly heard a commotion. He stopped in place then walked over.

The engineering team surrounded a large crane helplessly. Seeing that Han Xiao approached, they greeted with respect.

“What’s happening?” Han Xiao asked.

“The crane malfunctioned and cannot be turned on. We can’t find the cause,” someone said helplessly.

Han Xiao heard this and thought, Wasn’t fixing vehicles what I started with?

He rolled up his sleeves and said with excitement, “Bring the tools over.”

The engineering team only remembered now that their boss was a Mechanic. They hastily brought the parts and the tools over. Han Xiao climbed up the crane to check for the malfunction, and he found it not long after. He took out the tools and started fixing. His hands moved around so incredibly fast that they even created shadows behind them.

The players on the side doing construction work were shocked upon seeing this.

This hand speed matched the power of being single for at least fifty years!

“Turns out single people have an advantage in the Mechanic class,” a player yelled. “I’m the man who will become the Mechanic King 1 !”

“Sad but true.”

As he repaired, the Great Mechanic Han was in the zone, so he also gave it some enhancements.

He tightened the last screw.

Done!

Han Xiao clapped his hands and told the engineering team to turn it on. The enhanced crane was like it was on steroids and moved so quick that the engineering could not even catch up to its speed. They dodged hastily and jumped around.

At this time, the players welding rebars on the wall suddenly looked at the wilderness and shouted, “There are some people here!”

Han Xiao quickly climbed the scaffolding of the wall to a higher place and looked out.

A group of people wearing ragged clothes appeared in the wilderness, walking slowly toward the sanctuary.

The wanderers had arrived.

Chapter 229 - The First Time Is Always Hardest

A few days ago, the guards that Han Xiao had sent out came into contact with the wanderers in the colonies tens of miles away. They explained the purpose of the sanctuary and invited the wanderers to take residence or work.

Using foods and smiles, some wanderers that did not have a pleasant life agreed to move.

From far away, the hundreds of wanderers could already see the tall wall that was still being built with the words ‘Black Phantom Sanctuary Three’ written on it with red paint. They found the situation unbelievable.

“Didn’t they say that they just arrived in Graymetal Ruins a few days ago? This doesn’t look like the construction has just started…” a middle-aged man said hesitantly. The others were wondering the same thing.

They had originally thought that the sanctuary was just being built, and the conditions would be harsh. In their imaginations, it would not even be as good looking as the tiny lousy houses in their colony. They were all ready to face a hard time, but reality gave them a huge surprise.

“Did they spend all the time building the wall?” Some people were still in doubt.

As they entered the sanctuary following the main road, this doubt was cleared in no time. There was too much for them to take in.

Looking at the tall wall, neat buildings, and paved roads, every one of them could not believe that this was the construction progress of just ten days.

It took days for them to even build a lousy wooden house!

The guards lead the dizzy wanderers to their residence, which was neither a camp nor wooden houses but brand-new bunkers. There were many rooms, and electricity and water were available. There were ingredients in the kitchen, and they could cook themselves.

They were completely overwhelmed by this huge pleasant surprise.

How is this even called a sanctuary? Might as well call it a resort home!

…

“Your Excellency, we have brought back 427 wanderers. There are fifteen colonies tens of miles away with a total of about 3,500 people. Other teams are still in the middle of their discussion, and there’s currently about 300 that rejected us clearly.”

Only a bit more than 400. That’s not much.

The purpose of the sanctuary was to protect humans, with the biggest goal of taking in wanderers. It would be a joke if there was nobody staying in it after its construction was completed.

There were few wanderers in the Karst, and wanderers from further away might not be willing to travel such a distance. In order to have people move over and take residence, Han Xiao felt like it required Bennett’s macro-control, which was able to bulk migrate the wanderers who were willing to stay in a sanctuary from other areas. However, that should be the arrangement after the plan matured; now was only the early stages of the construction.

Han Xiao waved his hands and dismissed Liu Zhao. He then walked back to the workshop and contemplated the situation. One of the requirements of his [Sanctuary Three] main storyline mission was to reach 40,000 residents, excluding players. This was one of the requirements that had the richest reward, and it had very clear benefits to raising the mission’s overall grading.

Walking on the streets and seeing the lively scene of the players, Han Xiao knew that in order to achieve the ‘Player Main City’ plan, there had the be NPCs staying—important characters would be best. These were all mission resources, and only then would the players be attracted to gather there.

The number of residents was a requirement of the sanctuary as well, which interlocked with his plan.

This is a long-term task, Han Xiao thought.

There were players that came to talk with him once in a while, wanting to buy equipment. Han Xiao did not refuse and got rid of the useless equipment in his storage while earning some money at the same time.

…

Back at the workshop, the Extraction Device was still operating, and Han Xiao was in a very good mood. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, he took out the parts and started building Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades. He was trying to go for the purple quality, and this time, he felt more proficient than all the times before.

It might succeed this time!

The noise of the Extraction Device echoed in the workshop, but Han Xiao was not affected by any external factors, immersed in building. When the Extraction Device stopped, he also finished at the same time.

_____________________

You have Built Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades (Purple).

Class Advancement Requirement: Build 5 Purple Equipment above LV 60.

Progress: 1 / 5

_____________________

Han Xiao exhaled, feeling much more relieved.

The first time was always the hardest, much the same as forgiveness. After the first time, there would always be the second and third, and sooner or later, one would become used to it.

I should be able to advance my class in this month, Han Xiao estimated.

Without looking at the interface, Han Xiao was already very familiar with the attributes of purple equipment. Starting from blue, quality would gradually make a bigger difference in the attributes of an equipment. The basic attributes of a purple equipment would be 20% to 30% higher than a blue equipment. The damage of the purple compounded magnetic chain split blades was a lot higher than the blue ones, and the attribute difference would be even greater if it had even better quality.

After replacing the purple equipment with the blue one that he had equipped, Han Xiao went to take a look at the result of the Extraction Device.

Two tons of crystals became a small pile of rhombus-shaped, light-blue crystals, each crystal being about half a palm in size. The original ore had been filled with cracks and messy lines, but the product after extraction was clear and transparent. Light passed through the crystal unobstructed and refracted within, like there was a mini sun in the crystal.

_____________________

Low-Class Energy Crystal: Contains non-elemental pure energy that can be converted and extracted.

_____________________

Energy crystals were most commonly used in magic civilizations and crystal civilizations. It was also the source of food for some creatures.

Han Xiao nodded. He had yet to think of another way to make use of the energy crystal other than to use it as an energy source. The Mage class had more ways to use the energy crystal.

I shall store it for now. There are Shadow Stalker Viper’s eggs in the warehouses that can be cultivated. Manually feeding them waste materials should create another way to make energy blocks, Han Xiao thought. Cultivating beast eggs required a professional, and Emerald Grass was just right for the task.

…

Stars filled the sky.

On the Stardragon border, a black heavy helicopter landed slowly, its rotors blowing the weeds in all directions.

A few Stardragon special force soldiers lugged a person by their arms down from the chopper with serious expressions on their faces. This person was wearing a metal eye patch and a bandage. She had dry, messy hair that had not been taken care of for a very long time, and her lips were pale and cracked. The bottom half of the face showed it was a female.

“Sir, she’s here.” The special unit soldier saluted the officer who was waiting on the side.

“Confirm her body status, make sure she doesn’t wake up,” Feng Jun said. He was in charge of this exchange. This woman was Emerald Grass, a serial criminal whom they had bailed out of Bell of Death Island overnight.

“Don’t worry,” the doctor said, “I injected a large dose of tranquilizer into her. She’s in a deep sleep now.”

“Confirm it again.”

Feng Jun looked down at his watch. The agreed time of exchange was nearing, so he was nervous. Not only did he have to complete the assigned mission of exchange, but he also had to gain some information of Han Xiao’s current status.

He wondered who would be coming for the exchange and whether that person would give him some face. Although Feng Jun knew Han Xiao, it was because he knew Han Xiao’s personality that he was not very confident.

Seconds and minutes passed. They waited silently. The sound of the wind blowing lightly across the grass and the buzz from insects were the only sounds they could hear. The atmosphere became more tense together with the emotions of the people.

Whoosh—

It was the sound of rotors cutting through the air. Feng Jun regained focus and looked up.

A helicopter approached from the night sky. The indicator lights flashed in the code pattern, and Feng Jun immediately told someone to reply. After exchanging the signals, Feng Jun gave a quick scan but did not find any organization’s symbol on the chopper.

However, although it was unknown, Feng Jun could see that Han Xiao had joined another organization. He felt heavy-hearted.

“Where’s the person?” A man in mask hopped down from the chopper.

Feng Jun waved his hands, and the team behind him brought Emerald Grass forward. The masked man opened a laptop and confirmed it was the right person before carrying Emerald Grass onto the chopper. The helicopter took off immediately after. The entire process took little more than a minute. Feng Jun did not have a chance to communicate—he could only watch the helicopter fly away helplessly.

Feng Jun took out his phone and called Gu Hui to report the process.

“He did join another organization after all, and it’s because this organization hid him that we were not able to find him,” Gu Hui pondered. “What organization could it be?”

…

On the helicopter, the masked man unlocked Emerald Grass’s metal eye patch and bandage.

Suddenly, the supposedly asleep Emerald Grass opened her eyes and stared at the masked man. Neither said a word—they just stared at each other for half a minute. Emerald Grass looked down. She slit open the flesh on her arm, picked out a bloody wiretap device, and casually crushed it to pieces.

She had not been asleep at all. As a Pharmacist, how could she not have trained her drug resistance? Thus, tranquilizers were completely useless on her, but she had concealed that throughout all her years of imprisonment.

“What did they exchange me for?” Emerald Grass asked calmly. It did not feel like she was in danger at all; it was like talking to an old friend even though she did not know the masked man at all.

“Some intelligence.” The masked man looked at Emerald Grass with interest.

“Cheap.” Emerald Grass frowned in dissatisfaction. “Are you interested in my ability to make drugs?”

“Whatever do you mean?” the masked man asked playfully.

“You wouldn’t be interested in any of my other abilities other than this,” Emerald Grass said coldly. “You’re too strong after all.”

A few days ago, when the Bell of Death Island guards injected tranquilizer into her and brought her onto the chopper, Emerald Grass already knew that she had become a bargaining chip, and she finally saw an opportunity to escape.

While she maintained the disguise of being asleep, she had heard the conversation between the escort team and knew a meeting would be carried out. Emerald Grass had planned to use her own abilities to escape after the meeting, regain her freedom, and never be controlled again.

Emerald Grass’s ability was controlling plants within a certain range; therefore, her instincts were very sharp. The feeling the masked man gave off was like a beast hidden under the skin of a man, ready to consume its prey anytime. He felt even more dangerous than when the Stardragon special unit soldiers pointed their guns at her head during the escort. Emerald Grass immediately knew that there was no chance to escape, so she gave up the idea of resisting.

“I was going to escape, but it looks like that would be suicide,” Emerald Grass said honestly.

Han Xiao pulled off his masked and smiled. “You’re very wise.”

Han Xiao had disguised himself for this meet-up and taken a chopper over himself. He knew full well that Emerald Grass was not ordinary, and sending anyone else would have been a risk. Thus, it was best for him to go himself.

As expected, Emerald Grass had hidden something. If he did not go, she would most likely have escaped. Emerald Grass had a very calm temperament; she was not surprised at all when something unexpected happened. She was very obviously suitable for scientific research as she would never be afraid of accidents happening during experiments.

“What do you need me to do?” Emerald Grass asked.

“I will tell you when we are there.” Han Xiao casually took out a device and scanned to see if there was any other wiretap on Emerald Grass’s body, at the same time contemplating about how to have Emerald Grass work and stay in the sanctuary willingly. Although he had Emerald Grass under his control temporarily, he did not think that Emerald Grass would give up on escaping in the future if there was to be a chance, and he could not monitor her at all times.

Chapter 230 - Pharmacist Emerald Grass

The helicopter carried the two toward Sanctuary Three.

During the journey, Emerald Grass was very quiet, like she had accepted her fate. The imprisonment on Bell of Death Island had made her familiar with the feeling of not having freedom; it was just going from one cell to another for her, and at least her treatment would be better here with this man called Black Phantom than when she was on Bell of Death Island.

Black Phantom, never heard of such person, Emerald Grass thought. She had been imprisoned for many years and had very limited knowledge of the changes happening in the world outside. She looked through the events that had happened in the recent years in her laptop and realized that the name Black Phantom had first appeared half a year ago.

Unbelievable.

In only half a year, this name had risen to fame like a shooting star. His strength was more terrifying than the highly dangerous serial criminals on Bell of Death Island, and those were all renowned serial criminals.

There was one piece of information that gave Emerald Grass a huge shock; the Germinal Organization that had been extremely strong before she was imprisoned had been forced onto the path of destruction!

And the reason for that was just an ordinary traitor!

When she saw this piece of intelligence, Emerald Grass could barely believe her own eyes, and she only digested this information after a very long silence.

Her emotions were mixed, and it all turned into a sigh in the end.

The world was changing constantly. After a few years of imprisonment, the outside world had become completely different.

Also, what the hell was this ‘Inhuman’ described in the intelligence?

Sanctuary Three was coming into sight, so Emerald Grass put down the laptop and looked out the window. Surprise flashed on her face. “So that construction area is the place we’re going to. Black Phantom Sanctuary Three… What is a sanctuary?”

Han Xiao gave a faint smile and said, “You still have much more to catch up on.”

“I know.” Emerald Grass nodded. She flicked her messy hair and said softly, “It’s safe here, right?”

Han Xiao did not reply. He pointed at his eyes then at Sanctuary Three, implying that she should look for herself. Emerald Grass searched the keyword ‘sanctuary’ on the internet for intelligence, and after some time, she got a rough idea. “Turns out it’s the Dark Net’s plan. I didn’t expect this hidden huge organization to surface and even received funding from the Six Nations. The purpose is very pure, isn’t it? Indeed, there is no place safer.”

Looking down from the plane, the Graymetal Ruins had experienced a complete makeover. A new area was marked out from the ruins, players and engineering teams dashed across like ants, and various types of engineering machines made buzzing sounds. The abandoned buildings, bridges, roads, and such had all been demolished in order to construct new buildings. The atmosphere was completely fresh. A small half of the tall concrete wall had already been completed, and countless players climbed up and down for construction.

The helicopter lowered itself onto the parking spot.

Having received notice long ago, Huang Yu came up to Han Xiao, talking rapidly about the things that had happened when Han Xiao was not around. Most of it was cumbersome matters, but Huang Yu had taken care of all of them very neatly. He was indeed suitable as an assistant and secretary.

Emerald Grass looked left and right, then stopped at Han Xiao, and said with surprise, “Didn’t think you’re actually the leader of this sanctuary. No wonder you need me.”

Han Xiao did not agree or deny it; he gave Huang Yu a few words of encouragement and took Emerald Grass to the frozen warehouse.

After looking at a large amount of Shadow Stalker Viper materials, Han Xiao described the task then stared at Emerald Grass, waiting for her reply.

Emerald Grass pondered for two minutes before nodding.

“Shadow Stalker Vipers’ brains, kidneys, gall bladders, mitral valves, and tailbones are all drug materials suitable for creating steroids and hormone drugs. Their eggs have a substance that aids in bone growth and metabolism and can be extracted to create very effective healing potions.

“Since you have so many monster eggs, I can try to cultivate a Shadow Stalker Viper herd. You also mentioned that feeding them high energy waste can create radiation crystals. This is a renewable resource…”

Emerald Grass turned very professional when she talked about what she was good at, and she talked with more confidence, almost in a despising tone since she was so confident in her knowledge and skills of her field.

“What and what?” Han Xiao did not hear clearly and was very confused.

Emerald Grass rolled her eyes—her expression was like telling Han Xiao to leave these kinds of professional matters to the professionals, and Han Xiao should not interfere since he had no knowledge of the field.

Compared to the cold feeling that Emerald Grass gave off earlier, her expression was now livelier, like she had noticed that the situation she was in was not bad after all, which made her feel relieved and stop putting on a disguise that rejected everyone with her coldness.

“That substance you mentioned sounds very valuable. I’ll leave you to it.” Han Xiao nodded with his hands behind his back, looking like he totally knew what Emerald Grass was talking about. Emerald Grass laughed before hurriedly suppressing her laughter.

“Huang Yu, come!” Han Xiao yelled. Huang Yu, who was waiting to the side, ran over immediately. Han Xiao pointed at Emerald Grass and said, “This is a Pharmacist I’ve hired. Arrange a room for her.”

Huang Yu nodded. He brought Emerald Grass to an exquisite residence, then followed Han Xiao’s orders, and gave her some information about the sanctuary.

The room was new and rather large, or at least much larger than the cell she used to be in.

Emerald Grass lay on the bed and let out a moan of comfort.

After years of sleeping in that iron-framed bed, she finally could sleep on this soft mattress—it was like sleeping on a pile of cotton, and her entire body was sinking.

Huang Yu stood at the door awkwardly. Emerald Grass totally ignored him while doing this, and he did not know whether he should stay or leave. He knocked the door frame and coughed. “Rest well. I shall leave now.”

Emerald Grass took out the documents and started browsing after Huang Yu left, her eyes twinkling.

“Tens of thousands of undead Inhumans are gathered in the sanctuary. I will not have to worry about the number of test subjects. There will be no infections, and there will not be another plague. How perfect. The sanctuary is also free and safe. Maybe staying here for a while won’t be so bad. After all, I need time to digest the changes in the outside world.”

…

Han Xiao leaned on the chair in the office and stared at the laptop on the table. It was the image of real-time surveillance of Emerald Grass’s room.

Emerald Grass had history and was not trustworthy, so Han Xiao had back up plans. He had placed a few hidden cameras in the walls of the room and monitored everything Emerald Grass did, including what Emerald Grass was doing then.

Han Xiao squinted and thought, Her actions were very different before. She was calm and cold when she boarded the plane, but she showed her side of being a woman just now. It might be to create an illusion of her feeling safe to clear my doubts.

He was doubtful for a reason. The Emerald Grass in his memories was a liberal who did not bow to any organization. She did things her own unique way and was unpredictable. Han Xiao was cautious because he knew how important Emerald Grass would be in version 2.0.

There were also other benefits to Emerald Grass joining in. The players could do missions for her in exchange for her guidance and advance their class into Pharmacist. With her joining in, it was another step forward for Han Xiao’s plan of making a ‘Players Main City’.

To create a main city for the players, NPCs with all kinds of functions were a necessity.

“Your Excellency, I have already arranged her…”

At this time, Huang Yu walked in to report the situation. He took a few steps forward and saw the image on the laptop screen. He stopped the sentence, and the look in his eyes became weird.

Seems like I discovered something extraordinary!

Is… is this what they call a peeper?

Could this be the boss’ unknown hobby?

Will I be killed‽

Huang Yu took a quick step backward and looked down at the floor, acting like he had not seen anything at all.

Han Xiao clearly knew that Huang Yu had misunderstood him; he shook his head but did not bother to explain.

Let it be a misunderstanding then, the Great Mechanic Han has never cared about what others think.

“Don’t tell anyone,” Han Xiao said.

Huang Yu thought that Han Xiao did not want anyone to know about his weird hobby, so he nodded rapidly.

…

Emerald Grass was always very efficient. She started work almost immediately.

The players did not know that he had a deal with Stardragon secretly, and the efficiency of the information flow between players and NPCs was very low. However, Han Xiao required Emerald Grass to wear a mask and hide her identity just in case. It was not the best time to show their identity, and Han Xiao wanted to be steady for as long as possible.

Due to the difference in information, the players were at a disadvantage when it came to their sensitivity toward pieces of intelligence. Without missions or a storyline introduction, they would have no idea what type of information the organizations needed, and they would also not know how the organizations operated. Most players were busy doing missions, making money, and getting equipment. Also, with their player mentality, they would not chat too much with the NPCs, which meant that there was an even smaller chance of their conversation mentioning other NPCs.

Since it was for safety reasons, Emerald Grass did not have any problems with it.

Emerald Grass created many kinds of drugs with a very high quantity. Han Xiao took the healing agents and steroids with the best quality and allowed Emerald Grass to sell the rest of the drugs with lower quality to the players, which showed the ‘multiple functionalities’ of the sanctuary to the players.

There was always a high demand for drugs on the market. They were usually expensive to limit the players from using drugs excessively to win battles.

Despite that, players still had a very high demand for these drugs. The appearance of Emerald Grass made a lot of players content.

The message spread very quickly—all the players knew that there was a new NPC in the sanctuary who sold drugs, so a lot of players came and bought from Emerald Grass.

Emerald Grass was very curious about the Inhumans. She realized that the players were the best test subjects, and they were all very easy to talk to. As long as she asked them for help, they would almost always agree. She also did not have to worry about the consequences of failure—they were indeed perfect test subjects. Emerald Grass was like a fish in water; she enjoyed staying there even more.

Sanctuary Three was a good place.

Han Xiao still had the drugs that he had robbed from Louis Research Institution, but he did not plan on selling them any time soon. They were all of extremely high quality, and they would have much better effects when the level of the players became higher. Then he could sell them for a good price.

Thinking about Louis Research Institution, Han Xiao realized a small problem—the institution should know that Black Phantom was the one that robbed them by now, but they had not done anything about it.

“Looks like they are afraid because of my name. They don’t dare take revenge, so they decided to hold their indignation in,” Han Xiao sneered.

Organizations that knew their place were the best—a lot of small troubles would be avoided, and he did not have to destroy them.

Chapter 231 - Expedition of the Six Nations!

Twenty days had passed since the start of Sanctuary Three’s construction.

The West City Area and North City Area of Graymetal Ruins had been modified into temporary sanctuary areas with the completed basic layout, including walls, power plants, residential areas, electricity network, and all the basic facilities.

Han Xiao’s [Sanctuary Three] main storyline mission that had thirteen construction requirements and a three month target now only had three uncompleted.

There were still ten days until one month—he would easily complete it within the period.

In that case, the mission would be completed sixty days in advance. According to the multiplier, the reward would be multiplied six times!

There was no such thing as too much experience for Han Xiao; he would never let such an opportunity slip through his fingers.

What would be completed within a month was only the basic layout. The overall requirement of the main storyline mission [Sanctuary Three] was to build a completed sanctuary three, so there was still a long way to go.

The good thing was, once the progress followed the right path, he did not have to care too much about the construction anymore. However, he had never actually cared anyway.

With Huang Yu’s help, it was easy for Han Xiao.

For the sake of more credit, Huang Yu was extremely diligent to showcase his usefulness so that by the time reward were distributed according to the amount of contributions one had made, he would receive a lot of credit.

The assistant whom Bennett had sent was indeed quite capable. At least, Han Xiao had been satisfied with Huang Yu’s efficiency till now; he took care of everything very well.

The only bad thing about it was that Huang Yu was a man, not pleasing to the eye at all.

As the saying goes, when there’s something to do, the secretary will do it; when there’s nothing to do, do the secretary.

Han Xiao had only heard of that saying. Unfortunately, he had never been part of it. He still remembered the owner of the small store below his house. The single old man that kept telling him how many CEOs he knew and how sexy their secretaries were. For the sake of the five percent off that Han Xiao received, he did not expose those lies.

The single old owner had dreamt of the luxurious lifestyle full of women, and in his eyes, even a fart from a beautiful lady had a flower-like fragrance. Every time he talked to Han Xiao about this topic, Han Xiao would always show his contempt and tell the owner that this was not a noble lifestyle one should wish for—it would be better for the owner to refill his stocks and stop buying fake instant noodles. Every time that Han Xiao ate the instant noodles bought from him, there were no seasoning packages, and he had to chew them dry!

Anyway, other than the assistant not being pleasant to the eyes, everything else in the sanctuary was going well.

According to the discussion on the forums, there were currently 60,000 players working in Sanctuary Three; it was livelier than a street market.

There were about 130,000 to 150,000 players in the entire Southern Continent, so almost half had gathered in Sanctuary Three. Its popularity was not hard to imagine.

There were a lot of players but only a little more than 2,000 wanderer residents. With the harsh environment of Karst, there were not many wanderers.

To achieve the ‘Players’ Main City’ plan. there had to be enough number of NPCs to provide functionalities to the city. The [Sanctuary] main storyline missions could only attract the players for so long, and as soon as the sanctuary was completed, the players would all be gone if there was nothing to attract them to stay.

All good things must come to an end.

Han Xiao wanted the players to be attracted to the sanctuary.

Therefore, he had to largely increase the residents of the sanctuary, and with more important people like Emerald Grass to provide unique functions, the sanctuary would provide more uses to the players.

The most direct way to increase the population was to migrate people from other large colonies. Han Xiao thought of Lu Cheng, Alumera, and such right away, he put this all into consideration.

…

Clank!

Metal finger blades and a retractable knife clashed and pushed against each other. The weapon vibrated and made squeaking sounds.

In the small empty square, Frenzied Sword, who had metal claws on his arms, was fighting with Hao Tian, who waved the retractable knife. Bun-hit-dog watched the two pro players spar, but he did not record due to privacy reasons.

Further away, Han Xiao leaned against the recliner chair casually and observed their fight.

Both Frenzied Sword and Hao Tian were pro players, and to hone their skills, they instantly agreed to spar with each other. After sparring once, it was like a fire that could not be put out. They sparred dozens of times a day. The professional league was drawing close, and the pro players had to prepare for it.

Between LV 20 to 40 was the time when PVP was most popular. PVP between players could be seen all around the sanctuary, and it negatively impacted the security measures.

Han Xiao immediately gave an order that sparring was not allowed in the safe areas within the sanctuary, but they could go to the ruins if they wanted to fight each other, and no one would care. If they went there, they might even help to demolish the old buildings.

Only a safe area could be considered as a main city.

The two pro players finally stopped after a long fight, with Frenzied Sword at a slight loss.

It was normal in the early stages for a Mechanical Pugilist to lose to a Pugilist that specialized in close range combat. They would have their own specialties once their level was higher.

In the hundred or so times they sparred, Frenzied Sword did not win even once, but Hao Tian did not look down on Frenzied Sword because of that. Rather, he was shocked.

“You have a lot of potential, very suitable to battle in the pro scene,” Hao Tian encouraged. Hao Tian believed in Frenzied Sword. Being able to fight against an extremely experienced god player like himself was a clear indication that Frenzied Sword had a lot of potential. Furthermore, Frenzied Sword was still relatively new to E-Sports.

Although Hao Tian was cold, it was because he focused on honing his gaming skills. He would always be joyful upon meeting players that were highly skilled, and he felt a sense of similarity toward Frenzied Sword.

Frenzied Sword scratched his head. Not only was he not frustrated by losing to God Hao at all, he had actually learned a lot of techniques and felt more controlled during combat. He noticed that he did indeed have a lot of potential in close range combat. Han Xiao had made a very accurate deduction and given him the right advice.

The weapons that Frenzied Sword was using were called Leopard Mechanical Claws. It was a cold weapon blueprint that Han Xiao had received from fusing knowledge.

Leopard Mechanical Claws were similar to the mechanical arms. They had an exoskeleton structure that covered the forearms, and the various finger parts were equipped with claw-like blades. Through the activation of the gears within, the blades would spin rapidly, which could easily cut through metal plates that are one centimeter thick.

Han Xiao had built this equipment especially for Frenzied Sword. Frenzied Sword was the first player to follow him, and they had known each other since the closed beta, being rather reliable the whole time. Han Xiao had made plans for Frenzied Sword’s Mechanical Pugilist path—Leopard Mechanical Claws were suitable for Frenzied Sword at the current levels, and they had even stronger power than the light mechanical arms at close range.

Once Frenzied Sword was at a higher level, Han Xiao planned to build Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades and Magnetically-Controlled Retractable Armor for Frenzied Sword. Such equipment would make Frenzied Sword stand at the top of the players, and Frenzied Sword would be able to do more things for him once he was stronger.

Hao Tian was a Pugilist. Han Xiao did not have any arrangements for him, letting him go with the flow.

Maple Moon had chosen to become a Mechanic, and she was very interested in building. She even did missions for Emerald Grass and wanted to advance class into a Pharmacist. She also offered to take over the missions to take care of Bear Cub, which saved Hao Tian from hell. In fact, she was walking Bear Cub at that moment.

As for Bun-hit-dog… Han Xiao had very low requirements for him. Reports just had to be able to run fast.

Bun-hit-dog had released another video recently that introduced Sanctuary Three. It had received quite good feedback on the forums, and he deserved part of the credit for contributing to the sanctuary’s reputation.

In recent days, the pro players that accepted the hidden storyline missions from Han Xiao had completed their missions one by one. Han Xiao had noticed a few suitable candidates and placed them onto his possible spare tire list. Han Xiao had no plans to expand his spare tire team temporarily—his resources were just right for four players. There would be some trouble if there were more.

Ding dong.

While Han Xiao sat causally under the sun, a message appeared on the laptop on his lap.

Han Xiao moved his fingers and clicked open the message. Instantly, he sat straight up, and his expression became very serious.

It was a very short message, but it signified the beginning of a storm.

“The Six Nations have started their expedition!”

Chapter 232 - Planet Aquamarine War!

In the four lands of Planet Aquamarine, the Six Nations controlled the Southern, Northern, and Western Continents. The land of Andrea in the middle had once been the main battlefield of the old era, and it was heavily polluted, filled with radiation, desertified, and abandoned. The Germinal Organization had occupied it and made it into their headquarters.

The intelligence about the Germinal Organization that Han Xiao had sold half a year ago had shocked the Six Nations, and the bases that the Germinal Organization had operated for years had all been destroyed. The Germinal Organization had been using these bases to threaten the Six Nations all these years, and now that they had been destroyed, the Six Nations had nothing to fear anymore. So, they finally decided to make the Germinal Organization pay.

The expedition began.

A war did not start out of nowhere, especially one that involved almost the entire planet. The fires of war would only start once the military power and resources had arrived at the battlefield.

After a few months of preparation, the expedition finally started on Galaxy Calendar year 688, 16 September.

More than a dozen large navy divisions left their military port simultaneously. With the carrier as the core, countless escort ships and destroyers with tens of thousands of soldiers on board marched forward.

The Six Nations have discussed the strategic layout for their joint combat. The General Commander for the Navy was Lin Lin from Raylen, a pure soldier without any political biases, experienced and steady, the person that was agreed by all the highest ranked officials of the Six Nations. Lin Lin commanded the navy to attack Andrea from various directions for a full invasion.

The Germinal Organization had also planted defensive measures and military power along the coastline with the navy and air force to protect their control of the coastlines.

The first wave of battle was missiles.

The Germinal Organization engaged first and sent out their long-range missiles, wanting to destroy the Six Nations’ navy before they entered their vision range. However, the missiles were destroyed midair by the anti-missile systems of the aircraft carriers. The aircraft carriers returned the favor and fired missiles back at Andrea. Similarly, the Germinal Organization was saved by their land-based anti-missile devices.

Firing missiles at each other did not have any results, so the direction of the battle still depended on the results of real combat.

The fleets engaged each other violently on the seas of Andrea. The two armies fought against each other, explosions erupted continuously on one battleship after another, and there were ships sinking all the time.

Although the main focus of large battlefields was the various war machines, the impact of superhumans could not be ignored. Without precautions, a strong superhuman could slaughter an entire ship of soldiers and destroy a battleship from the inside single-handedly. The existence of superhumans brought a lot of uncertainties to the battlefield, but luckily, the power difference between the Germinal Organization’s executive officers and Six Nations’ superhumans was not very large—they both suffered wounds and restrained each other.

As the main storyline of the great war had been brought forward because of Han Xiao, the players that joined the expedition missions could only watch and did not have much of a chance to join in with the sea battle.

Their level was way too low. They would not have had any impact if they engaged; they would only have died.

The navy commander on the Germinal Organization’s side was a high ranked sea battle commander of a long dead nation. The fleet of the Germinal Organization was fierce like wolves under his control, but the Six Nations held their ground very firmly like they clearly knew the Germinal Organization’s strategies. Thus, the Germinal Organization’s fleet suffered huge losses.

On the southern battlefield, Stardragon’s ‘Long Star’ and ‘Flying Dragon’ fleet tore the Germinal Organization’s formation open. Hesla’s ‘Scorching Sun’, ‘Plundering Bird’, and ‘Sharp Spear’ fleets headed straight in and destroyed the islands that provided resources to the Germinal Organization’s fleets. The other four nations also had their own strategies on their side of the battlefield.

Han Xiao had given a lot of information to Stardragon before the war started, and the Six Nations had an advantage because of this information.

It was because of Han Xiao’s intelligence that they could take the lead in the battle, and the high ranked officials of the nations did not forget that.

The navy commander of the Germinal Organization’s ship was sunk during the sea battle. The cannons had turned him into pieces, and the vice commander, Anther, immediately took over as commander.

In the face of the Six Nations’ siege, Anther could not stand his ground and lost a large area of the sea within just three days, eventually giving up the coastline control and moving the troops back to the land for defense. The Germinal Organization was going to use their home advantage in Andrea to fight against the Six Nations.

After gaining control of the coastline, the Six Nations locked down the seas nearby. The fleets surrounding Andrea were equipped with pervasive sonar detectors that prevented the submarine attack or escapes. Like a huge net, the entire land of Andrea was surrounded. The Germinal Organization had nowhere to flee to.

The aircraft carriers became moving air force bases and challenged the Germinal Organization’s control of the sky as they fought against the Germinal Organization’s air forces. Nuclear bombs were the last resort, and they would not be used unless there was no other choice.

The transport ships dropped off the ground troops on the coastline.

The ground troops of the Six Nations had finally put their feet on Andrea.

The ground war had started.

The result of the ground battle could largely impact the ending result of the war, and according to the intelligence provided by Han Xiao, they just had to destroy these military bases that were equipped with anti-missile devices. Then, their aircraft carriers would be able to fire missiles and utilize their destructive powers. The Germinal Organization would soon be defeated.

Without anywhere to flee, the Germinal Organization would only lose more territory as the war went on, and their only ending would be death. If the Germinal Organization wanted to change the situation, they had to think of other ways. The commanders of the Six Nations were sure that the Germinal Organization had hidden strategies, and they were both trying to figure out each other’s aces.

Anyone could see that the Germinal Organization was at a huge disadvantage. The Six Nations held councils of war internally many times and came to a conclusion that the Germinal Organization had close to no chance of winning. The only thing that they had to be cautious of was the ‘Hand of Death’ system that Han Xiao had told them of, the Germinal Organization’s last resort.

To get rid of nuclear threats, the Six Nations sent special agents and infiltrated the various military bases that controlled nuclear weapons according to Han Xiao.

…

In the Germinal Organization’s explosion-proof, underground headquarters, the situation of the war was being presented to the leader.

The high ranked officials of the Germinal Organization were depressed. It was only the start of the war, yet the situation had been continuously heading toward their loss. The Germinal Organization indeed had no chance against the Six Nations on paper, but they still had certain strategies, which should have had a surprising impact on the ground war.

In Han Xiao’s previous life, the Germinal Organization and Six Nations had been on par during the start of the war. The Germinal Organization had been able to divert the Six Nations’ attention with their bases across the continents. Their military power on the actual battlefield had been nearly equal.

But now, the Germinal Organization had been wounded by Han Xiao—victory seemed to have favored the Six Nations so much that there was close to no chance of changing it. The situation was completely different to his previous life.

All of this was the impact from a tiny butterfly, Han Xiao!

Nobody knew how they could win the war, but the calmness on the leader’s face made everyone believe he had a way.

“Port of Holm, Aviary, and Temefa… all of the thirteen ports are lost. The Six Nations have been sending their ground troops to the shores non-stop. From the North, Raylen and Theseus are attacking the Sunset Valley base and Black Tree base. If these bases are lost, we will lose part of the missile launchers. The other four nations are pushing in steadily, and the guarding division lead by Bark and Mu Haishan had been defeated. They are marching toward the important bases. The goal of the enemy is very clear; they are aiming at our bases equipped with missile launchers and anti-missile devices. They even know the detailed information of these bases. They definitely have very key intelligence of ours,” the commander reported with sweat all over his head.

“It’s Zero,” the leader said so calmly that it was almost scary. He was used to it.

This result further proved his speculation of Han Xiao having predicting abilities. Zero would always be the biggest threat to the organization as long as he was alive. Intelligence would only be useful when there was enough power to make use of it, and unluckily for them, Zero danced between the Six Nations and used their power.

Unfortunately, the Germinal Organization could not do anything about it. Zero was like a mouse that was always hiding. They could only hope that the prediction from Destiny’s Child would be true, and Zero would come to the headquarters. The leader had countless men surrounding the headquarters—he just had to give the order, and an enormous encirclement that extended more than a thousand miles would be formed.

Nothing was overkill in order to capture Zero.

Zero’s strength was not to be taken very seriously, but there was a very high possibility that he would bring a lot of help along, and the leader was confident that no matter how much help Zero would bring along, the only ending for them would be death under this huge trap that he had planned.

As for whether or not Zero’s predictive power could predict these traps he had set, the leader had run a small experiment to test it. He had mixed up some of the military strategies and noticed that the Six Nations were unaware of these changes. From that, he knew that Han Xiao’s ‘prediction’ had limitations, or at least, it was not completely accurate. Thus, the leader had no choice but to believe in Destiny’s Child.

As a passive party, he could only wait.

The leader slammed the table with his gloved fist and said very coldly under his mask, “We would only have a chance at victory if we kill Zero.”

Chapter 233 - Level 60!

The impact that the war had was very huge. Other than Andrea being in the flames of war, organizations all over Planet Aquamarine had their own reactions, and most of the civilians were terrified.

As Han Xiao had said in the speech that he stole from Bennett, the scars of the old era had yet to heal, but they were torn open with blood and awakened the lingering fear within people’s mind. All the high-positioned people of the society were paying a lot of attention to the war, and the lower-class people were affected as well. The goal that the Germinal Organization was promoting was to overthrow the Six Nations, and there were many remnants of dead countries all over the world that had mixed feelings.

At the same time, the brutality of war seemed infectious. Violence occurred more often everywhere around the world; robbers in the wild became more active due to the chaotic situation of the world, forcing wanderers to mass migrate. However, this was rather beneficial to the Dark Net. The sanctuary plan proved its use—all of the sanctuaries attracted a wave of residents.

Other than the Southern Continent, the players in the Western Continent and the Sanctuary that did not join the sanctuary missions had also acquired other benefits. Missions were plenty in the chaotic world, which satisfied the players’ needs.

…

_____________________

[Fall of the Germinal] current progress: 27.1%.

_____________________

The entire world was paying attention to the battle, and the Dark Net was no exception. Han Xiao, who was in Sanctuary Three, far away from the battle, was also paying attention to the information continuously. He had two sources of intelligence, one being the battle situation intelligence collected by the Dark Net, the other being the battle videos on the forums shared by the players.

It had been more than ten days since the war started. The situation kept changing. The progress of Han Xiao’s Germinal Organization main storyline that had been stagnant for a very long time suddenly shot up five percent, and it was still growing.

He shared intelligence with the Six Nations, which meant that he had contributed indirectly to the Six Nations’ achievements. Therefore, he could share a part of the overall progress.

Flames of the war filled the skies far away. Han Xiao watched the flames from Sanctuary Three, and the basic layout of Sanctuary Three was also being completed in the meantime.

The players were joyful. They were filled with pride and a sense of achievement. This was a city that they had built, and they felt a sense of belonging toward it.

Compared to the joyful players, the residents in the sanctuary were feeling down because of the atmosphere of the war. The sanctuary reaching its completion brought them some safety, but they were still mostly worried and afraid of the future.

The war affected everyone around the world; only players were unaffected.

That was because they did not have to consider the future at all.

The more chaotic the world was, the happier the players were.

Han Xiao received the short-term reward for achieving the requirements of the sanctuary main storyline. It was completed 61 days in advance; thus, he received a bonus 610% experience, totaling to 568,000,000 experience. This was the mission that had given him the most experience up till now.

There was also the reward of relationship points with the Dark Net increasing by 1,250, achieving the relationship tier of [Respect].

The overall grading of [Sanctuary Three] has also jumped from D to B, which showed that the plan had been carried out perfectly this time.

The short-term requirements did not update, which meant that there would not be any guidelines after this. In order to complete the [Sanctuary Three] mission, the entire sanctuary had to be completed. The more mission requirements that were completed, the higher the final overall grading would be.

The construction of the sanctuary was on the right track already, so Han Xiao did not have to worry about it at all. He just needed to leave it to continue the construction.

Duu—Duu—

Bennett called with a surprising tone. “The early stages of construction for Sanctuary Three is already completed‽”

Han Xiao laughed faintly and said, “Compliment me.”

Bennett was speechless. After a long pause, he finally said, “On a serious note, the progress of Sanctuary Three is already ahead of Sanctuary One. You have help from the Inhumans, so Sanctuary Three might be the first to be completed. Keep this up, I have a lot of hope for Sanctuary Three. As you know, the wilderness has not been safe since the war broke out. Wanderers have migrated in mass. Our sanctuary can be of use right now, so try to bring as many people in as possible.”

Han Xiao wrote this down on a paper and planned to give it to Huang Yu to take care of.

The high ranked officials within the Dark Net could not believe this result, saying that the progress of Sanctuary Three had already exceeded Sanctuary One, how could it make sense?

The use of Inhumans was clearly shown. The people of Dark Net received insights from Han Xiao. They planned to also hire some Inhumans as workers—this would be beneficial to the entire sanctuary plan.

Bennett said a little more before hanging up the call. He was also paying attention to the war, but he did not mention much about that topic. That was because the Dark Net was considered a neutral party—there was no need for them to join in this storm.

However, he did not know Han Xiao’s plans.

As the war breaks out, the Germinal Organization will have a hard time to even take care of themselves. I could pay them a visit. The thought flashed through Han Xiao’s mind; he had been waiting for this opportunity for a very long time.

He had three goals—one was to receive direct progress of the mission [Fall of the Germinal] and increase its completion percentage.

Another goal was to save Aurora, free Hila who would be extremely strong in the future, and hopefully create a positive relationship with Hila. He had wanted to do this for a very long time and had only been waiting for a suitable opportunity. Now was no doubt the best time to save them.

The guarding power of the Germinal Organization’s headquarters should be very low at the moment.

His third goal was related to his own growth, which also had to be completed in the Germinal Organization’s headquarters.

Han Xiao was planning to act alone, only then would it be stealthy enough. Andrea had become a battlefield now, so it would only be easy for him alone to cross the battlefield and the Germinal Organization’s security, then head to their headquarters.

His confidence came from his strength that had improved once again.

Five pieces of purple equipment lay in front of him. He had completed the class advancement mission in this month. With the first success he had, the rest had followed easily.

_____________________

Class Advancement Requirement: Build 5 Purple Equipment above level 60. Progress: 5 / 5

Class Advancement Succeed!

You have received a new class [Magnetic Ring Mechanic Level 1], +70 Energy, +2 Dexterity, +1 Endurance, +4 Intelligence

– You have received 4 Free Attribute points

– You have received 1 Potential points

– You have learned [Advanced Machinery Affinity]!

– You have learned [Surging Mechanical Force]!

– You have learned [Electromagnetic Energy Extraction]!

– You have learned talent [Energy Modification]!

_____________________

Magnetic Ring Mechanic, also called Basic Mechanic, was where one graduated from being a trainee and pushed open the doors of the superhuman Mechanic class, looking into the beautiful scenery behind these doors.

The Magnetic Ring Mechanic’s specialty was utilizing the electromagnetic element energy into building machinery and increasing its affinity, thus improving its efficiency and quality. It was more superhuman-like.

After becoming a Magnetic Ring Mechanic, the energy of the Mechanic class would be called [Mechanical Force] and could be used in many aspects of the machinery. The newly awakened ability [Surging Mechanical Force] allowed the user to use energy to increase the power of machinery, similar to Overload, but this was a continuous ability that causes very little damage to the machinery. It was a basic use of the Mechanical Force and also a prior requirement to many advanced abilities.

[Electromagnetic Energy Extraction] was the same as [Energy Training Technique]. It was a growth ability that could increase energy. Its effect was based on the Intelligence attribute, and the only difference between them was that this skill was unique to Mechanics.

[Energy Modification] was a talent whose introduction was ‘You have discovered the key to building machinery—fuse your energy into the various building steps.’ Its effect was to increase the quality and efficiency of the machinery built based on the energy level. It was one of the specialties of Magnetic Ring Mechanics and a core talent of the Mechanic class. As an example, Han Xiao currently had a little more than 1,600 energy, which would increase his efficiency in building machinery by about 20 to 25%.

A breeze of freshness could be felt in Han Xiao’s brain, extending all over his body. A large amount of new knowledge appeared in his head. Han Xiao squinted his eyes in comfort. He could feel the clear changes of class advancement, and his control of machinery had improved once again.

New class, stronger power!

I have finally advanced class. Han Xiao clenched his fists. Excitement filled his heart. The enormous amount of experience on his interface could finally be used again.

[Magnetic Ring Mechanic] needed 3,650,000 experience to level up from Level1 to Level2, three times what was needed when leveling up [Trainee Mechanic] from Level14 to Level15. The higher the tier of the class, the more experience was needed to level up.

Without hesitation, Han Xiao immediately leveled [Magnetic Ring Mechanic] to Level5, spending 20,000,000 experience without blinking!

Rich!

His overall level reached 60!

One year and more than two months after he joined Galaxy, Han Xiao finally reached max level in version 1.0!

_____________________

LV 60 class advancement mission [The Ultimate Trial]: Push one’s limits during battle. Find and ascend the hierarchy of life.

Mission Requirements: Acquire 2,000 Trial Points. Current progress: 0/2000

Trial Points are gained through killing enemies. The stronger the enemies are, the more Trial Points. The harder the victory (calculated by the amount of health lost), the more the Trial Points.

_____________________

As expected, the version has no restriction on me because I’m not a player. Han Xiao had expected this long ago, but he still could not hold back his happiness.

What this meant was that as long as he completed the class advancement mission, he could become the only one on this planet to break through level 60!

He would stand on the peak of Planet Aquamarine, a place that no one could reach!

Just thinking about it made Han Xiao very excited.

His eyes looked beyond planets; it was the entire universe of Galaxy.

This type of class advancement mission requires a large amount of combat and killing. I have to first see what kind of enemies give me Trial Points. Low-level ones are out for sure. It has to be high-level strong enemies, Han Xiao thought.

Since he was going to Andrea, he could try to complete the class advancement on the way. Only the battlefield would be filled with strong enemies, and only then could he go all out.

He could damage the Germinal Organization at the same time. It was a steady but a little playful plan, just as how Han Xiao had always been.

Putting this matter aside, Han Xiao assigned the Free Attribute points, which all went to Intelligence as usual.

Afterward, he spent 25,000,000 experience to max the level of the newly acquired [Advanced Machinery Affinity] and [Surging Mechanical Force].

The tons of experience that he had stored could finally be spent on something.

Seeing the experience turning into his strength step by step, Han Xiao felt a sense of fulfillment.

Looking at the interface, his Combat Power Level grading had exceeded 2,000. He was at grade C!

Chapter 234 - Hiring Path

A Grade C superhuman was at the peak of Planet Aquamarine. They had stronger resistance and destructive power, and they were considered to be ‘Basic Planet Explorer Standard’ in the universe.

Achieving LV 60 would not guarantee a C grade. It also took into consideration the standard of abilities, talents, and attributes. Most of those who were level 60 in Planet Aquamarine were just at grade D+; only those like Bennett were at grade C. There were only about twenty grade C superhumans across the whole of Planet Aquamarine.

Han Xiao now stood among the very top.

He was more confident.

Since he had decided to go to the battlefield, he had to prepare for it.

After advancing his class to [Magnetic Ring Mechanic], his mechanical skills had improved another level. Han Xiao spent a few days enhancing his equipment once again and built some new machinery that might be of use.

However, he did not delay for too long as the Germinal Organization was in a dire situation and might turn Aurora into drugs any time; he had to save her as soon as possible.

After he finished his preparation, Han Xiao called Huang Yu over in the evening and said, “I have to leave for some time, about half a month most likely. You will take care of the matters in the sanctuary during this time.”

I was already the one doing that… Huang Yu did not say this sentence that he wanted to. Instead, he asked, “Your Excellency, where are you going?”

“Don’t ask what you shouldn’t ask.” Han Xiao carried his equipment bag and said, “The construction of the sanctuary is on the right track. Make sure it stays that way, or you know the consequences.”

Huang Yu hastily nodded.

Han Xiao walked out of the room and toward the helipad; the helicopter was already waiting.

He observed the current situation of the sanctuary on the way. There were a lot of players, and it looked very lively. Other than the construction, the newly joined wanderer residents also hired players to do some simple jobs. The outline of the players’ main city that he had imagined could already be seen.

Han Xiao planned to act only for this rescue operation.

The Six Nations had locked down the Andrea Battlefield. If he approached as a third party he would be taken as an enemy and attacked. It was not easy to get close to the battlefield, and Han Xiao could not just close in while taking a plane like before—he had to go through the official procedures to enter the battlefield.

…

On the coastline of the Southern Continent was Stardragon Stone Port Base. Three heavy cargo planes were being checked before taking off. They had the mission of carrying important resources over the sea. In the small square beside the plane, hundreds of people in various clothing were either standing or sitting. They did not wear the uniform of Stardragon military, but they shared the same aura that they were not to be messed with. They stood in distinct groups and sized each other up.

These people were mercenaries belonging to different organizations. Mercenaries were not rare in such large-scale wars, and the Six Nations did not have any problems with hiring them.

Mercenaries were like hounds searching for the smell of blood, taking part in wars to earn themselves a fortune.

As the saying goes, people are gathered by profit and separated by profit.

Even some contract killers in Blood Pact Society wanted to be part of it. Most of the contract killers just had their names associated with the Dark Net; they were not technically subordinates and were not under Dark Net’s command.

There were many superhumans among mercenaries. These were the power that the Six Nations needed; there was no such thing as too many superhumans. The party taking the lead in the war would receive help from all over the world, and using this help effectively could further expand one’s advantages. The situation of the ground combat between the Six Nations and the Germinal Organization was rigid. A large number of super soldiers that the Germinal Organization had produced gave quite some trouble to the ground troops of the Six Nations, so this was the time when they needed more manpower.

There were thousands of battlefields of various scales across Andrea. The places where the mercenaries would be most useful was in comparatively smaller battles as well as in carrying out strategic missions. Quality was more important than quantity.

These mercenaries were taking the cargo plane toward Andrea. They were chatting among themselves at the moment. Most of them were undisciplined, rough men who were acting rowdily. The Stardragon soldiers standing in their guarding positions on the side were annoyed by this behavior, but they were not allowed to scold these mercenaries as an order from above.

Surrounded in a noisy environment, Qin Yuan crossed his arms and looked at the surroundings.

The Blades, Goats, and Ice Sculpture Mercenary Organizations… Tsk tsk, seems like quite a number of people came, all wanting to earn a fortune during the war. Even the killers are here, and the most renowned ones here are Crowell from the Wasps and Ghost-level killer ‘Scattered Shadow’ from the Blood Pact Society, Qin Yuan thought mockingly.

Qin Yuan was a small time famous mercenary. The mercenaries organization that he belonged to was also the top among the others. He received a lot of attention, and there were a few others that received the same treatment as well, including Crowell and Scattered Shadow—these two killers had also proved themselves with their battle results.

Everyone in the circle knew that the Wasps Organization and the Blood Pact Society were competitors and enemies. Therefore, these two killers received the most attention. Many mercenaries wanted to watch them put on a show, but they stood in the corner and did not have any conflict at the moment.

Scattered Shadow sized Crowell up occasionally with dread in his eyes because Crowell had a bigger name. Staying cautious, Scattered Shadow was wary of Crowell.

In comparison, Crowell seemed very casual and relaxed. He closed his eyes and rested calmly, looking very confident. He ignored Scattered Shadow and felt he was above all.

Qin Yuan sized Crowell up with interest. Suddenly, he saw the Stardragon soldiers far away split open a path and allow one person in.

Another new guy. Qin Yuan looked over, but his ridiculing eyes froze and turned into shock very quickly. His mouth widened, and he became speechless for the moment.

The others looked over as well. The scene that had been noisy just a moment ago suddenly turned silent as shock appeared in everyone’s faces.

A man in black clothes slowly approached and stopped at the edges of the team, causing everyone watching to avert their gaze. Chatter filled with shock soon rippled through the crowd.

“Why is someone like him here‽”

“Black Phantom can be said to represent the Dark Net—is the Dark Net not on neutral ground anymore?”

Han Xiao stood quietly unaffected and did not say a word.

Black Phantom was a legend in the Dark Net. He immediately became the center of attention because they did not think that someone of this level would be acting together with them.

They were of totally different levels. Just by standing there, Han Xiao made these mercenaries shut their mouths in fear. The Stardragon soldiers on the side were surprised and contented to see this. Finally, they could give their eyes a break. They looked over at these mercenaries that had been lawless just moments ago.

Who told you guys to be so full of yourselves, finally learned your lesson?

Qin Yuan suddenly noticed something. He subconsciously looked at Scattered Shadow. The others have also noticed and looked over as well.

Blood Pact Society was also a member of the Dark Net.

Scattered Shadow did not think that he would meet a legend from the same organization here. He wanted to approach Han Xiao and strike up a conversation, but he was afraid of being despised. His eyes were filled with a mix of respect and hesitation. Nonetheless, the arrival of Han Xiao made him feel much safer and more confident. He stared at Crowell with taunting in his eyes like he was going to look for trouble.

Damn it, why is he here too? Crowell’s back was completely soaked in cold sweat. The calmness he had earlier on was long gone. Seeing the provocative look in Scattered Shadow’s eyes, he immediately turned away and did not look back. He then walked into the crowd and decided to be a coward.

Scattered Shadow felt very relieved and relaxed; it was the first time he had felt so good by making use of the fear others had for someone other than himself.

Under the strange atmosphere, seconds felt like years to everyone present. Then, finally, the plane was ready, and the Stardragon soldiers announced that it was time to start boarding. The next moment, like everyone had made an agreement, they split open a path, and at the end of it was the confused Han Xiao.

Qin Yuan coughed and said respectfully, “Please… please go first.”

Well, this is quite a good treatment. Am I that scary? Han Xiao shook his head, carried his equipment bag, and boarded the plane before anyone else. He casually found a seat and sat down. The others only then heaved a sigh of relief and boarded the plane respectively.

Whoosh!

After some turbulence, the plane took off.

The official path to go to Andrea for Han Xiao was to become a mercenary of Stardragon; this was the easiest way. The reason he had chosen to use Black Phantom’s identity and not change his face was, although the Six Nations accepted mercenaries into the war, they still would go through their records and did not allow anyone that was not trustworthy.

This Black Phantom identity of his not only did help to fight the Germinal Organization before but also belonged to the Dark Net; it was a very trustworthy identity and was approved easily. Of course, using the identity of Black Phantom would impact the Dark Net’s firm neutral ground negatively, but these were all small problems in Han Xiao’s eyes.

He actually had another choice, which was to change face and replace another mercenary then board the plane secretly, but he felt that he did not need to go against the rules if he could enter through an official channel.

The phone in his pocket started vibrating. Han Xiao took it out, and it was a call from Bennett.

He picked up the call, and the next moment, Bennett’s scream almost broke his eye drums.

“Come back now!”

Chapter 235 - Infiltration (1)

Han Xiao moved the phone further away from his ear, before picking his ears with his pinky and saying unhappily, “Lower your voice.”

“Why didn’t you discuss with me?” Bennett said furiously. “You represent the Dark Net; joining the war means we have lost our neutral ground. The impact behind this…”

Han Xiao covered the speaker and looked around at all the mercenaries who were eavesdropping with a warning in his eyes. The seats in the cargo plane were opposite each other, so everyone saw the look on Han Xiao’s face. They were all confused as to how they messed with him.

Qin Yuan was the first to react. He immediately took out earplugs and placed them in his ears. The others saw this and understood as well. They all followed suit.

Only then did Han Xiao uncover the speaker, and Bennett’s nonsense finally came toward the end. He did not hear most of it, but he still replied as if he was listening all the time.

“… therefore, don’t get involved in this,” Bennett said. “The Germinal Organization will definitely lose. No matter what grudge you hold against them, there’s no need for you to settle it yourself.”

“This is a private matter,” Han Xiao replied.

“Of course! How can it not be a private matter‽” Bennett yelled furiously.

“The Germinal Organization can’t even take care of themselves anyway,” Han Xiao said. “Isn’t it good to make use of the opportunity? Neutral standings aren’t important in the current situation anyway, so don’t worry.”

“… You didn’t actually hear any of my analysis just now did you!” Bennett was stunned.

Tsk, got found out. Han Xiao shook the phone rapidly and moved it further away while yelling, “Hello… I’m on a plane… The signal is bad…”

“You stop lying to…”

Han Xiao hung up the phone.

Bennett would definitely be unhappy with him doing this, so Han Xiao felt somewhat apologetic.

However, that did not mean that he would not do it just because Bennett was unhappy. Exterior factors would not determine his actions; he only followed his own thoughts.

Furthermore, Han Xiao was very clear that there was no meaning to whether the Dark Net maintained its neutral ground anymore. If the Germinal Organization was destroyed, Dark Net would be next on the list.

The Dark Net always seemed harmless, but no one could be sure that they would continue to be in the future.

In the previous life toward the end of version 1.0, the Six Nations expressed their intentions to suppress the Dark Net. Now that the Germinal Organization had met their demise two years in advance and the Six Nations were not as damaged, they might suppress the Dark Net at an even earlier date.

At this moment, a Stardragon commander walked into the cabin, waved his laptop, and said, “Eight hours till we arrive in Andrea. The destination is Migratory Birds Port on the south side. These are the basic situations of the southern battlefields and some missions. Take a look.”

After he finished, the people looked at up at him in confusion.

The commander was a little stunned. Should there be someone that would take the laptop from him? Holding onto the laptop and getting ignored is very awkward, okay?

Qin Yuan realized something. He hastily informed the others to take out the earplugs and said awkwardly, “Er, please say that again.”

After ten minutes, everyone had a laptop in their hands and was studying the information.

Han Xiao suddenly said, “Give me a map of the entire battlefield with the Germinal Organization’s territory and their basic layout.”

The commander agreed.

The territory map and the layout of the enemy was not a secret. He had received orders to pay attention to Black Phantom and satisfy any of his reasonable needs.

The reason that Stardragon treated him so well had to do with Han Xiao’s identity. In gaming terms, it was because he had high enough relationship points and legendary points.

Intelligence was also a reason that Han Xiao had entered through the official channel. It was not easy to penetrate the battlefield, and if he rushed in without any knowledge of the enemy’s strategic layout, he would most likely end up in a horrible position. The intelligence that the Six Nations had was very well rounded, and it was convenient for him to come up with an action plan.

“A lot of soldiers near the headquarters. Both ground and air are locked down…”

The Germinal Organization headquarters were made up of bases. The real core was the explosion-proof fortification hidden underground in the middle of these bases—that was Han Xiao’s target.

Han Xiao realized that there were many small gaps in the Germinal Organization’s deployment, which seemed like a chance for him to head straight into the headquarters. These gaps were not very obvious but were not too secretive.

Feels weird. Han Xiao rubbed his chins as his eyes twinkled.

…

The cargo plane landed in Andrea. The cabin doors opened, and the smell of dust and the tight war atmosphere filled the air. Countless battleships docked on the sea far away, and sound of helicopter blades passed above their head continuously. There were still burn marks from the coastline battle in this port. Stardragon soldiers passed by one after another.

Han Xiao alighted the plane along with the others. What followed next were all sorts of procedures that took two hours to complete. The mercenaries finally crossed the iron net obstruction, boarded the troop transport, and entered the battlefield area through the road. The vehicle was heading toward a battlefield on the front lines that was fighting with a Germinal Organization team in the ruins.

After getting off the plane, Han Xiao had not stopped moving. He could feel the tense atmosphere in the battlefield as he passed through the battlefield. He occasionally saw refugees in ragged clothes staggering and retreating under the soldiers’ lead. These were the wanderers in Andrea. Their life was already tough enough, and the war made it even worse.

The impact of the old era war was still affecting Andrea, the radiation pollution was still very severe, so plants and animals were rare. Many of the refugees had black yellow scars on their skin, and some of them even had tumors.

They alighted the vehicle upon arriving at the destination. Qin Yuan approached Han Xiao before the commander came.

“Your Excellency Black Phantom, we hope you can lead us.”

Mercenaries respected the strong, Han Xiao’s position was undoubted. It was the safest to act in groups on the battlefield, and it was an instinct to follow those who were strong.

Han Xiao waved his hands, picked up his equipment, and left.

Qin Yuan was stunned. He hurriedly yelled, “Where are you going? That’s the way to leaving the battlefield. Our mission is…”

Han Xiao’s voice came from far away. “I’m not interested in that mission. I’m used to acting alone.”

Everyone helplessly exchanged looks.

There was no need for him to join a team; he could just do things alone.

…

A few days later…

Scorching sun burnt the ground of Mika Town, which had originally been a colony for the wanderers. It had become a small-scale battlefield. Short and tiny buildings were destroyed, bullet shells littered on the ground, and burn marks scarred the scenery. There were still flames that had yet to go out giving out black smoke.

“Huu, Huu…”

A gasping sound appeared behind a building that was half collapsed. A few superhumans in Stardragon combat suits were hiding behind the wall and cautiously observing the surroundings. They were Pugilists cultivated by the military. With the civilization standard of Planet Aquamarine, Pugilists were the easiest to create in large numbers compared to the other superhuman classes.

“Captain, our situation is very bad. The Germinal Organization has outnumbered us. They have a small team of 200 people, 7 superhumans, and 15 super soldiers. We only have 11 superhumans left, and we are separated from each other.”

“I have requested for backup,” Fang Yun said in a low voice. “The Division 13 agents will be providing the backup as long as we can hold on for an hour.”

“An hour… there is still a group of damn Inhumans among the enemy. They are too difficult to deal with.”

At this moment, the sound of machine gun fire appeared from afar. Sounds of crying and screaming appeared but disappeared the next second.

There was still a group of refugees that did not retreat successfully in this battlefield and hid in fear. The Germinal Organization was worried that the people of Stardragon might disguise themselves as these refugees, so they killed every one of them.

“With these refugees to stall time, we won’t be discovered so soon.”

A flash of pity appeared in Fang Yun’s eyes as he nodded heavily. At this point in time, they had to make use of everything to protect themselves. The battlefield did not allow sympathy, and there was no time to care about the lives of a group of refugees.

There is no justice in war.

At the same time, in the second floor of a building, Han Xiao changed his face and put on a ragged coat to disguise as a refugee. He stayed beside the window and looked out to observe the situation outside.

This battlefield was the target that he had decided with after a few days of searching. His plan was to kill a member of the Germinal Organization here, switch to his face, and disguise as him, which would allow for easier infiltration. He had used this method before, and he planned to use it again. It would be as difficult as finding a needle in a sea to find him in this chaotic battlefield.

When he observed the battlefield deployment, Han Xiao had noticed the gaps, but he thought that since he could notice this weakness, the Six Nations and the Germinal Organization would be able to as well. It looked like a trap, so he decided to use his own method.

The risk of breaking directly into the headquarters was too huge, and Han Xiao’s destination was the underground headquarters, which would be many times harder. It was safer and stealthier to infiltrate by changing faces and identity. Even if he was exposed, they would not know his identity, and he could still switch to another face and continue infiltrating.

At this moment, a loud bang came from someone kicking open the doors downstairs. A group of people came in to search the building.

Chapter 236 - Infiltration (2)

Ta, ta, ta!

With the sound of footsteps, a pair of people headed upstairs. Han Xiao could see through the bullet holes in the walls that these people had IDs hovering above their heads.

“Unlucky, it’s a group of players.”

He was wearing his Smart Meta-Optical Mask, but although the players could not know his real identity, they could at least see that his attributes were all question marks and would immediately be cautious.

As these Germinal Organization players approached, their conversation could also be heard.

“What’s your contribution points?”

“127.”

“I have 95. There are no contribution points to killing refugees, how annoying.”

Both players of the Six Nations and Germinal Organization received battlefield missions. Killing enemies would grant them contribution points. The war between organizations should not have opened at this stage, but because of Han Xiao’s effect on the storyline, the players joined the war at a very low level, and their impact on the war was minimized.

With a loud thud, the door was kicked open. The two players walked in and saw Han Xiao in the corner.

“F*ck, another refugee.” One of them raised the gun immediately and prepared to fire. His attitude was like the person before him was equal to an ant.

Whoosh!

A few blades flew out near the ground and slashed through the two players’ necks in a flash. Blood shot out as they turned into white light and disappeared; they were killed in an instant.

These players were at around LV 20 and had about 300 HP. With Han Xiao’s abilities and talents, the damage of his purple Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades was between 45 and 112, but he could deal about three times what was shown on the interface. Taking into consideration the enemies’ damage resistance and reduction, it was still a piece of cake to instantly kill the players around this level.

There were a few more players outside. Han Xiao wore his Electromagnetic Scanning Goggles and looked through the wall for their locations. He controlled the hovering blades to penetrate the wall and slash open the throat of these players. No one could react. The last thing they saw was a flash of light.

After killing all the enemies, Han Xiao returned the Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades to his sleeve.

Then, Han Xiao changed to another face and left the building with a low profile. He hid in the ruins and avoided the Germinal Organization troops before finding a new house and observing the situation, waiting for an opportunity.

“Hope it’s not players again,” Han Xiao mumbled.

…

Flashes of white light appeared one after another. These players revived at the Germinal Organization battlefield revival point. They still had not realized what had happened, and their faces were filled with confusion.

“How did I die?”

“Was there a bug‽”

They looked at the combat information on their interfaces hastily

_____________________

??? has dealt 275 damage to you.

??? has dealt 267 damage to you.

You were killed by ???.

_____________________

The players were all confused

What was this ‘???’?

…

Tuk tuk tuk!

A string of bullets was being fired at a super soldier of the Germinal Organization, hitting his exoskeleton.

“These monsters are too tough.” Fang Yun threw the firearm aside and waved his fists, launching a punch. It clashed with the exoskeleton fist of the super soldier and left a dent.

Super soldiers were not as strong as normal superhumans, but the Germinal Organization had improved this technology through many experiments and were able to mass produce the super soldiers. It was quite a headache in the battlefield for the Six Nations.

Fang Yun and his team worked together and defeated this super soldier very quickly. However, the sound of battle attracted other superhumans of the Germinal Organization, and a siege battle started. It was bloody and merciless.

Fang Yun’s team members fell one after another. Fang Yun was besieged by the super soldiers. He was wounded all everywhere, and blood spilled out of his mouth as he was moving.

A team member sacrificed himself and opened up a gap in the siege. Fang Yun dashed out without hesitation and ran with all his might with people chasing behind him.

Fang Yun could not remember if he ran for ten or twenty minutes. The exhaustion and injuries were too much for him to endure. His legs softened, and he fell onto the ground. He had no strength left to even stand up, but he continued struggling and crawled forward.

Two Germinal Organization superhumans caught up. They rubbed their fists and walked toward Fang Yun with a ferocious smile on their faces.

Fang Yun clenched his teeth. These two people were the ones who had killed his team member earlier.

Both sides were building ruins, and there was nowhere to escape. Fang Yun stopped crawling and stared at the duo, squeezing every last bit of strength he had left, wanting to muster some energy and give the duo a surprise attack before he died.

They walked closer and closer, and when they were only ten meters away, a shadow appeared behind them. However, they did not notice at all and continued walking forward.

Fang Yun was stunned. The person was dressed like a refugee.

“What the…”

Blades hovered beside the refugee. With a flash of light, they penetrated these two from behind and went back and forth several times within a blink of an eye.

The faces of these two people froze. More than ten wounds appeared on their bodies the next second, and blood shot out like a fountain.

Fang Yun was completely shocked.

Two Germinal Organization superhumans had been killed instantly by a refugee!

“You…”

Before he finished his sentence, that shadow appeared in front of him, and the next moment his, vision became dark as he was knocked unconscious.

Both at about level 30.

After seeing the combat information on the interface, Han Xiao felt a sense of lamentation. Level 30 had once been a chasm that he had never been able to cross, but now, he could kill them easily.

Han Xiao avoided the face so that he could still change into their face. He first took out the items on these two people’s body, including any identification, then looked at their names and held onto them.

He pressed on his cheeks. A triangular scanning beam shot out from in between his brows and scanned the face of one of the corpses. The following moment, Han Xiao’s face became exactly the same.

He removed the clothes on the corpse and put them on. He then listened to the internal communication of the Germinal Organization troops through the headphones. They were sweeping up the rest of the Stardragon soldiers. Han Xiao pondered for a while before setting the two corpses on fire and throwing them aside. He left the Stardragon soldier alone.

Han Xiao had yet to leave when he heard a new message from the headphones.

“Attention, the enemies’ backup has arrived. There are superhumans from Division 13.”

“The enemies are too strong, fall back immediately.”

“I need backup. I’m at the West side of… fizz—”

Han Xiao’s eyes twinkled. This was just the right situation for him to infiltrate.

Following the sound of cannons and guns, Han Xiao came to the battlefield. He realized that the Germinal Organization troops had been intercepted by the backup team of Stardragon. The superhumans of both sides were clashing with each other. The agents of Division 13 had a steady upper hand. The targets hit by their bullets were covered in flames and burnt—it was a huge threat that made the people of the Germinal Organization wary.

High-explosive rounds? Han Xiao’s eyes twinkled. Had the high-explosive rounds that he had given Stardragon before he left still not been finished?

What he did not know was, after he left, Division 13 collected all the leftover high-explosive rounds, and after they burned three workshops trying to figure out its blueprint, they sealed them up as important resources, only giving them to their agents during very important missions.

There was not anyone that he knew among these Division 13 agents, but there were a few he might have seen once or twice. He was reminded of Li Yalin and the team. They had definitely been sent somewhere in the battlefield for missions. He wondered if they were still alive…

A Germinal Organization superhuman saw Han Xiao and yelled, “Karius, quickly come over and help!”

The unlucky guy that Han Xiao had changed into was called Karius.

This yell also made the Stardragon people notice Han Xiao and fired at him. With his fast reactions, Han Xiao hastily dodged and left a burning trail on the ground behind him.

He rarely used high-explosive rounds anymore, and he did not expect the Division 13 to still be using them. After all, they were just his leftovers.

Han Xiao did not want to be stalled, but trouble came looking for him. A Stardragon agent turned and headed his way. He dashed over, covered in flames, and took out a knife handle. It was the retractable knife that Han Xiao had built before.

“Hello Pugilist.” Han Xiao hooked his fingers. Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades flew out low on the ground and immediately slashed open the flesh of this Pugilist. He fell onto the ground the next moment while he was still charging toward Han Xiao. Han Xiao bolted over and sent him flying with a kick. He hit an SUV and the entire vehicle was turned over. This guy would probably spend half a year in bed for that injury.

The Germinal Organization soldier that had called Han Xiao’s name was stunned.

Since when was Karius so strong‽

Just as he wanted to call Han Xiao for help, he saw that Han Xiao had knocked over the people obstructing the way and hopped into a car, immediately escaping.

The people of the Germinal Organization were stunned. Then they realized what had happened and all hastily jumped up the cars to escape. They were in an extremely disadvantageous position anyway. As soon as someone started something like this, there would be people that followed.

…

The troops escaped back to the temporary base. The commander immediately yelled and questioned them. The Germinal Organization soldiers hastily explained the situation. Han Xiao also said a few words to add on. No one suspected him, or rather, they did not have the time to suspect him. This temporary base was very hectic, so after the commander finished listening to the explanation, he immediately sent the troops for other missions.

After infiltrating the camp, Han Xiao collected intelligence incautiously. His plan was to get closer to the headquarters by continuously changing his identity. The most direct targets were those troops that headed in the direction of the headquarters.

Chapter 237 - Infiltration (3)

Han Xiao was asking around until night fell, when he found out that a supply convoy had transported a large number of munitions from a resource warehouse nearer to the headquarters. That convoy would be returning in twenty minutes.

Han Xiao located one of the drivers, changed his face, and lured him out. He cracked the driver’s neck when they were alone and then changed into his face and clothes. It was troublesome to get rid of the body, so Han Xiao found a very creative and not bloody way, which was to find a player and give him the mission to get rid of the body. Although he set his identity to be unknown in the mission, the players would not care at all—the mission was accepted immediately.

Convenient, Han Xiao thought. He had a new idea—the players could be of help for his infiltration.

Although the Germinal Organization players’ loyalty was fixed, they still had the freedom to accept missions, and the Germinal Organization did not know that.

Han Xiao received an order very soon after he disguised himself as a driver—the GPS in the car showed the route, so Han Xiao simply followed the convoy and arrived at the resources warehouse half a day later. He then used the same method to gain more intelligence.

After two days, Han Xiao finally arrived at a base near the headquarters after changing his identity many times.

The group of black bases could be seen far away, occupying as much space as a medium sized city. This was the Germinal Organization’s headquarters, but Han Xiao knew that the real core area was hidden underground.

Han Xiao asked around from the soldiers there and found that it was almost impossible to enter the underground headquarters. Thus, he had to find a target with special identity.

…

Fang Yun woke up and realized that he was lying on a hospital bed in a medical tent. Around him were injured soldiers. Seeing that he was awake, the doctor walked to him and said, “I have treated your wounds. You have been unconscious for one day.”

“How’s Mika Town?”

“The backup made it in time and defeated the enemies, but some of them escaped. They are now calculating the losses.”

“Let me take a look…” Fang Yun coughed weakly. The doctor hastily handed over the water bottle. Fang Yun grabbed it and took a huge gulp before gasping for air.

As a superhuman, he was treated very well. Someone brought the battle damage statistics very soon. Fang Yun browsed through impatiently. Seeing that all his teammates were confirmed to be dead, he was filled with sorrow and rage. He flipped to the death count of the enemy, and suddenly, his pupils constricted.

“One enemy is missing,” Fang Yun realized that the person missing was Karius. The superior sent the intel on the enemies shortly after in video form. Enemies were identified through matching screenshots of the video recorded during battle with the database, and most of the superhumans in the Germinal Organization were in the database.

“That’s him. The missing guy is called Karius. I saw him die with my own eyes.”

The superior frowned and said, “But according to our witness intel, Karius escaped and is alive, and we also didn’t find his body.”

Fang Yun felt a chill up his spine. He immediately recalled that ‘refugee’.

…

In the underground headquarters of Germinal Organization, the leader was looking at the tactical map in silence.

The map was marked with red and blue areas. Red was the Six Nations’ forces, and blue was theirs. The blue was surrounded by red and was only getting smaller with time. This was the situation for the Germinal Organization; they were at a total disadvantage. However, the leader did not care about the gains of losses of these areas. He did not put all their forces into the battlefield as he was discreetly preparing for a counter attack. However, it could not be carried out yet because he had to get rid of Zero who could ‘foresee’ first, or else the exposed plan would be meaningless.

Although Destiny’s Child claimed that Zero would come to find them, the leader had to take care of some details. He purposely left some gaps in the deployment on the battlefield. Zero might take these routes if he wanted to infiltrate the headquarters, but the intel from the hidden scouts disappointed him again and again. There was no one who had infiltrated through those gaps.

The method Han Xiao used to infiltrate was unnoticed by the leader.

The longer the leader waited, the more impatient he grew. The ability to ‘foresee’ that Zero possessed was like a blade hanging on the organization’s head, and their actions were very restricted.

“Still not here…” The leader had asked the scouts as usual, but the results were disappointed once again. He started to doubt if Destiny’s Child’s claim had failed this time.

Because he really did not understand why Zero had to come to the headquarters, he could not figure out what Han Xiao’s goal was.

He never would have thought that Han Xiao’s target was Aurora. That was completely unexpected.

…

The pollution from the factories and the thick clouds painted the sky gray, and the clouds within ten miles looked like they were going to fall any time.

The surface headquarters consisted of numerous bases, vehicles travelled within, and sentinels guarded every junction to check for identifications. The main base in the middle was an enormous metal fortress with a ferocious metal tower that penetrated into the sky.

The entrance was a large alloy gate. The side gates on both sides were the human entrance, and the vehicle entrance was in the middle, more than wide enough for three tanks to enter simultaneously. Helipads were built on top of the exterior walls—helicopters took off and landed from time to time.

The entrance was very lively. Convoys were entering and leaving, and rows of guards stood on the side of the road and scanned the area to maintain safety.

One of the guards was Han Xiao in disguise. He turned his eyes and observed the surrounding environment.

The effect of the mask was outstanding. This method of infiltration was extremely stealthy. After changing his identity many times, he finally got an identity that could get him into the headquarters. In order to become a guard, Han Xiao had to patiently wait for a few days, and it went without saying what happened to the original owner of this identity; Han Xiao had never been one to have mercy in these times.

When the shift finally ended, Han Xiao followed the others into the surface headquarters. It was huge and spacious; it was more than ten meters tall just in the first level. After entering the door, a huge space came into sights. Things were being loaded onto their transportation, commanders were resting, it was lively and noisy, smoke from the operating engines made the air quality very bad.

The door of garage was at the West side, many ground transportations were parked inside, the doors at the other directions were for the people.

Han Xiao knew the basic structure of the Germinal Organization headquarters. The underground headquarters were connected with the surface headquarters. By authorizing one’s identity in the lift, one could enter the underground headquarters. Quite a number of people had the authority to enter the surface headquarters, including even some players belonging to the Germinal Organization. Han Xiao chose a suitable target and changed into the target’s identity in a discreet corner. He then entered the lift with his new identity card and scanned it on the reader. The green light turned on, and the lift stopped at an underground level. A metal tunnel came into Han Xiao’s sights after the doors opened, leading to the underground headquarters.

He opened the doors and entered. The underground headquarters were intense and quiet—not lively like it was on the ground. One could clearly feel the intensity in the air. The members walking around all had emotionless expressions and were in a quick pace. Everyone looked busy. Han Xiao’s eyes twinkled. He covered up the energy in his body and acted like a normal person. He then straightened his collar and started walking while planning for his next step.

He was already halfway to success now that he was in the underground headquarters!

That is what infiltration should be like.

It was unwise for him to drag it for too long; he would be in a very dire position should his identity be exposed. He touched the equipment bag and felt a little safer.

The security measures had to be turned off through the central computer before he could save anyone in the headquarters, and he also had to access the central computer for another goal he had. Therefore, he needed a hostage that had the authority to operate the central computer. Fortunately, Han Xiao had kept someone in mind since very long ago.

Cyberlos.

Chapter 238 - Nerve Connection (1)

Han Xiao knew about Cyberlos in his previous life.

A high rank researcher of the Germinal Organization, research fanatic, known by the players because he was the one in charge of the research that turned Aurora into Aurora Jam. To him, he could only do more experiments if he was alive, so he could betray any organization without any hesitation, loyalty was worthless in his eyes.

Han Xiao was very confident that if he threatened Cyberlos, he would compromise for his life, provided no one saw them.

There was a small problem, however; the headquarters were enormous, and Han Xiao had no idea where Cyberlos was at the moment.

At this time, a player with a hovering ID able his head walked past, so Han Xiao had an idea.

“There are players in the underground headquarter too, I can try to use them.” Han Xiao thought.

Electrolux was on the way to submit a daily training mission. Suddenly, a Germinal Organization soldier appeared and stopped him. The soldier looked extremely ferocious yet was smiling friendly, like a crocodile laughing. The unlucky person that Han Xiao replaced looked too rough.

Electrolux shivered and said, “what—what do you want?”

Han Xiao laughed friendly but made Electrolux feel a chill up his spine. He paused and said, “Hey there, I have a small matter that I need your help with.”

As he spoke, he set a mission and gave it out. The mission requirement was to find Cyberlos’ location. He wrote in the mission introduction that he had something urgent to report as if he really did. Since the players would not normally doubt the mission introduction, they would not suspect anything.

Electrolux was pleasantly surprised. It was the first time that he had experienced a mission coming directly to him. Furthermore, the reward was quite rich, so he was tempted. Finding Cyberlos was very easy—he could only be in the lab.

“Ok, I’ll be back very soon.” Electrolux went to confirm.

Not long after, Han Xiao received the message that Cyberlos was browsing data in the experiment level.

Han Xiao’s eyes twinkled. He gave another mission to Electrolux and asked him to get him the map for the headquarters. It was difficult for him to acquire such a thing, but it was easy for the players in the headquarters. Electrolux did not suspect anything; he passed the map that he had with him to Han Xiao.

Han Xiao looked at it in details and nodded. He had plans for the next step.

The experiment level occupied a very large area. Han Xiao came to the resting station of the researchers, used the Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades to block the camera in the corner temporarily, forced open the uniform box, took out a few white coats and masks, disguised himself as a research, and walked to the experiment level openly.

Cyberlos was in a large experiment lab at the time, ordering the others to test the performance of a group of super soldiers while he browsed the data on the computer. Seeing that there were many people there, Han Xiao pulled his mask, walked closer to Cyberlos discreetly, took out a simple detector, and scanned him roughly. The result was that he was not wearing a wire as expected. Cyberlos spent most of his time in the headquarters, so he was not very cautious and also did not have any guards following him.

Han Xiao turned around and turned his back on Cyberlos, acting like he was arranging the data. He bent his finger. A blade hovered very close to the ground and flew into Cyberlos’ coat, touching against his heart.

Cyberlos felt something cold near his chest. He hastily reached out his hands to his chest and felt a piece of thin metal. Shocked, he immediately wanted to unbutton his collar to check. It was at this moment that he heard a clear whisper despite the noisy surroundings.

“Quiet, don’t move, don’t yell, or this piece of blade will slice open your heart. Now, act like nothing happened and listen to my orders. You don’t listen, you die; you trigger the alarm, you also die.”

Cyberlos looked around; everyone looked like enemy to him. He said softly, “Calm down, what do you want me to do?”

He did not dare fight back because he was worried for his life.

“Leave the lab, act normal.”

“Ok, don’t do anything to me.” Cyberlos took a few deep breaths and said loudly, “You guys continue the experiment; I have something to attend to.”

After he finished saying that, he walked to the door without raising the other researchers’ suspicion. Han Xiao paused for a while and followed behind Cyberlos.

The two came to the corridor. Cyberlos saw Han Xiao behind him and knew that this was the person who threatened him. He sized him up and said softly, “What else do you want me to do?”

“Bring me to the central computer. I need your authorization. Don’t try to pull of any tricks; I can penetrate your heart in less than 0.1 second if anything abnormal happens.”

“I won’t,” Cyberlos said as he felt the coldness on his chest. Then he calmed his mind and lead the way. He was not a soldier; his life was more important than anything to him. He knew that he had no choice but to compromise, so he was not willing to take the risk of triggering the alarm.

They met quite many Germinal Organization members on the way, and Cyberlos acted very naturally, nodding as usual. Han Xiao followed behind. The others had no suspicion and thought that he was Cyberlos’ assistant.

After entering an empty corridor, Cyberlos looked carefully at Han Xiao’s face and suddenly said softly, “I see you had a surgery on your face, Zero.”

Han Xiao was shocked. How did he figure out my identity?

“In order to catch you, the leader has planted an inescapable trap. Countless Executive Officers are on standby, ready to act anytime, and here you are as expected.”

Han Xiao’s expression changed a little in disbelief. The leader had set up an ambush and waited for him, which meant that he knew he would sneak in‽

How is this possible‽

I haven’t told anyone about my plan!

Does the leader have someone who can predict the future? Does that mean I am already in siege at the moment?

Han Xiao was perplexed at the time, but he hastily calmed himself down. Then he noticed something wrong. If the leader really knew his goal, he could not have snuck in this easily. That meant that the leader had limited knowledge and did not even know he had the ability to infiltrate through changing his face, which explained why there were no preventive measures.

Han Xiao instantaneously thought of the gap between the deployment layout of the Germinal Organization and was now sure that it was a trap.

Although he had many questions, since Cyberlos had mentioned the matter, Han Xiao knew what he meant. Han Xiao suppressed his killing intent and said in a low voice, “Tell me everything you know. I will consider letting you live.”

Feeling the cold and piercing murderous intent, Cyberlos’ back was soaked in cold sweat. He forced himself to calm down and said, “This is all the prediction of Destiny’s Child.”

Destiny’s Child? Han Xiao frowned. He had never heard of such a person in the Germinal Organization.

“Destiny’s Child’s ability might be foreseeing the future; it might also be deciding the future. We are unsure as well. He said you will walk into the trap yourself…” Cyberlos described everything from the beginning—Destiny’s Child’s ability, the prediction about Han Xiao, the leader’s plans, and other things. For the sake of his own life, he poured out everything he knew.

There is someone like that hidden in the Germinal Organization? Han Xiao was shocked. There was no information about this person in his previous life. It seemed like this was the Germinal Organization’s deepest secret. If Destiny’s Child could influence the future, did that mean his thought of saving Aurora could have been forced upon him?

Suddenly, he felt a strong need to kill Destiny’s Child.

The mind was one’s palace—anyone would be extremely furious if it was invaded.

Many abilities could influence the mind—psychic, magic, Esper—and there were even similar natural phenomenon in the universe. The Psychic Current, for one, was made up of thoughts, emitting waves that affected the mind, travelling in the universe unseen, causing any life form that passes by to hear ‘voices’ from the Psychic Current and thus get influenced.

However, after some pondering, Han Xiao felt this guess was way too unbelievable because he already had thought about saving Aurora when he first saw Hila more than one year ago, and he had analyzed the reasons for doing so, which were all beneficial to himself. It did not feel like he was influenced to do it at all; furthermore, saving Aurora was not the only motive he had for infiltrating the Germinal Organization headquarters.

There had to be limitations to Destiny’s Child’s abilities, or at least it had a limited effect on him. However, he did come to Germinal Organization headquarters alone as predicted, and that had him relieved and worried at the same time.

He finally understood how dreadful it was to have an enemy that might be able to predict the future. Suddenly, he felt the leader’s pain.

I have made the Germinal Organization suffer so much; the leader probably wants to skin me alive.

From what Cyberlos had said, Han Xiao knew that there was a large number of Executive Officers and troops hidden in the headquarters at the moment, all waiting to ambush him, and as soon as anything happened, a siege could be formed any time. He was in a rather dire situation.

However, Han Xiao also noticed the huge advantage that he had, which was that the leader only knew he would come, not when he would come or what was his goal.

Seems like I still have the upper hand, but I can’t drag this any longer. It’ll be best to complete the goal and leave immediately.

If he could complete the mission and leave without raising the alarm, it would be the best result.

Also, he made a mental note of Destiny’s Child.

Chapter 239 - Nerve Connection (2)

The central computer room was located at the core area of the headquarters. It stored a large amount of confidential information. Cyberlos had the necessary authority, so he turned off the defense measures and brought Han Xiao into the central computer room.

Rows of large hard drives were placed neatly like a bookshelf. Indicator lights flashed continuously, and at the end of the central computer room was the monitor and the controls. The room was simpler than the underground central computer room of Stardragon Division 13.

Cyberlos turned on the central computer, keyed in the password, then identified his fingerprint and scanned his retinas. There was actually a secret alarm measure in this step, where one set of passwords would activate the alarm in the event that a high-ranked official was threatened. However, Cyberlos did not plan to do such thing for the sake of his own safety.

He believed that Han Xiao could kill him easily before being caught, and he did not want to take the risk.

Thus, this alarm measure was useless to him.

Cyberlos was lawless and extremely daring when doing experiments, but when something concerned his life, he was a total coward.

“What do you want to see?” Cyberlos asked.

“Full map of the headquarters,” Han Xiao said.

Cyberlos controlled the computer, and the construction map of the headquarters showed up on the screen.

Han Xiao took out Viper’s helmet from his equipment bag, took a photo of the map, and stored it into the database to create a 3D model automatically. At the same time, he was also memorizing the map, quickly locating where Aurora was imprisoned.

Thinking about the Destiny’s Child mentioned earlier, Han Xiao was a little tempted to see what that was about, but Cyberlos said that only the leader had the authority to open the gate toward the Destiny’s Child. Thus, Han Xiao had to let go of that idea.

“Open your confidential intelligence database,” Han Xiao said.

Cyberlos did as he was told. The secrets were laid out right in front of Han Xiao.

Gathering this intelligence was the other reason he had come to the Germinal Organization headquarters. He had changed the original storyline, so it was only natural that there would be secrets that he did not know. Furthermore, he had just been a player in his previous life, so he did not have information on things like experiment stats, deployment plans, and such.

Han Xiao saw the exoskeleton structure of the super soldiers, it did indeed use the technology from the light mechanical arm he once had left behind, they were basically just using his leftovers.

Han Xiao recorded all the intelligence, especially the detailed information regarding the Hand of Death system. Giving all this to the Six Nations could create incomparable advantages for them and eliminate the Germinal Organization’s last resort. The more useful the intel he contributed, the more progress he would made in his mission.

That was not all.

The Six Nations and the Germinal Organization both had a part of the class advancement knowledge—opportunities like this did not come very often.

His target was indeed the class advancement knowledge!

Han Xiao always like to maximize his benefits. Saving Aurora was not his only goal; intel and class advancement knowledge were, too.

“Open the knowledge database,” Han Xiao said.

Class advancement knowledge of Pugilist, Esper, and Mechanic showed up on the screen. Han Xiao let out a long exhale upon seeing that class knowledge. He was excited deep down—he could finally gain new class advancement knowledge after so many months.

The Mechanic class advancement knowledge the Germinal Organization had was [Nerves Connection] of the ‘control’ branch.

_____________________

Mechanic class advancement knowledge detected: [Nerves Connection].

Spend 2 potential points to learn?

_____________________

“Confirm.”

_____________________

Learning in progress. Do not cancel.

5%…. 43%… 78%…

Successfully learned! You have learned [Nerves Connection]!

_____________________

Han Xiao closed his eyes and felt the new knowledge appeared in his mind.

Like the name suggested, [Nerves Connection] was an important technology related to biological machinery. By reading the nerve signal from a life form, machinery could be controlled with one’s mind, increasing the reaction speed several levels. Having new advanced class knowledge meant that the number of possible knowledge combinations increased, and he could fuse many more blueprints. It was a direct benefit to him.

Finally, I have the second class advancement knowledge after the one from Stardragon about a year ago.

Han Xiao did not stop there. He also recorded the class advancement knowledges for Pugilist and Esper. Although he could not use them, he could sell them to the players in the future and profit a lot from it.

Controlling the source would give him a monopoly over the technology and attract the players. Furthermore, these were the core abilities for the players, so selling them would not be a problem.

When the level of the players was higher, they would start to need class advancement knowledge, and when they realized that they could buy from Han Xiao…

Han Xiao started to worry if he could take that level of popularity.

Intel and knowledge, it was a lot of profit.

Cyberlos was watching from the side all the time. Suddenly, he felt a chill and asked while shivering, “You… are you an Inhuman?”

Through their research, the organizations had realized that the Inhuman had the ability to learn things very quickly, and Han Xiao’s actions earlier were a little suspicious, so Cyberlos suddenly thought of this possibility.

Han Xiao had an evil idea. He laughed and misleadingly said, “What do you think?”

Cyberlos suddenly felt a chill around his hands and feet.

The arch enemy of the organization was an undead Inhuman, then what was the point of opposing him?

Sh*t!

What the hell!

Damn it!

“But… you appeared much earlier than the Inhumans…” Before Cyberlos finished his sentence, he became extremely shocked and looked at Han Xiao as if he was looking at a ghost.

Is Zero actually the first Inhuman‽ Was the Inhuman phenomenon actually spread by Zero and his ability‽

Not bothering about Cyberlos, whose thoughts diverged further and further from the truth, Han Xiao checked the intelligence and made sure it was correct before asking, “Is there a self-destruction program in your central computer?”

“Who would be so stupid to set a self-destruction function in the headquarters? That’s crazy…” Cyberlos wiped away his sweat.

Viper completed the 3D map at that moment, so everything was ready. Han Xiao pulled Cyberlos up and yelled, “Turn off all the defense measures of area A-4. Freeze all the surveillance cameras.”

Cyberlos did as he was told hastily, then it occurred to him… Area A-4, isn’t that where the little girl with the vital power ability is imprisoned?

“What do you want to do?”

“I want that little girl. Let’s go.” Han Xiao left the central computer room while pushing Cyberlos.

Cyberlos was stunned. He could understand why Han Xiao wanted the intel, but Aurora was the organization’s top secret. Han Xiao had not looked into details of the intelligence he just received, so it was like he knew it all along.

Was the reason that Han Xiao chose him to be the hostage also because he knew that he would cooperate?

Cyberlos felt a chill up his spine.

The feeling of being completely exposed was a fear that deeply penetrated into his bones, devouring his mind.

…

Cyberlos was very good cover. They came to area A-4 without any problem. After walking past the twisted corridors, they finally came to the tunnel toward the prison Aurora was in. The defense measures had already been turned off.

The duo arrived at the gate, and the guards stopped them.

“Open the gate.” Cyberlos tried to be as calm as possible.

“Cyberlos, I didn’t receive any authorization,” the guards said with confusion.

“Just the routine blood draw.”

“But someone is already drawing the blood…” the guards said hesitantly. However, when they saw that Cyberlos was losing his patience, they still opened the gate.

Walking into the room, Han Xiao finally saw Aurora. She was petite and skinny. Her skin was the kind of pale that had not been under the sun for years. She was locked in the room with glass walls, like an animal in a zoo.

The little girl was cowering in the corner and hugging her knees. She looked at the people in white coats outside with fear. These people were pushing a small trolley full of tools and preparing for the blood draw.

Aurora vividly remembered the pain of the blood draw, and it was going to happen again today. She bit her lips and hoped that the waiting could last forever. However, she knew that these people would enter the room sooner or later and insert a needle into her blood vessels and bones while she helplessly watched her life force turn into a red torrent and leave her body in a tube.

Aurora had fantasized that her older sister would save her from this fate, but she knew that was too much to ask. She did not want her sister to be in danger just to save her, so all she could do was look happy and optimistic in front of Hila—only then would Hila not feel even worse and feel less stressed.

At this time, she saw the gate open once again. Two people walked in. Then she could only see a few white lights flashing before she saw the people in white coat and the guards fall onto the floor with blood spurting out from their bodies.

Aurora blinked with confusion. She stared blankly as the glass wall that stood between her and freedom was opened easily.

A ferocious looking weird uncle walked in and reached out toward her.

“I’m here to save you, follow me.”

Aurora froze in place. She had fantasized and dreamed of this moment, but when freedom finally came, she was lost.

Chapter 240 - Shock

Aurora looked at the hands that reached out for her before raising her head to look into Han Xiao’s eyes.

“Why are you here to save me?” she asked timidly.

Han Xiao pondered and said, “You can take it as I’m just a warm-hearted person.”

“Who are you?” Aurora turned her head sideways.

“You can call me Zero,” Han Xiao said casually.

Aurora’s wet and large eyes were filled with surprise. “So, you’re Uncle Zero.”

Han Xiao squinted his eyes. Being called uncle made him felt like he was abducting a little girl.

Cyberlos hesitated before speaking up. “She went through brainwashing. You should take note of that if you want to save her.”

Brainwash?

He knew about this rumor, but Aurora’s expression did not look like she was brainwashed. Han Xiao’s eyes twinkled, and he said, “Tell me more.”

“We have many methods of brainwash,” Cyberlos said softly, 'such as the destructive one that will recreate one’s personality or the gentle one that twists their thoughts. We have also been researching on chips recently… although there has yet to be any progress.”

“Which method was used on me?” Han Xiao said with interest.

Cyberlos was immediately covered in cold sweat. He braced himself and said, “I saw your documents before. When we found you, you were already severely injured, delirious, and had clear signs of memory loss. When you became a test subject, because of the importance of your brain and the fact that you were already in such a state, we used the gentle brainwashing method.”

This was within Han Xiao’s expectations. Back then, he had been tormented for quite some time by conflicting images and sounds that could be nullified if his Intelligence was just higher than ten. He figured that it was not any sort of destructive method. Anyway, it was in the past, and Han Xiao did not particularly care about it. “What about her?”

“Her elder sister is a strong Executive Officer. Her ability is very unique—she holds a special position and has contributed a lot to the organization. Because of that, Aurora’s brainwash was an even more gentle method. Her personality and mind remained unchanged. However, if she hears a set of specific words, her brainwashed personality will take over, and she will follow orders strictly,” Cyberlos said.

Han Xiao understood roughly. Although Aurora was important, there would not be any accidents since she was completely under control. Her sister, Hila, was a sharp blade, so they left Aurora’s personality unchanged as a way to order Hila. Getting rid of the brainwashed personality would not be a problem; since Aurora was just a weak little girl, Han Xiao just had to knock her unconscious if her brainwashed personality was awakened.

At that moment, Han Xiao realized something. “Wait a minute, how do you know me?”

“My elder sister told me about your story.”

That’s weird, what did Hila mention me for? Han Xiao thought. This little girl seemed to be rather friendly toward him, which was really weird since they should be enemies. He wondered what Hila had told her.

Aurora stood up wobbly, put her hand in Han Xiao’s hand, and said, “Thank you for saving me. Please bring me away.”

Han Xiao was interested. “Aren’t you afraid that I will use you like the Germinal Organization?”

“My older sister said, no matter how dangerous the future is, it will be better than now.” Aurora raised her head. Her innocent face was filled with seriousness.

Seeing that Aurora was so understanding, Han Xiao was relieved. His understanding of Aurora was only limited to the rumors in his previous life. There had been a side mission to investigate the source of the drug that Aurora was made into, and through that, the players came to know about Aurora.

Therefore, he did not know Aurora’s personality, and he did not expect things to go so smoothly.

There would be plenty of opportunities to improve their relationship later on, and now was obviously not a good place and time.

The surveillance cameras of this area were frozen, and it would be found out sooner or later. Thus, time was scarce.

Han Xiao moved the bodies in, took off the white coat and mask from one of them, and gave them to Aurora for disguise. Aurora followed his instructions.

Han Xiao only felt how truly skinny Aurora was when he touched her—it was pitiful. However, Han Xiao did not have any needless emotions. After he disguised her, he turned and yelled at Cyberlos, “Bring us to the underground tunnel, and I promise not to kill you once we’re safe. The Six Nations likes people with your abilities—you should still be able to receive funding for your research over there.”

The escape route was definitely not going to be the main gate now that Aurora was with them. The underground headquarters were connected to many underground tunnels. The tunnels were railway tracks that transported resources and people, and they spread out like a spider’s web.

The plan was to take Cyberlos as a hostage, use his authority, and leave the headquarters from the underground tunnel, hopefully with Cyberlos cooperating willingly. That was why Han Xiao gave him such a promise.

Although Cyberlos did not want to leave the research that he had in the Germinal Organization behind, he also did not want to die. So, Han Xiao’s solution was acceptable, and he even felt relieved.

The Germinal Organization was a sinking ship—to be able to change a side at this time might be a better choice.

As they were going to head out, Han Xiao suddenly stopped. He realized that the small body size of Aurora would attract too much attention even with a disguise. He thought for a moment and took out an empty single shoulder equipment bag. “Get in.”

Aurora did as she was told and climbed into the bag.

As the zip closed, her vision became dark. She could only feel herself being lifted and moved.

“Sister…” Aurora cowered in the bag, closed her hands in front of her chest, and prayed.

…

The three of them quickly passed various levels and headed toward the underground tunnel.

At the same time, the leader, who was listening to the battlefield analysis, suddenly took out his phone.

“The central computer was browsed by Cyberlos. A lot of confidential information was gone through…” The leader narrowed his eyes and raised suspicion. He said to the assistant, “Find Cyberlos’ location and show the surveillance camera footage on my laptop.”

Then, the leader operated his laptop and entered the central computer system through a backdoor command. He looked at the browsing history and immediately noticed that Cyberlos had turned off all the defensive measures. The surveillance camera footage could be seen, too. Cyberlos had entered the central computer room with another person.

The leader’s eyes became sharp and cold. He was immediately able to deduct that Cyberlos was under duress, and this stranger was most likely Zero. He did not step into his traps and snuck in another way.

“Well… don’t think about leaving now that you’re here.” The leader sent out orders immediately. “Send all the nearby Executive Officers to surround Area C-11 and the entrances of underground tunnels 3 to 11. Do it secretly and don’t raise any attention.”

The leader did not turn on the alarm in the headquarters. He wanted to secretly trap Zero to make sure he was dead.

At a lounge in the underground headquarters, a group of Executive Officers played poker out of boredom.

“It’s so damn boring to standby every day. How I wish to go to the battlefield,” someone lamented.

“What’s good about the battlefield? There’s danger everywhere. With these Inhumans and super soldiers, there’s no need for us to put our lives at stake,” someone sneered.

“Super soldiers are a group of monsters that are even more disgusting than the Inhumans. They’re a bunch of half-completed trash,” someone derided. The normal superhumans looked down on those mass-produced soldiers.

At the side, Hila sat on the sofa with an indifferent expression and rested with closed eyes. Her coldness stopped people from approaching, and she did not approach anyone either; she was not part of the lively atmosphere.

All of a sudden, Hila opened her eyes and turned her head in a specific direction. The coldness on her face was gone, replaced by shock and rage in her eyes.

The Life Mark that she had left on Aurora moved!

These Executive Officer suddenly received orders from their superiors, and before it was finished, they heard a loud blast. As they looked up, they saw that the gate was shattered. Hila had already turned into a high-speed, dark-red shadow and disappeared at the end of the corridor.

Chapter 241 - Accident?

“Something’s wrong.”

As they were heading toward the gate of the underground tunnel, Han Xiao frowned, looked around, and said, “The atmosphere doesn’t feel right. There are fewer people along the way. I have a sense for danger. Did you trigger the alarm?”

As he finished speaking, Han Xiao looked at Cyberlos with a piercing look in his eyes.

Cyberlos was shocked and denied it immediately. “No, I definitely didn’t do it. Maybe the leader noticed something abnormal. I don’t have as much authorization as the leader, so him noticing my browsing history really has nothing to do with me.”

Han Xiao tightened his grip on the equipment bag and said in a low voice, “Let’s go quickly.”

At this time, five levels higher, the leader was heading to this direction with a laptop in his hand. The surveillance camera feedback was displayed on the screen. He laughed coldly and said, “So, you have started to suspect it. By the time you reach the underground tunnel, the ambush that I set up will be completed as well. This time, don’t even think about escaping.”

The leader did not think that Han Xiao would dare to infiltrate alone. He even felt that the number of ambushes that he had prepared was overkill. In his mind, Han Xiao’s strength was the same as back in the Dark Crow Valley, similar to the level of Pan Kuang, and there were more than fifty Executive Officers that were stronger than Pan Kuang in the headquarters right now.

There was nowhere to escape.

The last resort of the siege was the leader himself. He hardly met anyone that could match up to his strength. Even the legendary hero Bennett was at most at the same level as he was. The leader had fought Bennett a few decades ago—they were on par.

The leader was also someone who stood at the top of the Planet Aquamarine—only then could he build and support such a big organization.

Seeing that Han Xiao was like an insect that had sunk deeper and deeper into the spider web, the leader seemed to have seen the light of success. However, the next moment, he saw from the surveillance camera a flash of dark red light shooting straight toward Han Xiao.

Hila had almost gone haywire; her red eyes were staring straight at Han Xiao with rage. It was not because she recognized Han Xiao—it was because she felt the Life Mark on Aurora. Her younger sister was hidden and cowered in the equipment bag that this person was carrying.

Seeing this, there was no way Hila could hold back anymore. Her abilities activated in an instant. Her maroon long hair was like snakes, entangled in gray and red smoke that formed an arrow-like shape. Her murderous intent was almost tangible.

“Put her down!”

Her seeing a stranger taking her younger sister away in a bag was like a parent seeing the child being carried away by a stranger; there was no way to stay calm in such a situation. Rage consumed her senses, and she could not think rationally anymore. Furthermore, her younger sister was very special to her; Aurora was almost like her spiritual sustenance, and that made things even worse.

This woman got stronger again. Han Xiao was shocked. He hastily slid to the side and dodged this cone-shaped dark red air arrow by a few centimeters. The air arrow shot through the metal wall. Han Xiao was surprised. Hila’s superhuman abilities could inflict both physical and psychological damage, and this was already so strong despite only being the physical damage. This meant that the main psychological damage would only be stronger. It was probably because she was attacking in a rage state—the damage enhancement could almost match up to his [Flaming Will]

Despite being rather tanky, Han Xiao was not interested in getting hit. He moved to the side and dodged again. With a thought in his mind, Han Xiao destroyed two surveillance cameras with two shots and yelled, “Hila, I’m here to save your younger sister. You’re attacking the wrong person, you stupid woman…”

Before he finished, Hila already crashed toward him and reached out to grab the bag without listening to anything he said. Being speechless, Han Xiao let go of the bag, carried his other equipment bag, activated Electromagnetic Hover-boots and Mini Maneuvering Equipment, then jumped up to the rooftop.

Hila hurriedly placed the bag on the floor, opened the zip, and looked Aurora in her eyes.

“Sister!” Aurora’s voice was filled with surprise.

“Are you ok?” Hila immediately checked over Aurora’s body. Seeing that she was not hurt, Hila was relieved. Then she remembered there was still an enemy present, he stood up in a flash and stood in front of Aurora, her face alert and looking like she was ready to fight any time.

“Sis, you misunderstood.” Aurora struggled to get her head out of the bag and yelled, “That uncle is here to save me.”

“I don’t know him at all.” Hila was still cautious.

“He said he’s uncle Zero.”

Hila was stunned. She could not believe it.

Zero‽

“It’s me.” Han Xiao did not hide anymore. The alarms all across the bases were ringing. He knew that he was exposed. When Hila suddenly appeared, he already knew that things were not pleasant. With how much Hila cared for Aurora, she would definitely go all out straight away.

“How can it be you?” Hila could not believe it. The dark red smoke moved with her emotions.

Why did Zero come to save Aurora? There should be no connection between them.She could not figure out Han Xiao’s motive at all. Furthermore, they should be enemies. Why was the target Aurora? Does he want to threaten me like the Germinal Organization?

With all the guesses in her mind, Hila could not trust Han Xiao subconsciously. No matter what, Hila could not let go of Han Xiao stealing Aurora away secretly.

“I will explain in the future. Your sister is already saved. The truth is right in front of you, and regardless of whether you believe it or not, I’m here to help.”

“You’re now an enemy that the organization is going after.” Hila’s expression was indifferent. Her power gathered in her hands, but she did not engage.

“Do you want your younger sister to continue being controlled by the organization? Right now is the best chance to escape,” Han Xiao said in a low voice. His motive of saving Aurora was for Hila, and Hila was right in front of him now. Naturally, he would not let the chance slip by.

The alarm was ringing loudly. Hila was hesitating despite the fact that she hardly ever hesitated at all. She really wanted to just take Aurora and escape like this, but the alarm in the base was already triggered. She knew the power gathered in the headquarter more than Han Xiao did; there was too little chance to escape, and she did not want Aurora to take the risk.

If only I didn’t attack just now… This thought of regret appeared and disappeared within an instant, but if she had to choose again, she would still attack without hesitation.

At this moment, Aurora pulled on Hila’s shirt.

“Sis, bring me away.”

Hila’s expression tightened. She looked down and saw Aurora’s hopeful face. The words of rejection were stuck in her throat.

How can she put her younger sister back in a situation worse than death?

Thinking of the things that Aurora went through all this time, Hila felt like her heart was being squeezed and rubbed.

At least the most difficult part was already completed. Her younger sister had already left that prison cell, and this was what she had been dreaming of.

At this moment, Hila’s became firm. She touched Aurora’s head gently and thought to herself, If it fails, I will die with you.

Hila raised her head, looked at Han Xiao with mixed feelings, and said, “Follow me.”

She had never expected to fight side by side with Han Xiao.

With more help, there was a bigger chance to escape. Zero had snuck in without anyone noticing, so he could not be too weak.

After she said that, Hila put Aurora into the bag and walked toward another direction with big steps. Han Xiao dragged Cyberlos and followed behind.

Since they had already been exposed, they could not go to the underground tunnel anymore. Hila knew the base, so she must have some other way.

Han Xiao was quite sure that a bloody fight was unavoidable. Luckily, he was prepared in the case that the infiltration failed although he did not intend to allow that to happen.

What he did not know was, although it seemed like Hila had exposed him, she had actually made him dodge the trap indirectly.

…

“Moron! Who told her to engage!” The leader was furious. Han Xiao changed his route, so his plan was disrupted. Han Xiao was now more cautious, and the leader’s siege had not yet fully formed.

As the cameras were destroyed, the leader did not see the conversation between Han Xiao and Hila. He merely thought that they had already started fighting.

“All Executive Officers and soldiers, full engagement. I want Zero to die here,” the leader yelled through the walkie talkie.

At the same time, the players in the headquarters received an urgent mission.

_____________________

[Intercept Zero]: Intercept Zero before he escapes the headquarters.

Mission reward: 200,000 experience, Level20 Dungeon Crystal – [The Germinal Organization Base Escape Warfare]

_____________________

200,000 experience and a Dungeon Crystal‽

The players were extremely motivated.

Chapter 242 - The Unmatched Assassin (1)

Boom boom boom!

The high caliber Berserk Eagles shot hot flames out of the muzzles. The cameras on the way were destroyed one after another. Han Xiao was rapidly counting and calculating. Thirty-eight seconds had passed after the alarm rang. They were moving very fast and had already deviated from their original path, so the enemies should appear soon.

The team composition now was two burdens and two who could fight; it would be too difficult to just rush out recklessly. Han Xiao would not have had a problem on his own, but it was a pain in the ass to protect someone. In his previous life, Han Xiao had never liked missions to protect people as there was not much room to play, and it would definitely fail if he was reckless.

Suddenly, Han Xiao’s eyes twinkled. He looked at Cyberlos hostility.

Now that Hila was here, was there any reason to keep this old man around? They were not going through the underground tunnel, so Cyberlos was of no use anymore.

Cyberlos shivered. “Do—don’t do this. You need my authorization…”

“He’s exposed. His authority is frozen. There’s no point keeping him.” Hila had an indifferent look. Cyberlos was a superior that was in charge of the experiments on her younger sister, so her hatred for him was deep in her bones. She raised her arms and was going to kill Cyberlos.

At this time, a hand grabbed onto her arm. Han Xiao shook his head toward her.

“Don’t kill him. We might need him alive,” Han Xiao said. Then he slapped Cyberlos unconscious. Han Xiao had misled him in many ways, so he could make Cyberlos mislead the leader as well.

Hila swung Hila’s hand away and gave him a stare, but she did not insist on killing Cyberlos.

Han Xiao was not bothered by her attitude. “What’s your plan?”

Hila was not used to Zero being her teammate yet. She kept silent for a while then replied, “I know a hidden path that can help us escape the headquarters, but it is very far, four floors down. We’ll have to break past the interception if we want to go there.”

“Four floors down…” Han Xiao had memorized the map. To go down four floors from here, it would take at least 5 minutes without any interruption, but the enemy would definitely not let them do that.

“Are you sure of this hidden path?”

“That was originally an abandoned hidden path. I discovered it by accident, so it is very discreet.”

Hila kept it short, but she did not say the exact location.

In fact, she hid the truth. This hidden path was a backup that she had secretly prepared. Although she was controlled by the Germinal Organization, she had never given up and hoped that one day she could save Aurora. However, she could not get Aurora out of that prison cell, so she did not take any action. She had never expected that the most difficult part would be completed by Han Xiao. Thus, the hidden path was could finally be of use.

These things happened out of nowhere; she truly did not expect someone to save her younger sister.

Hila looked at Han Xiao discreetly, wanting to say something, but in the end, she did not.

There was actually a safer way with more than eighty percent chance of bringing her younger sister away, but that would put Han Xiao in a very dangerous situation. She felt Han Xiao would most likely not agree, so she did not say it and only planned in her head.

At this time, footsteps appeared at the corner up ahead—a team of Germinal Organization had shown up to intercept them.

Just as Hila raised her hand and was going to attack, Han Xiao did it before her. The two guns fired rapidly. High caliber bullets exploded on these soldiers’ chests, and flesh and broken bones sprayed all over the place. One bullet from him was as strong as a grenade explosion for normal soldiers.

After killing a group of these soldiers, the Trial Points for the class advancement mission on the interface did not increase—only enemies that were strong enough gave Trial Points. However, since the weak ones were already here, the stronger ones would not be far.

As expected, strong presences entered his detectable range one more one and approached very quickly.

“You don’t attack; protect your younger sister. I will deal with the enemies,” Han Xiao said.

Hila frowned and said worriedly, “Can you? Even I don’t have confidence in beating these Executive Officers…”

“Shut up and watch. If you didn’t attack, I would’ve already escaped.” Han Xiao was not in the mood to explain to her at all.

Hila’s expression froze. She admitted to being at fault, so she kept her head down and led the way in front.

The leader was heading toward them. The cameras were destroyed, so the surveillance images became black one after another. He could only know the situation through the report from his headphones.

Executive Officers, super soldiers, and Inhuman teams are now heading that way to surround him, and there’s also Hila stalling Zero. There’s no chance for him to escape, the leader thought.

This time, a voice of an Executive Officer came out of the headphones, filled with murderous intent. “I have met the target, engaging!”

The leader was excited. He yelled, “No need to catch him alive, kill him right away!”

However, the next moment, high pitched noise exploded from the headphone that hurt the leader’s eardrums.

Screams came out of the headphones; it was from the Executive Officer that was just reporting the situation.

The leader was stunned. It’s been less than ten seconds. That Executive Officer was not weaker than Pan Kuang at all. What accident happened?

He felt an unpleasant intuition.

…

Eight seconds earlier…

A large and muscular male executive officer ran out of the corner and charged toward Han Xiao with a ferocious expression. Loud thuds could be heard from the floor, and the combat suit was almost breaking from his muscles.

“Careful, he’s an executive officer. Strength enhancing superhuman ability, you…” Hila warned hastily as a thick cloud gathered in her hand. As soon as Han Xiao was going to be defeated, she was going to back up immediately.

Han Xiao struck before Hila finished her sentence. With a swing of a hand, two Sonic Bombs flew out. The high-pitch noise gave the male executive officer a shock and slowed down his action for an instant. All Han Xiao needed was this instant. Activating both the Mini Maneuvering Equipment and the Electromagnetic Hover-boots, he approached the enemy like a ghost.

[Overload]! [Surging Mechanical Force]! [Lethal Critical Hits}!

All the damage enhancing active abilities were activated one after another. Although there was no [Flaming Will], the power was still horrifying.

With a spin of both his palms, a blue light shone from the Thermo-Electrical Incisor Gloves and pressed onto the male executive officer’s chest, and the Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades penetrated into his body behind his back like a blossoming lotus.

Combo, Flaming Lotus Slash!

This was the fighting style of Mechanical Pugilists, to combo different melee machinery into one’s own ability. Of course, the name had been decided casually, but it did indeed feel different once it had a name.

Stunning damage numbers appeared. The male executive officer screamed in agony and fought back with all he had. He landed a few punches on Han Xiao’s Magnetically-Controlled Retractable Armor.

Han Xiao’s palms burnt right through the enemy’s chest as the Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades sliced his throat continuously. The health bar of this large and muscular executive officer was thus emptied.

LV 44, 120 Strength… not bad. Sadly, the health bar is just ordinary.

Han Xiao looked at his interface. He could kill enemies at this level this quickly even without Viper.

Although he was a Mechanic, which was not strong in the early stages, he had many abilities, his level was high, his equipment was good, and his skills were at max level. The strength of someone varied even with the same level, like normal monsters and elite monsters. Han Xiao was at BOSS level among LV 60s, so there was an even greater difference between him and people with a lower level.

_____________________

You received 1 Trial Point.

[The Ultimate Trial]: Progress 1/2000

_____________________

Only one point for someone at level 40 something‽ Han Xiao was speechless. He did not even know if there were two hundred executive officers at this level in the Germinal Organization. It would be awkward if there were not enough to kill…

On the other side, Hila was lowering her stiffed hand. This executive officer had been killed instantly before she had even finished her sentence—there was completely no need for her help.

Hila was completely stunned. Even she did not have the confidence to do it so fast.

How is Zero this strong? Is this a fake‽

…

At the same time, the leader was stunned by this problem, too. He realized he had misinterpreted Han Xiao’s strength.

One mistake could affect the entire plan. Luckily, the leader knew that Zero could not be judged with common sense after many failures, so he had overestimated Zero’s ability as much as he could, and many people were waiting in ambush. However, seeing what was happening now, not only was it not a waste, but there might not even be enough!

Since his subordinates could not win, he would kill Zero himself.

“Stop him, wait for me!” the leader said coldly.

In less than a year, there was no way Zero’s strength could have reached his level.

He was someone who stood at the top of Planet Aquamarine!

If Han Xiao knew what the leader was thinking of, he definitely would have laughed.

What a coincidence, I am, too.

Chapter 243 - The Unmatched Assassin (2)

The group followed the twists and turns of a winding corridor to get downstairs. The elevator exit was likely blocked by people, so they went with the emergency staircase.

The enemies who tried to block their path came in from all directions. Han Xiao went all out and used everything from his melee skills to sniping to continuous shooting. All but Viper, which was his trump card, was thrown out, and he fought like a true assassin, leaving behind a trail of corpses.

There were four types of enemies: newbie troops, superhumans, Germinal directors, and players. Only the directors were capable of slowing him down, while the rest, players especially, were taken care of in mere seconds.

The players rushed up in waves while kicking and screaming only to disintegrate into light particles the next second. Han Xiao figured that if it continued for a bit longer, he could probably use up all of the players’ weekly resurrection, which could help cure their gaming addiction and have them go complete their homework instead.

As the players were not much of a threat to him at all, Han Xiao did not want to bother with talking sense into them. At this point, players could not change sides yet anyway.

Soon enough, the players became more hesitant and stopped rushing in masses with their previous fervor.

Although players did not fear death, they did not want to throw away their lives for no reason. They realized that the mission reward was only something they can covet but could not even come close to touching. With their current levels, trying to stop this monster of a character was pure fantasy.

This kind of feeling when the reward was so close yet so far was akin to constipation, and continuing to rush in would only cause more experience to be lost. There was just no point.

In an instant, the players started to back off. Who cares about some required mission? What’s so amazing about forcing the tasks? Do you think I care about you that much?

Not only that, but when attacked, the interface showed a constant drop in reputation points with the NPC. However, no one really minded this, as no one knew him anyway.

Electrolux swallowed his saliva to calm his nerves. He recognized Han Xiao as the person who gave him the mission, but he never would have thought that he was an enemy, let alone someone as insanely overpowered as this. For a while now, Electrolux had been witnessing one Germinal director after another, all with ‘Fatally Dangerous’ tags on them, rushing up to the also ‘Fatally Dangerous’ Han Xiao, only to be smacked all over the place like wet cabbage. Electrolux was so scared that he was about to suffer liver problems just from watching.

Bullsh*t. Why do they even have the same tag? This is all a scam!

Even more fatal than ‘Fatally Dangerous?’ Why not just say that you’re here to harvest lives?

The players could not stop lamenting at the unfairness of it all.

…

The Executive Officers in the headquarters were by no means weak, but it was a shame that they are pitted against Han Xiao. Unless they were at least LV 50, there was not even a tiny bit of chance that they could hurt him.

Hila did not even need to help a single time along the way, so she focused on protecting Aurora. Han Xiao was simply unstoppable. However, Hila realized that the Germinal forces did not know about her betrayal. Instead, some were even shouting at her for help against this monster of an enemy.

The cameras along the way were blown up by Han Xiao, and the Germinal leader did not know that Han Xiao and Hila had teamed up. Hila realized that this was a huge advantage!

As Hila looked at Han Xiao’s figure amid the intense battle, she thought, Could it be that this was all part of his plan? Did he not have me help for this purpose?

Bang!

… and another director fell beside his feet. Han Xiao wiped away the blood on his face and could finally take in a deep breath.

He was not exactly unscathed. Some directors had weird powers that could threaten him, but both his defense and HP were very high, so the damage was hardly worth mentioning. The problem was his energy and stamina, which had both decreased significantly. However, he still did not think that it was necessary for him to use Viper.

The class advancement mission had reached 27 points, and Han Xiao found that killing stronger opponents had a chance to award him with 2 to 3 points at once.

“Only the last two levels left,” said Han Xiao.

“Be careful. These are only the vanguard. The main force has yet to arrive.”

Hila’s face was tense as she knew how much manpower the leader had allocated to the headquarters. Even if Han Xiao did far exceed her expectations with his combat strength, he could not possibly take on a whole army.

Hila was still considered one of the ambushing members, and her earpiece was still connected. However, there was not much use as the enemies’ number was too great, and she could not discern any useful information from the overlapping coms transmissions.

They had to be smart if they were to escape from this place.

In that moment, Hila thought of a plan that would basically guarantee her and her sister’s escape but would put Han Xiao in significant danger. She pursed her lips together finally decided before speaking out. “I have an idea.”

Han Xiao immediately replied. “Split up, and I will be the bait.”

Hila’s eyes were then wide open, and her face was full of shock. “How did you know?”

“I guessed,” Han Xiao said nonchalantly. From the moment Hila appeared, he had already started coming up with this vague plan, which was why he focused on destroying all the cameras. It was to ensure that Hila was not considered a traitor—at least not yet—in the eyes of Germinal.

Hila could just use her position as a high-level director to escape easily, while Han Xiao could pull all the attention elsewhere.

However, this would also mean that Han Xiao would be facing all the danger by himself. Hila had never thought that Han Xiao would suggest this idea himself.

“Splitting up is a good idea. Tell me the where the secret passage is, and I will catch up with you after I have diverted their attention.”

Hila was shocked.

They had no reason to trust each other, yet Han Xiao was giving the choice to her. She could not understand where his trust came from.

Is he not afraid that I will give him the false directions? However, this dark thought started to take from inside her mind and would not go away.

Give him the wrong location, let him be cornered by Germinal and buy even more time.

It was as if this voice in her mind was packed with magic, constantly causing her to waver.

For Aurora, I will do everything it takes to keep her out of harm’s way.

Hila looked down, touched Aurora’s face through the bag, and felt the slight tremor from her sister’s petite body. She steeled her resolve once again.

“Room H-418. The fourth brick on the floor from the left is the secret passage’s entrance.”

“Got it.” Han Xiao laughed, seemingly not doubting her words at all as he gently patted the bag with Aurora. “Go.”

Hila took one last look Han Xiao as she tried to etch his image into her memories before she turned and left with hurried strides, afraid of wasting even a single second.

One side of Han Xiao’s mouth perked up, and he went the other direction. He took out multiple bombs of different shapes and sizes out of his tool bag and stuck them onto the walls along the way.

Since he was trying to get attention, he might as well made it big.

Boom!

Sounds of explosions came one after another, followed by heat waves that spread out all over the place.

The whole headquarters were shaking. Although the actual damage was not much because of the previous work, the tremors could still be felt throughout. Even without the security cameras, one could tell where Han Xiao was just by following the explosions.

A large number of troops changed course and were heading straight for him.

“Just wait for me to kill you myself.”

The leader was shuddering all over out of rage as he made his way toward Han Xiao.

…

Han Xiao was humming to a tune, and despite knowing there were an army of Germinal troops closing in on him, he acted without any sense of worry nor care because he knew that they were walking right into his trap.

After turning a corner, he saw that the path ahead was jam-packed with soldiers. All superhumans with top equipment. With at least twenty of them, they acted like a wall that blocked Han Xiao’s way.

The one at the front stood out larger than the rest, with every single part of his body aside from the face looking like it was made of metal. This was test subject No. 1.

“Zero, do you still remember me?” No. 1 said through gritted teeth, his tone full of hatred. “You killed me.

“I became this monster, all to get the power to crush you like a gnat!

“I will break your limbs just like you did to me!”

No. 1 roared and pushed with his legs. Power burst forth from the hydraulic press on his exoskeleton, and the ground beneath him shook. No. 1 shot forward like a cannonball, flying straight for Han Xiao’s head with his hulking body.

The murderous gaze in No. 1’s eyes also contained excitement. He could not wait to exact vengeance to his rival.

At the last moment, Han Xiao turned and side-stepped the attack. He then reached out, grabbed No. 1’s exoskeleton, picked him off the ground, and started swaying around him. This was happening so fast that Han Xiao’s actions became a blur as a magnetic force penetrated through No. 1’s defense.

No. 1 instantly lost any feeling in his right arm, and the upper right portion of the exoskeleton started to fall apart until eventually everything broke off with gear parts flying all over the place, looking like a mechanical power that bloomed.

The design of these superhuman soldiers’ exoskeleton suits was extremely similar to his lightweight mechanical arm. Han Xiao had also just learned ‘neural link’ not too long ago, and as a magnetic ring mechanic, he could easily assemble or disassemble such equipment at will.

So, in a way, superhuman soldiers posed the least threat to Han Xiao. He could easily reduce them down to bare naked bodies.

No. 1, who had lost balance, stared at his now non-existent right arm. He could not process what had happened.

When he finally came to his senses, his rage soon returned, and he stood up once again with the other arm swinging.

“It took me everything to get this power. What gave you the right to beat me!”

Seeing this guy screaming like some dying pig, Han Xiao decided to detach his other arm as well. His legs too. Might as well.

As the other superhumans rushed up, Han Xiao danced between them, and limbs could be seen flying all over the place.

Soon, Han Xiao was the only one left standing amid piles of torn limbs and mechanical parts. This scene was scary enough to fit right in to any kind of horror film.

No. 1 was left facing the sky, hatred still clear on his face, still questioning why he lost.

Han Xiao had wanted to ask since a while ago… Who is this dude?

Han Xiao never would have guessed that it was No. 1, as the appearance was much too different. Moreover, to him, No. 1 had died already.

“Have we met?” Han Xiao asked confusingly.

“How could you not know me‽” No. 1 was furious. “I’m your rival!”

What rival? He must be delusional. Who on earth is this metal head?

Han Xiao was baffled, and his ear was starting to hurt from No. 1’s screaming, so he flipped the limbless No. 1 around to face the ground.

It was instantly much quieter.

No. 1’s mouth was plastered onto the ground and could only make muffled noises. He was enraged, yet there was nothing he can do except stare at Han Xiao out of the corner of his eye.

Gradually, the shining halo faded, only to welcome a curtain of black.

Soon after, the sound of security cameras being shot could be heard again.

Chapter 244 - The Other Hidden Card

The explosion sounds came from afar, and Hila’s face tensed up. She knew that Han Xiao had Germinal’s attention for the moment.

A large group of troops were quickly approaching, and when the Executive Officer saw Hila, he frowned. “You’re going in the wrong direction; the enemy is that way.”

“I have a different mission.”

Hila had once again put on her usual ice-cold expression as she waded through the group of soldiers and hurried off in the opposite direction.

They passed over ten groups of Germinal reinforcements along the way, but Hila did not dare stop moving. Thankfully, the most people did was give her a confused glance, and none tried to stop her.

Everything happened so suddenly that Hila’s betrayal had not been exposed. Even though she had a strong will, she was still secretly glad at how Han Xiao had reacted in time and destroyed all the cameras, giving them this advantage.

Only things that had to do with her sister could move her emotions.

The Germinal forces faced no opposition as they rushed to get to the floor that Zero was on. However, no one was to be found. Hila also started to destroy all the cameras along the way to prevent the discovery of the secret passage. When Germinal came to their senses, Aurora would have long disappeared.

After she finished her precautionary measures, Hila opened the door to the passageway and entered while carrying her sister. It was a pitch dark and narrow tunnel, and one could only move forward by crouching.

Once she closed the door, all the noise from outside suddenly disappeared. Silence permeated through every nook and cranny, and the tension also started to drop along with Hila’s previously heightened heartbeat as she calmed down.

Hila could finally take a deep breath and relax.

Now that they were in the tunnel, the escape plan could be considered almost successful.

As her bag was wriggling around, Hila unzipped it and Aurora’s tiny head popped out.

“Have we escaped?” Aurora asked as she looked around curiously.

“Almost,” Hila replied as she lovingly touched Aurora’s head.

Aurora then went back into the bag and hid her face inside, only showing her two big, round eyes, as she suddenly asked, “Where’s Uncle Zero?”

“We will wait for five more minutes. He should… be here soon,” Hila said after a pause.

Aurora cocked her head and asked again, “Sis, Uncle Zero seems really strong, right?”

“He’s alright.” Hila did not want to give a clear answer.

“Sis, why did he come save me?”

“How would I know?” Even as Hila said that, her hand subconsciously reached for the photo in her pocket. She remembered that Zero had once seen this photo back in his training base. It could not be…

But back then, Zero did not even have time to protect himself, so why would he remember this inconsequential thing, even to the extent of carrying out this huge rescue plan? Unless he really did have the capability to see the future…

Hila shook her head; she still could not figure out his motives. All she could feel was fear and respect to this mysterious figure, who single handedly devastated the behemoth that was the Germinal Organization.

To think that he had once been that weak little trainee back in the base but had now risen to such heights in such short amount of time. She could only sigh at this. The world truly worked in mysterious ways.

“Sis, Uncle Zero…”

“Stop mentioning him.” Hila got a little bit annoyed. Although he did save her sister, for some reason, she felt some sort of unexplainable familiarity with this Zero. It was as if she had met him somewhere else after he escaped from the base. However, that should not have been possible.

“But Sis, you usually spoke so highly of him and even praised him whenever you told me stories about him.” Aurora felt wronged.

“Nonsense,” Hila said as she gently pinched Aurora’s cheeks.

At this moment, a third, odd-sounding voice spoke out in the cramped and lightless tunnel.

“Did I hear that right? You were praising me?”

Hila turned in an instant and was just about to send out her powers before a powerful force squeezed her hands and brutally pushed her against the tunnel wall.

With the help of the red lights, she was finally able to identify the owner of the odd voice. It was Han Xiao, who was supposed to be outside fighting still.

“Why are you here‽” Hila was shocked.

Han Xiao let of his hands before laughing lightly. “I’m everywhere.”

Hila relaxed and called back her powers while making a face. She remembered clearly that the tunnel door was opened and closed only once. How did Han Xiao manage to get in? Did he go through the walls?

Han Xiao laughed and said nothing. When he took the initiative to propose splitting up, he had already made a simple but effective plan in his mind. Of course, he would not gamble on Hila telling him the real position, so he had then been left with two choices. The first was to leave simple tracker on Aurora’s bag, while the second was a character card that had never used. The Dion card obtained on the Western Continent had a special stealth ability.

Although he was very strong, he was not willing to be encircled and ganged up on for no reason. His main goal was to get out of the germinal headquarters. So, after he taught No. 1 who was boss, Han Xiao went and blasted all the cameras at the intersection, giving Germinal the idea that he was in the area before he activated Dion’s character card and backtracked along the original way.

Regardless of the truth of her words, she must have been headed to the real passageway.

The character cards’ ability name was ‘You Can’t See Me’. As the name suggested, Han Xiao simply waltzed along the way without anyone taking notice of him.

The enemies were then all baited to the intersection where Han Xiao had been without knowing where he had disappeared to. Han Xiao simply followed Hila and jumped into the tunnel together with her.

What surprised the Great Technician Han, however, was that Hila had actually given him the correct directions. Both the room number and the floor tile location were correct. To be honest, when they were about to split up, Hila’s fishy look had made him almost think that he was going to be sold out, but the result was unexpected.

In truth, Hila had also struggled with this, but she had finally decided to give Han Xiao the right information.

Han Xiao did save Aurora, and if she had lied to him, she would not know how to face her sister. Although a part of her kept tempting her otherwise, she finally abandoned such thoughts and told him the truth.

Compared to ‘Goddess of Death’ in Han Xiao’s past, this Hila had not been consumed by darkness, and her heart was still illuminated by the stars and moon that was Aurora.

Han Xiao originally thought that if Hila had sold him out, if he suddenly appeared again, Hila would be very embarrassed and even owe him a moral favor. However, since she did not, Han Xiao could not help but look at her in a new light. Although he was prepared, no one would want to be betrayed, and his mood was instantly better.

“Brat, what kind of stories did you sister tell you about me? Let’s hear them.” Han Xiao finally got to ask this question.

Aurora was about to politely answer, but Hila cut in expressionlessly and said, “Stop wasting time. This is only the first part of the secret passage. We still have to get to the abandoned underground tunnel. Let’s go.”

Hila led the way with Aurora and took off with enthusiastic strides.

Han Xiao shook his head and was about to follow when he suddenly remembered something. “Ah. I forgot to ask the old man what Aurora’s brainwashing code word is. Oh well. Let’s just get out of here first.”

…

On another side, tens of thousands of Germinal troops had gathered and were searching for Han Xiao around the area where he disappeared.

“Reporting to leader, target was not found.”

One by one the executives brought in the same results.

The leader was furious, and he held his hands so tight that his glove started to rip. “This is where the cameras last caught him. How could we not find him?

“That’s right, I saw him walk down this way.” No. 1 said as he lay on the ground to one side, his face full of resentment, as the researchers helped reattach his limbs.

“Just find him!” the leader roared as he slammed his fist on a nearby wall. With a bang, steel and concrete components ripped apart and flew out as if they were made of paper. The executives were frightened and had no choice but to continue searching.

The leader originally had thought that Han Xiao was trapped and had been cracking his knuckles to get ready to beat Zero up for all the grievances that he had caused the organization. Now that there was nothing to vent his frustration, the leader was feeling a sense of loss that was making his chest feel like it was going to explode.

Every time he dealt with the Zero, it had ended in failure. The leader could hardly tolerate it anymore. He glanced at the scattered parts of the super soldiers on the ground and cursed them for being so useless in his mind.

He took out his laptop and made another search. It was then that he found something odd. All the cameras in the lower floor had also been destroyed.

“Could he have accomplices?” The leader tapped the keyboard and quickly called up the interface. He soon found a new lead. The camera records in the A-4 area seemed to have been modified. He suddenly thought of something and quick gave his orders. “Send someone to A-4 to investigate.”

Soon, news came back.

“Security measures had been shut down, the guards have been killed, and the little girl had been taken away.”

In that moment, the string of information from Aurora’s disappearance, the destroyed cameras, and Hila’s absence in the previous battles to stop Zero started to make sense.

They had been fooled!

“Hila, you traitor!” The leader suddenly realized what had happened and was so enraged that the sound of his teeth gnashing together was like steel grinding against each other.

“Get man to search for Hila now. She escaped with Zero!”

The soldiers around were startled into action. The order was passed down one wave after another. Soon, a large force was mobilized to search yet again. However, Hila had already destroyed all the cameras on the lower floor. There was no way of knowing where they could have gone.

Then, someone finally brought the dazed Cyberlos to the leader, and with a slap, Cyberlos was awoken with a shock. Seeing the leader’s face that was full of hostility right after waking made Cyberlos tense up.

“Tell me everything you know!” the leader said coldly.

Cyberlos did not dare keep anything to himself and told the whole story from when he had been taken hostage until he was knocked unconscious.

“He took the organization’s classified information, kidnapped Aurora…” Cyberlos tried to be as careful. “He… He might be an Inhuman!”

Inhuman‽

The leader felt his body sway when he heard that. If Zero really was an undying Inhuman, then Germinal faced certain defeat.

After taking a deep breath, the leader said decidedly, “That’s only a guess. I will just have to kill him first and see if he really is an Inhuman.”

Cyberlos was then taken away. Seeing as the man had done a lot for the organization in terms of research, the leader decided to spare his life. Cyberlos had never been hired for his loyalty anyway.

“Widen the search net. Even if that Zero can get out of headquarters, I won’t let him get off the continent,” the leader said calmly.

The forces were but a small part of his plan.

Chapter 245 - Predicament

After travelling down the winding tunnel for some time, the path in front suddenly widened.

Right in front of them was an underground tunnel with an open space. The exit for this dark path was located on top of the wall at the side of the tunnel, which was around five meters above the ground.

The air was filled with the smell dust and mold. The place had been abandoned long ago, and the walls were covered with spider webs. The front door of underground tunnel had also been locked for a few years.

Hila hugged Aurora and jumped down. Dust and debris scattered as they landed. Han Xiao followed.

“This was an early stage of the underground tunnel. After they built the headquarters, people left it without any maintenance. I dug a path from the air ventilation pipes which lead to this place. All the cameras and gates are gone, and the railroads are broken, too. We need to walk out of here. The exit a hidden door that is located at the fringe of the headquarters, and it will take around four hours for us to reach there.”

Han Xiao looked back at the hole and said, “Won’t they be able to catch up?”

“Nobody knows we are here, but we still have to be on alert.” Hila carried Aurora on her back and started walking forward.

Han Xiao quickly followed and walked right next to Hila. He occasionally dropped a few small landmines to blow up the tunnel in case anyone came later.

Three of them continued to march forward in silence.

Just now, the situation had been intense, so there were a lot of things that they were still unclear of. Now that they had the time, Hila seemed to be more confused as she kept recalling what had happened. She kept on turning her head toward Han Xiao.

Hila had a few questions to ask, but because of her cold personality, she pursed her lips and kept on walking.

Aurora, who was on Hila’s back, covered her head inside her sister’s long red hair and smelled the delightful scent she had. Her eyes were calm and safe, and she turned to look at Han Xiao.

“What are you looking at, you little brat?” Han Xiao raised his eyebrows.

Aurora quietly replied, “Do you not have a name, or is your name just Zero?”

Paying attention, Hila’s ears perked up.

“Han Xiao. That’s my name.”

“My sister said you were brainwashed. She couldn’t figure out how you escaped.”

Han Xiao stroke his chin and said, “Everything has its own destiny.”

Hila rolled her eyes.

“My sister said you are only twenty years old, but why do you look so old?”

Han Xiao’s face darkened. Didn’t I already change my appearance? This brat doesn’t appreciate beauty at all.

Then Han Xiao looked at Hila and realized that she was being oddly quiet. Han Xiao started to tease her interested and smiled. “So, do you have anything that you want to say to me?”

Hila pushed Aurora higher up on her back and coldly replied, “Thanks.”

“You don’t sound like you mean it at all.” Han Xiao started to flip the bullets in his hands. “Don’t forget that I came a long way to save your sister. There’s no need for you to kneel on the ground to show your gratitude, but at least be more polite, will you?”

Hila turned her head around and frowned. “How did you know about my sister? What are you trying to do?”

Hila could not believe that Han Xiao really came here to save her sister, and she thought that he must had an ulterior motive. Although Hila was right, she could never guess that Han Xiao’s target was her.

“You sound like you are trying to interrogate me even though I am your savior and your teammate.” Han Xiao raised his eyebrow. “If you want to ask anything, you must at least try to show some respect.”

Savior and teammate… Hila was having a hard time getting used to someone with these two roles. After a long silence, she still could not say the word ‘please’. She boldly said, “Tell me.”

“What now? Do you think I’m like the Germinal Organization, trying to use your sister to control you?” Han Xiao yawned. “I might try if I want to.”

There was no way that he could do what he said. Hila relaxed for a bit and replied, “So, what do you want?”

“I want world peace.”

Hila ground her teeth in frustration. Han Xiao had just been playing with her all this time, and she did not get anything useful out of him. Hila shut her mouth again.

“Sister told me some stories about you, and she said you were very talented.” Aurora then curiously asked, “Are those stories real?”

Oh… Hila actually complimented me behind my back.

Han Xiao looked over, and Hila did not even flinch. Her face was still as cold as ice while looking straight ahead, ignoring Han Xiao. Well, there’s a saying that if you don’t say anything. then you agree to whatever that’s happening.

“Of course, it’s all real.”

“Then what happened after you escaped?” Aurora was really interested into Han Xiao’s story. During her time of imprisonment, when she and her sister meet up, her sister would always tell Aurora about the stories of the world outside. The stories of Zero had left the deepest impression on her.

Hila thought that Han Xiao had some things that he did not want to say, so she suddenly had an idea.

“Even though we don’t know how Zero… Han Xiao has gain so much power in such short period of time, when he escaped the base, he was not strong. After he finally got the freedom he longed for, he was frightened that the organization might capture him, so he had no choice but to change his name and hide away from the eyes of the Germinal Organization. He never showed himself and only gathered information in the dark, and the organization could not find him.”

Seeing that Han Xiao remained quiet, Hila thought that she must have guessed it correctly. After working for the Germinal Organization for years, she knew the consequences of rebels, and Han Xiao must have had a difficult past during his time hiding from the organization.

After a few sentences, Aurora slowly fell asleep. Her body was weak, and the intense journey quickly drained her energy. Han Xiao and Hila also stopped talking and focused on the journey ahead.

After three hours of silence, they reached a part where the tunnel was blocked, and the exit was right above their head.

Han Xiao and Hila stepped on the shattered rocks. Hila’s hand swept over the ceiling, and she found the lever. After she flipped the lever, cracks suddenly appeared and formed a square, and dust started to fall from above of them. The crack was dark, and one could not see anything on the other side.

“Get up.” Hila pushed open the hidden door and jumped into the room.

The room was pitch black without any sound. After the eyes had adjusted to the darkness, they could see that they were in a large storage room. Tons of boxes and containers were lined up, and there was another exit at the corner of the storage room that was covered in dust.

“They don’t have anything important in this warehouse, so there shouldn’t be a lot of security here. Toward the south is the secured part of the headquarters. As long as we can get out of the secured zone, then we will be safe.”

Han Xiao remained silent.

Cyberlos had once said that the leader encircled him using large amount of manpower, and they set up countless of troops scattered in a radius of a few hundred miles. Even though he had escaped the headquarters, he still did not escape the encirclement. If what Cyberlos had said was true, then there was still a long way before Han Xiao could get to safety.

Gripping his equipment bag, Han Xiao thought, My identity will be revealed sooner or later. I might as well just do it right here.

Suddenly, the interface popped up with a message.

_____________________

Your landmine successfully killed the soldiers of Germinal Organization. You gain 1 experience.

_____________________

“The landmines in the tunnel just exploded, it won’t be long before the Germinal Organization catch up,” Han Xiao said.

Hila’s face briefly let slip a stunned expression. “We need to pick up our pace.”

It was night, and the sky was dark. They woke Aurora up and put her into the bag. Then the two of them quickly left the warehouse, sneaked under the patrol of the soldiers, and head toward the exit.

A number of troops started to show up and settle down in the area around the headquarters. The security level was also increased by a few levels.

A few hours ago, Han Xiao and Hila had disappeared in the headquarters. The leader called for the highest level of order to employ all the standby troop to catch Han Xiao. He knew that Han Xiao must still be in the headquarters’ surroundings, so he reinforced the security at the borders and would not let anyone pass.

The ambushing troops on the outside was a few hundred times more than the number of troops in the headquarters. In the beginning, the leader used all the resources that he had to set up the encirclement of troops that lasted for a few hundred miles. All the preparation was for any possible accident, and the day’s events proved that he had been right to be so cautious.

The leader of southern troops quickly changed from a normal leader to executive officer Kedor who was LV 55. To target the powerful growth that Han Xiao had, the leader also employed the veterans and executive officers. There were more than ten executive officers, a dozen super soldiers, a few hundred Inhumans, and a few thousands common soldiers that followed after Kedor.

In the chaotic battlefront, Kedor was receiving orders from the leader.

“The headquarters have already found the location of the target and have started a blanket search operation. There is a high chance that the target is heading toward you. You are authorized to fire at any suspicious object in the battlefield, and you are authorized to kill on sight. Do not let him get away!”

“If he dares to come toward me, he will die,” Kedor replied. “How about Hila and her sister?”

“They betrayed the organization; if they resist, kill them all.”

The leader’s voice was deep. Zero was the number one enemy—even sacrificing Aurora would be worth it.

Chapter 246 - I Am Black Phantom!

Dark clouds covered the sky, and the moon and the stars were nowhere to be seen.

The ground base was brightly lit, and columns of light tore through the surrounding darkness. The guards were searching everywhere for something, and armored vehicles rolled past one after another with their loud engines blaring through the still night. Helicopters lit up their searchlights and were searching as well, causing circles of light to cut through swaths of empty ground.

The large-scale search gave Han Xiao and Hila quite the headache. Thankfully, Hila was well acquainted with the local terrain, and they were able to avoid all the pursuing soldiers. Eventually, they hid themselves in the shadow of a metal building situated at the edge of the base as they observed the distant Germinal army formations toward the south.

The troops toward the south and the base were separated by an inclined area. Based on the duo’s observation, heading straight out would just make them easy targets for the search parties. At this moment, there seemed to be some commotion toward the south, as countless lights were suddenly turned on. It was as if a miniature sun had appeared in the dark scenery.

“This is bad. They have drastically increased the personnel on the ground, and it’s impossible to pass without drawing their attention. Once we’re found, they will kill us all,” Hila said with a heavy voice.

The organization’s forces seemed to be endless. Although they were being defeated at every turn by the Six Nations’ combined army, it was still a force to be reckoned with. On the other hand, they were but two people, and trying to force their way out would be possible. They should consider some other ways to stealthily sneak away.

Han Xiao gave the massive number of troops a few glances before speaking calmly. “Tanks, artilleries… Heh. They’re basically prepared to fight a war. It’s quite a feat they have pulled just to deal with us.”

“More like to deal with you. We’re just addons.” Hila was expressionless, and she asked, “Do you not have any reinforcements?”

She felt like Han Xiao definitely had some help when infiltrating the Germinal headquarters. Since that was the case, he must have arranged the extraction.

Yet Han Xiao shook his head immediately, making her feel like her heart just dropped.

“No help…” Hila could not hold it in and asked, “Then what’s your plan now? Germinal won’t stop looking for us. Even if we somehow break out of this encirclement, there will still be countless pursuers after us.”

“I’ll just see.” Han Xiao did not really care about it and went back to preparing his equipment.

Hila frowned. If help was not coming, then what was the point of following Han Xiao?

The one Germinal wanted was him, and her sister would be safer if they were to split up. She thought that since she had already helped him leave the headquarters, she had already returned the favor. So, it would not be immoral to suggest to split up.

For Aurora, Hila was willing to do anything.

Let’s just try to get out of here first…

Hila calmed herself down, stopped paying attention to what Han Xiao was doing, and just focused on observing the troops ahead.

…

At the same time, toward the south, the large searchlights all shone on the inclined ground, and nothing could have escaped their observations. There were heavy turrets set up every fifty meters, ready to send out a wave of metal bullets on command.

Different scenes of the encirclement were all sent back to the control room back in headquarters so that the leader could control the situation in real time.

Among the troops stationed toward the south were the group of players who had been recruited by Germinal and formed into their own Inhuman squad. They were grouped up in their own camp, ready for orders. The mission to intercept Zero had not failed, and the players were astounded when they saw the large formations of Germinal troops deployed to catch Zero.

“We won’t be able to help much. Isn’t this basically just a free mission?”

“You’re right. Maybe this is sort of like a cutscene, where we can only watch,” said Electrolux, who had also been recently recruited. Foreign players were not uncommon on Planet Aquamarine, and none thought his presence was odd. No one knew that he was actually a European spy.

“Hey. Do any of you know anything about Zero’s origins?”

A player with the ID White Hunt said, “I do.”

The moment he spoke, the crowd was interested and started to throw in more questions.

White Hunt, a top player from Temple of God, had obtained information from the Guild of Gods, which was why he came to Germinal to trigger the Intercept Zero mission. As he described the process of how Zero single handedly manipulated events to hinder Germinal’s activities on the planet, the other players could not help but be shocked.

“Sounds like an amazing person.”

“Doesn’t he sound like a character from the main storyline? He escaped from the original Germinal base by himself and has now sent the organization to the brink of collapse. He must at least be a Legend on this planet to be able to manipulate massive wars like this!”

“Maybe he’s Planet Aquamarine’s protagonist… Oh no! My reputation with him is -30,” someone screamed in distress.

White hunt laughed at that. “Although he may be a character in the main storyline, he shouldn’t be someone we will have to interact with in the future, or else we wouldn’t have lost so many reputation points just from being his enemy.”

The crowd nodded at that. Strong but unimportant NPCs were not unheard of in the game. Since they would not be interacting, having reputation points with him would not do much for them.

…

After some observation, Hila finally said, “This path is too dangerous. Let’s try another place.”

She heard noises behind her as she said that. Han Xiao seemed to be preparing some sort of equipment while he explained, “The search parties have already narrowed down all the possible escape routes. The longer we wait, the more dangerous it is, and it’s the same everywhere.

“Then do you have an idea?”

“We rush them.”

Frowning, Hila answered without looking back at him, “The enemies are too many; even if we take out several hundred, we will still eventually fall to their human wave tactic. Only death awaits us if we charge in like that. Let’s look for an opening.”

However, Han Xiao seemed to have already made up his mind and said confidently, “Make sure you keep up.”

Hila was going to question where that confidence came from when she heard some sort of machinery activating behind her. She turned around and was shocked by what she saw. Han Xiao’s appearance was completely different. She was now looking at a streamlined suit of jet-black mechanical armor with faint blue lights glowing through the gaps of the suit. This breathtaking scene brought about an abrupt realization.

This figure, this suit, there was no doubt… It was way too famous. The whole Germinal, no, the whole world knew him.

“Black Phantom!”

Hila could no longer hold her calm and had a look of disbelief on her face.

At that moment, she realized what had happened. No wonder how Han Xiao could infiltrate the Germinal headquarters alone without any sort of backup. He was someone who stood at the top. A one-man army!

So, this is the truth!

Thinking back on the news that she had read about Black Phantom, Han Xiao’s life these past few years was far from that of a runaway fugitive. He was always right in front of everyone, including Germinal, showing off his powers and making a legend of himself, one step at a time.

Hila had witnessed Han Xiao at his weakest, and she never thought that he would one day stand at the top and far surpass her.

“You, you…” Hila was lost for words.

Han Xiao gently patted the still shocked Hila and made large strides toward the troops in the south as he exuded a sort of confidence exclusive to the powerful.

The built-in tactical screen in his helmet gave him a quick analysis of the battlefield as he strode down the slope toward the enemy without a care. As he approached, dozens of powerful lights instantly shone onto him, making his figure as detailed as possible to the onlookers.

When everyone saw this figure, they took a while to react.

“Why is Black Phantom here?” Kedor was confused.

Once they looked past Han Xiao, they finally saw Hila.

This was when shock, realization, and fear suddenly went through the minds of all present.

“Zero… is Black Phantom!”

When the truth finally revealed itself, everyone was stunned and could not do anything but stare.

Kedor, the field commander, had also lost his wits and forgot to order his men to attack.

All the executives on the field suddenly felt a gust of cold air blow up their spines and into their minds. All those who had opposed Black Phantom had ended up as corpses.

This name instilled fear in all those who heard it.

Han Xiao crouched lightly, brought his arms behind him, and got into a pre-jump position as the booster on his back let out bright red lights. The sound of a spinning turbine got more and more intense, and the faint blue light that filled the lining along his suit sent energy all over his body. The mechanic muscles grew in size as the suit entered the Strengthened state.

Boosters appeared on his waist, behind his arms, legs, and between the gaps in the suit. These boosters released an invisible force and bended the air behind Han Xiao. Back in the shelter, Han Xiao had made countless modifications to Viper and added a number of modules. It was now much stronger than before.

This was the advantage of being a mechanic. Even as other classes started to face bottlenecks, he could always continue to upgrade his equipment and steadily increase his strength.

“Attack! Attack, now!” Kedor finally reacted and roared his commands. His men were startled into action and started to lock the machine guns onto Han Xiao.

Yet, right before they could open fire, a huge boom sounded as Han Xiao exploded off the ground and sent dirt flying everywhere like an artillery shell had hit where he was standing.

Han Xiao launched away and flew right into the enemy formation. One after another, the Germinal soldiers were sent into the air.

At that moment, chaos fell upon the battlefield!

Chapter 247 - The Real Deal

Han Xiao tore through the enemy formations like a hot knife through butter. There was a constant stream of clinking noises as the bullets that were shot at him got reflected by his high-level armor.

He kicked away a Germinal soldier, stole his machine gun, and opened fire at the others around him as the gun was surrounded by a faint blue light that greatly boosted its power and rate of fire. The barrage of shots was also triggering the effects of Lethal Shot one after another. Kill confirmation messages flooded through his interface as the Germinal soldiers fell in swaths.

The nearby troops quickly filled in the gaps and tried to surround Han Xiao. A dozen or so grenade-launchers were fired and drew parabolas across the battlefield toward Han Xiao.

Yet, before the shots even reached him, Han Xiao stepped to the side, leaped into the air, and took off with the reaction force from the blasts.

Boom!

All kinds of tanks and artilleries fired at Han Xiao, and explosions roared through the night as the smell of gunpowder permeated the battlefield. It was as if a small-scale war was being waged against Germinal, but Han Xiao was their only opponent.

Viper’s upgrades along with his skills and talents made Han Xiao unstoppable as he ran straight through explosions. Not even the heavily armored vehicles were spared from his rampage. A few unlucky tanks got flattened to the ground after being run over by Han Xiao. It was a complete massacre, and soon, the Germinal forces were breaking apart.

Whoosh!

Two attack helicopters rushed to the scene and immediately opened fire on Han Xiao, and a stream of high caliber bullets trailed after him. Han Xiao’s eye flashed, and in a split second, he calculated the helicopter’s speed and flight path with his helmet interface, retrieved the Ghost sniper rifle from his back, and took a shot. It was as if he did not even have to aim.

The electromagnetic projectile zoomed past the battlefield before it went clean through the helicopter and flew off into the night sky.

The pilot was killed instantly, and the helicopter spiraled out of control and crashed into the hillside below and tumbled down the hill with the centripetal force from the rotors. It kept on rolling until it eventually destroyed the fence in its way and tore through dozens of Germinal soldiers before crashing into and collapsing a defensive structure, causing dust to fill the air. The helicopter had cleared a bloody path through the swarms of soldiers.

One of the rotor blades broke off and flew through the air and landed right in front of a group of stunned players. They were already flabbergasted since the moment it was revealed the Han Xiao was Black Phantom.

The source of all these legendary achievements was the same person, so he was basically the main protagonist on their planet!

The players were all very familiar with Black Phantom since they heard about him pretty much every day. Now that the mystery of his identity had been revealed, the players were extremely excited, as if they had just discovered a new continent.

The quick ones immediately turned on the camera function and started streaming the event to the world.

“Wait a second, if he’s Black Phantom…”

Some players finally realized the gravity of the situation and turned their attention to their reputation points on their interface. Instantly, they felt like a gust of north had just blew past them, freezing their excitement.

This can’t be real! A -30 reputation with Black Phantom? How long will it take to even reset it back to zero?

The Germinal players felt like their hearts were crushed.

We haven’t even enjoyed Black Phantom’s benefits, yet we just lost all our hope after waiting for so long!

The players present looked frozen ducks. All color drained from their faces.

Screw you Germinal. Give me back my youth!

When Han Xiao saw this, the corner of his mouth perked up.

This group of players was essential in his plan. They played the role of the ‘reporter’ and were responsible for spreading tonight’s events out far and wide. The big reveal of his double identity would surely rock the player community and become a hot topic for the time to come.

Currently, there were not very many NPCs that had made a deep impression on the players. So, making big news himself would be the best way of ensuring his spot in the community. Now that his popularity was sure to be on the rise, the benefits would also roll in one after another.

By showing of his capability at the Germinal headquarters, it would seem completely natural story-wise. There was not a better moment than this. His new legendary ranking was basically set in stone.

With Han Xiao loaded in his new gear, the mechanic’s strengths were on full display. He did not even need to keep his distance, and instead, he began a one-man massacre amid enemy forces.

Dragging this out will do more harm than good. Viper’s energy levels are going doing very fast. I need to clear out an area and find an escape vehicle, Han Xiao thought.

“Kill him!”

Suddenly, a powerful force approached as Kedor roared and led a group of executives straight for Han Xiao.

Han Xiao frowned, and the Field Repulsive Machine on his wrist began to store up energy. He raised his right fist, ready to attack at any moment, as energy waves started to pulse out of him.

The next second, as if pulling a trigger, Han Xiao released his fist and punched at the air in front of him.

Boom!

A condensed wave of energy exploded out of his fist and crashed into the group approaching him like a tsunami. Like bowling pins, the executives were all knocked away. This attack was just like the Shockwave Blast used by Pugilists, and Kedor’s group was instantly broken out of formation.

Using this chance, Han Xiao locked onto the person with the strongest life force, Kedor, and rushed him. The disoriented Kedor did not even have time to dodge before he was tackled to the ground. Viper’s muscle fibers pulsed and bulged, and attacks with the Thermo-Electrical Incisor Gloves with +80 Strength landed on Kedor’s body one after another. Blood spurted out everywhere.

After a dozen or so hits, Kedor, with his face was full of blood, was furious. He released his energy and pushed Han Xiao high into the air.

Han Xiao pulled out the Ghost sniper rifle mid-flight and activated Burning Will.

The rifle’s muzzle that started to glow was giving Kedor all sorts of warning signals and made all his hair stand on end.

Hum!

The shot dealt explosive damage and instantly emptied Kedor’s remaining health bar.

The shot left a faint trail of blue light in the air before it left a hole between Kedor’s eyebrows and a shocked expression on his face.

_____________________

You have killed Kedor (LV 55). You have earned 142,000 experience.

You have earned 25 trial points.

_____________________

Level 55 enemies actually drop so many trial points! Han Xiao was overjoyed.

For the half minute or so after eliminating the strongest Germinal member in the area, it was as if Han Xiao turned on his grass-cutter mode—he just mowed through the rest of the enemy forces. Like a human bomb, he obliterated anyone who stood in his way. A C-class superhuman was enough to go against armies on their own.

Only by demonstrating overwhelming strength could he rise up in popularity and fame.

Han Xiao cleared out a large patch of ground, and it was as if there was a hole in the middle of the Germinal base.

He really went and rushed them! Hila was shocked, but she still did not forget Han Xiao’s instructions and followed behind, carrying Aurora.

After stealing and boarding an armored SUV. Han Xiao smashed his foot onto the gas, and trio drove off into the night after smashing past the roadblocks.

The players received mission failure notifications, yet no one care anymore. They were still trying to process the fact that Black Phantom was Zero.

The control room back in headquarters was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop. Everyone had witnessed the chaos from the screens. The leader’s chest rose and fell rapidly, and even though he was putting on a poker face, everyone present knew that he was enraged.

“I kept sending people to search for him. Yet, I never thought… that he never tried to hide.” The leader felt a suffocating feeling and felt like he had been played like a fool.

His assistant to the side asked warily, “Do… do we chase?”

“We chase. Summon back all the executives still out on the field, the organization’s strongest military force, and all the reserve forces. Lock down all areas and kill on sight. Short range missiles are authorized.”

At around the same time, the videos that were posted by the Germinal players were starting to cause waves on the forums.

Chapter 248 - Shocking the World (1)

The post titled ‘Shocking news! The man behind the war was actually…’ instantly shot to the top of the Planet Aquamarine forums.

The players on Planet Aquamarine back then had all of their attention on the war between the Six Nations and the Germinal Organization. Being able to participate and contribute in this world-shaking event allowed them to be truly immersed in the game. And this was also when the post revealed that ‘Zero’ was the person who had manipulated events behind the scenes and single handedly caused this war.

Some players remembered that the Germinal Organization had put out a massive bounty for Zero, and they felt intrigued by this character.

This kind of plot where an organization’s traitor was able to turn around and cause massive damage to the organization was very compelling to many people.

He had to be the key character in the main storyline!

The post detailed the things that Zero had done against Germinal up till now, but when the players thought that was the end of the post, they found out that there was even more information at the bottom—information on Black Phantom. The post’s author did not give any explanation and simply listed Black Phantom’s achievements as well. The players were confused but patiently read through it as there was no harm in understanding more about Black Phantom.

But everyone’s face changed when they got to the last line—’Black Phantom and Zero are one and the same!’

“What?”

“They’re the same person‽”

Many players doubted the authenticity of this information. However, the post also came with a recording of Han Xiao rampaging through the Germinal headquarters, shocking the players when they watched it.

The players were not too familiar with Zero, but it was a whole other story when it came to Black Phantom. Ever since the start of the open beta, this NPC had provided them with countless benefits and interacted with them countless times. When the players watched the recording of Black Phantom wreaking havoc in the Germinal base, they felt an odd sense of familiarity, and they had the impression that this was something that only Black Phantom would do.

Now, his identity had been exposed.

He was Zero and also Black Phantom.

His name was Han Xiao!

Zero’s past and Black Phantom’s achievements complemented each other perfectly and created an image of a character who, after losing everything to Germinal, escaped from the organization’s evil grasps. He never gave up to his miserable circumstances but only slowly grew stronger and gradually worked toward toppling the gargantuan organization that had wronged him before he finally swept the whole world into war. This story sounded as if it came right out of a Hollywood film.

Hero stories always sold well, and Han Xiao’s badassery had already firmly placed him on top of a pedestal in the players’ hearts while Germinal was immediately seen as the planet’s antagonist. Although there was not any true right or wrong in this world, people had already grown used to taking sides—having two extremes was much easier to understand. Players stopped caring about Germinal’s ideology and took Han Xiao’s side as they had already thought of this NPC as ‘one of their own’.

This post’s popularity exploded in a never before seen manner, and it felt like a historical moment for the players on Planet Aquamarine. The upvotes were increasing by tens of thousands every the second, and instantly, it took one of the top ten spots on the Galaxy forum’s trending posts ranking.

Just as Han Xiao had thought, the combination of his two identities, when revealed, caused a chemical reaction and pushed his popularity on to a new height, further consolidating his position in the players’ hearts.

Interacting with players was something he had focused on doing ever since the open beta, and he was now seeing the fruits of his labor. The tiny spark that he had started several months ago had now turned into a raging fire with the reveal.

The players were the first to know about the news that get posted on the forums, and now, Han Xiao’s group had just escaped from the Germinal base.

…

Their vehicle rolled over the rough landscape of Andrea under the darkness of the night, gradually getting further away from the base until it was but a dot on the horizon.

Han Xiao, who was driving, had not unequipped his suit, but he opened up the mouth hatch. He lit up a cigar and started puffing smoke in and out his mouth, giving off the vibe of an old truck driver, as he held the steering wheel expressionlessly.

The car stopped abruptly and caused rocks and dust to fly everywhere around it.

“Switch. You drive. I need to give the car some anti-radar modifications. I have no wish to be blown up into the air by missiles.” Han Xiao pushed opened the car door and got out before maxing out SUI: Anti-radar Coating and Camouflage Paint in his interface.

He also took a glance at the advancement mission—his progress was 72/2000. This was normal as advancement missions were often long-term goals.

Hila closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she got out of the car and supported herself with the side of the car to suppress the nauseous feeling welling up in her stomach. Although it was almost unbearable, she had to admit that under their previous peril, Han Xiao’s driving had made her feel safe enough.

Aurora, on the other hand, was fast asleep in the backseat and was completely unbothered. Han Xiao saw this scoffed and said, “Your sister will definitely get further in life than you.”

Hila did not even bother with replying and got into the driver’s seat. As she watched Han Xiao taking out all sorts of gears and parts to attach onto the outside of the car, she said, “We’re still in Germinal territory, so we shouldn’t take the large roads. However, driving through the wilderness will take eight to nine days before we can get to safety. Not to mention, the Germinal troops that must’ve been sent to pursue us. They will bring planes, armored vehicles, and even missiles.”

“You can just follow the map and take whichever route you think is safer. You’re more familiar with the area, after all,” Han Xiao replied without even turning. Now that Germinal knew about his face-changing capability, they would definitely kill all those suspicious. Escaping would not be easy.

Han Xiao did not guess wrong. This time, all search parties were equipped with cameras that were connected to headquarters’ command center at all times to prevent him from masquerading as one of the Germinal soldiers sent to catch him. Once a camera lost connection, the whole squad would be considered as KIA.

The Germinal Organization practically utilized all their forces to chase them, and their only chance of escaping was to run faster and break through the encirclement before they were completely trapped. Once they were in the Six Nations’ territory would they truly be considered safe. Germinal also knew this and would do whatever it took to kill Han Xiao and the sisters off while they still could. Escaping from enemy forces was often the most dangerous, as enemy reinforcements would be endless.

Fortunately, Han Xiao had anti-detection measures to prevent them from being pinpointed by their pursuers. Germinal’s only way of finding them was to throw in as much manpower as possible

But there was also another problem.

“Our fuel can only last another eight hours, and we’re completely out of food and water. Moreover, we are also running low on ammunition. We need to find somewhere to resupply soon, or things won’t be looking good,” said Hila.

“We don’t need to look for supplies,” Han Xiao replied calmly. “The enemies will just bring it to our doorsteps themselves. I’m a mechanic. It won’t matter if we run out of equipment to use as I can just make more.”

Hila did not have a response to that. By now, she had long since thrown away the thought of splitting up with Han Xiao to escape. It was much safer for her sister and her to stay with him.

Han Xiao tried to think of his next steps in silent as he made the modifications on the car.

“Although we have anti-radar measures, we should still be careful of the Germinal Organization getting desperate. I need to find some way to deal with missiles.”

They were currently still in Germinal territory, so nuclear missiles should not be a worry. What they needed to watch out for were the countless short-range tactical missiles from the nearby Germinal bases. These missiles would be more than enough to take out the few of them. With their destructive capability and range of up to several thousand kilometers, they were often used to target important enemy structures.

As a C-class superhuman, tanking attacks from normal firearms and smaller troops was not an issue, but it was still too early to talk about taking missiles straight on.

Superhumans were able to resist attacks based on their energy levels and skills, but there was a limit to how much they could absorb. Taking on weapons of mass destruction to the face would simply be suicidal.

A superhuman’s body was relatively fragile when compared to those weapons of war. However, this all changed when one got strong enough. A-class superhumans and above were capable of reigning over whole regions in Galaxy and were even capable of taking on whole small space battleships by themselves. However, those kinds of characters were few, and although superhumans could get very powerful, it was still impossible to take large armies on by themselves. This was especially so when highly advanced civilizations were involved. Galactic entities had access to terrifying weapons such as electromagnetic and beam weapons. Even a random foot soldier would be equipped with an advanced combat suit. In wide reaches of space, strength was calculated by one’s civilization, not individual strength.

Chapter 249 - Shocking the World (2)

The first idea that popped out was to engineer an anti-missile device, and he just so happened to know a basic blueprint for a pure defensive device, which was called expandable light fortress. It could suddenly form a golden shield that protected the target and blocked the explosion and shockwave.

There were a variety of blueprints for defensive machinery, and the most common one was the energy shield. However, knowledge on those shields required class advancement in energy studies, and this type of light fortress did not require a high level of skill. One only need the blueprint and some basic understanding to create the design in the blueprint, and the defensive durability would be dependent on the materials used.

But Han Xiao quickly dismissed the idea. There was no way he could create any complicated machinery without a lathe. The only thing he could do was modify and improve the vehicle by taking some parts out of the enemy’s equipment. Creating a light fortress simply would take too much work.

After eliminating the option, Han Xiao had another idea.

Anti-missile defense… We’ll have to get professionals.

…

Right after Han Xiao escaped the headquarters, the Germinal Organization responded without any delay. Under the command of the leader, countless troops of the Germinal Organization started scouring the areas that they had control of. The air force and the ground troops were employed at the same time. The scale of this operation was similar to that of a proper battlefield.

An hour later, the Six Nations picked up the movement of the Germinal Organization. Without any intel, they had to prepare for possible attacks, so they increased their security and defense order to prevent any tactics of the Germinal Organization. Then, on the same night, the Six Nations conducted an emergency meeting to analyze the current battle and try to understand the reason behind the military movement of the Germinal Organization.

After half an hour of intense discussion, from the evidence that they had, they finally came to the conclusion that baffled their minds.

Who are they trying to hunt down‽

The Six Nations had already pushed their military right in front of the base of the Germinal Organization, and they still had the time to waste their resources to hunt down someone. That man had to be very special.

The situation was not ideal, and the Six Nations were still debating whether they should stop the Germinal Organization’s operation. While the enemy of an enemy was often a friend, Raylen, Theseus, and Ordina opposed the idea of intervention in case it was a trap, and they suggested that the Six Nations should keep on following the original strategic plan to ensure a predictable battle.

While the commanders were discussing, Stardragon’s commander suddenly received a message from Division 13. His face was shocked as he said, “Everyone please wait, my troops just received important information. The man who is being hunted down contacted my communication division. Please allow me to pass on his message to the main channel.

Everyone was surprised.

The monitor blinked, and Han Xiao’s face started to surface. He used his original appearance, and the commanders quickly recognized that he was Zero, one of the most wanted man of the Germinal Organization. The man who kept on providing intel to the Six Nations appeared right in front of their eyes. The commanders around the table were shocked.

“Are you the one being hunted down by the Germinal Organization?”

“Why are you in the territory of the Germinal Organization?”

“I infiltrated the headquarters and retrieved key information from the mainframe of the system,” Han Xiao replied. “All their information on their troops, strategies, and missile distribution are now in my hands. That’s why the Germinal Organization are using everything they have to kill me. And now, I want to make a deal with you.”

The commanders looked at each other. None of them had told Zero to steal intel on the Germinal Organization, but he did it anyway all by himself. How much hatred does Zero against the Germinal Organization? He probably wants to destroy them more than we do.

“Go on.”

“Send out your troops, interfere with the enemy troops, and ensure my safety. Once I am safe, the intel will be yours.”

Han Xiao prepared to use the intel as a bargaining chip for an exchange of the Six Nations assistance. The intel was originally going to be sent to the Six Nations, and now they would have to fight for this information.

In the beginning, Han Xiao’s plan had been to steal the intel and get out without getting found out. However, Destiny’s Child’s foresight had allowed the leader to set ambush, which disrupted Han Xiao’s plan. So, he could only adjust accordingly.

Han Xiao did not anticipate the appearance of Destiny’s Child, but he was not frustrated since not everything would always go according to plan. He was not afraid of accidents as long as he could adapt to the new situations.

An officer said coldly, “You can’t prove that you have the intel unless you tell us right now. If you do so, we will consider protecting you.”

“This intel can burn the Germinal Organization down to the ground, and this is essential for victory of the battle,” Han Xiao replied. “If you do not accept my terms, this intel will be buried with my dead body. No… not only me, but all of your soldiers will die too. If the Germinal Organization admits defeat, they might trigger all their nuclear weapons and wipe out everyone. And then, you will question yourself—why didn’t you simply accept my offer?”

The commanders were anxious as Han Xiao pointed out their main concern. They did not know the quantity or the location of the nuclear bombs that the Germinal Organization had. If they could get information on this matter, then they could send out all the agents, elites, and strong soldiers to eliminate this greatest threat.

“How can we trust you?”

“To show my gratitude, I just send out the first documents on the ‘Hands of Death’ system to Stardragon’s troops. I used to work for Stardragon’s communication agency, and Stardragon can testify.”

Stardragon was pushed to the front of attention. Everyone looked over at Gu Hui, and Gu Hui looked dismal. With an annoyed expression, he nodded, which meant that it did happen.

“The Germinal Organization has a strong security system in place. Even our most elite agents could not infiltrate the headquarters. How did you get through?” another officer asked.

Han Xiao tapped his cheek, and his appearance slowly changed.

After looking at his face, the commanders of the Six Nation all stood up with chairs rolling away. Everyone froze.

This is the face of the Black Phantom!

“Are… are you…” Gu Hui, who almost fell, stammered with disbelief, “Black Phantom‽”

Han Xiao adjusted the image and showed the Viper next to his body. “Zero, Black Phantom, they are both identities of mine. You can call me Han Xiao.”

Gu Hui’s breath quickened. Division 13 did try to send people to track down Zero. The targets were all the homeless migrants as they thought that Zero could only hide around such groups of people. As it turned out, they had searched in the wrong direction. Han Xiao had never tried to hide, but instead, he had become the legendary killer in the Dark Net.

The commanders could not believe the truth. The Black Phantom was considered an extreme threat in most countries, and no one could find out his true identity. And now, he had just showed up as Zero, the most wanted traitor of the Germinal Organization.

The mask allowed its user to change appearances in an instant, which left the commanders in awe. They were just glad that Han Xiao was on their side.

Han Xiao took off his mask, and his face was calm. He stood straight and looked powerful. Han Xiao no longer needed to hide his true identity. Sooner or later, the Germinal Organization would spread this news, so Han Xiao might as well just reveal the secret by himself, and this would make it easier to get Legendary Points.

The meeting room was dead silent. No one was able to speak a word. After a while, the commanders finally started to accept the truth.

“We accept the deal. We will send our troops to face them head on. Natural Satellite security and anti-missile device will be activated, so there will be no way the Germinal Organization and land a missile on the ground. The escort troops might take a while. We do not have any permission in air, so the air force might not be able to directly escort you away from the battle. After we finish discussing, we will tell you the extraction point.”

Han Xiao smiled. “Okay.”

…

After he turned off the communication device, Han Xiao let out a long sigh. The negotiation was successful, and the troops of the Six Nations would push forward on the side and intervene with the Germinal troops. This was the biggest ally that Han Xiao could get.

At this point, there was no need for Han Xiao to wear his mask. The cool wind blew on his cheeks. He closed his eyes as if tasting the feeling of freedom.

He could finally take off his mask after wearing it for more than six months. There was no reason to hide anymore.

From that night onward, the world would know his true identity. He was Zero. He was Black Phantom.

Legendary Points would flood in like water after the organizations on Planet Aquamarine accepted this truth.

And now, what he had to do was break through the lock on the ground and meet up with the escort team of the Six Nations. For Han Xiao, this battle had already ended.

Hila looked back at the sleeping Aurora as her icy expression slowly melted.

“Since you’ve convinced the Six Nation, with their help, we are now in safe hands.”

“Don’t let your guard down. Even if we have allies, we have to make it until they can find us.” Han Xiao did not think twice before killing Hila’s enthusiasm.

The sky slowly brightened, and the long night came to an end.

The battle would begin after sunrise.

…

That very night, the true identity of Han Xiao spread like wildfire to the organizations all around the world.

Every organization was shocked.

The whole world was shocked.

Chapter 250 - Eye of the Storm

The battlefield only covered the land of Andrea, which was significantly far away from the other three continents. Each and every piece of news about the war was like a wide spread disease that instilled fear and anxiety into people’s minds. This warfare caused inevitable repercussions to all the nations around the world. The world was in chaos. The rate of theft and murder increased at an exponential rate, extremist of religions that preached the end of the world rose, and small groups of wanderers decided to join the Six Nations to seek protection.

During war time, the Six Nations had strict policies, and they performed rigorous investigations and surveillance on the wanderers. Thus, the wanderers did not dare say anything that would offend the Six Nations. During time of peace and prosperity, these wanderers could not really sense the benefit of having neighboring countries. But for those who betrayed the country, they realized the importance of having a nation one could rely on. Discrimination and unequal treatment were around every corner for these people. The wanderers without citizenship were probably in a lower status compared to stray dogs, and they could only remain quiet and beg for mercy.

Therefore, some wanderers would rather remain homeless, robbed by bandits and attacked by wild creatures, than join the Six Nations. For them, the only other option left was to seek shelter under the Dark Net. Without any reinforced policies and restrictions, the wanderers eagerly joined the Dark Net, and all the money and resources Bennett had poured in finally came into use. He felt like he was Buddha, alleviating all the suffering around the world.

“Ah, the futility of war.”

On the top floor of Sanctuary One, Bennett stood next to the window as his sharp pupils reflected the entire field of Sanctuary One.

The mist of war surrounded the tower, and everyone on the Planet Aquamarine worried about their future. Even though the Sanctuary was a step toward the bright future, Bennett was still troubled by the Han Xiao’s baffling action to join the war. It had already been a few days, and Bennett had not heard from Han Xiao.

Bennett had a rather complicated perception on Han Xiao. On one hand, Han Xiao was the most important assistant with an honorable record in the battlefield and uncountable achievements. And now, the size of Sanctuary Three was already larger than that of Sanctuary One and Two. From time to time, Bennett considered changing the name of Sanctuary One to Black Phantom Sanctuary.

On the other hand, the movement of Black Phantom was unpredictable, and Bennett often had to bear the responsibility of those actions. Even though the mistakes were only small compared to the achievements of Black Phantom, Bennett believe that sooner or later, he would have to take the blame for the actions that offended the world.

“We received information from the frontline. There are unusual movement in the battlefield. Please take a look at this.” The assistant rushed into the room and handed over the laptop.

As the largest intelligence network on Planet Aquamarine, the Dark Net had kept up to date with the situation on the battlefield. Bennett meticulously read the latest information.

“Two days ago, the southern front of Andrea experienced a drastic change. The Germinal Organization, which who was on the defensive side, employed a large-scale search around the headquarters. At the same time, the Six Nations applied pressure to the Germinal Organization from south and east sides. Moreover, they sent out multiple troops to infiltrate the Germinal Organization’s territory. From the movement of both sides, it seems that they are all going after the same target.

“It is reported that the target is the most wanted traitor of the Germinal Organization, Zero, who infiltrated the mainframe and obtained a large amount of classified information. Both the Germinal Organization and the Six Nation are fighting to obtain this information. From our undercover operatives in the Six Nations, the information will determine the outcome of this war.”

Bennett stopped reading and sighed. ” Zero… I know this man. The reason that the Germinal Organization has fallen to the point today is mostly because of this man. A traitor who made the Germinal Organization walk toward the path of destruction. Now he has obtained the key intelligence on this war, and he is the eye of the storm. He is an impressive man. Even if he lived in the old era, he could have been the legend to shape the world.”

Bennett then flipped on to the next page.

“In addition, Zero called himself Han Xiao, and he had a mask that can change his appearance in an instant. Black Phantom is one of his identities.”

Bennett could not say a word.

Bang!

Three seconds later, the window in the office shattered as Bennett threw the laptop through it with all his strength. The laptop arced through the sky and smashed onto the ground. The laptop was utterly destroyed with parts rolling on the ground. The people on the ground were surprised and looked up at the Sanctuary.

“Han Xiao! You b*stard!”

Bennett more than furious. He scratched his head out of frustrated, and the clean, styled hair quickly turned into a mess. He then walked back and forth in the room.

The origin of Black Phantom had always been a mystery, as if his existence was created out of thin air. Bennett did try to ask Han Xiao about his history. At that time, Han Xiao’s tone had been reflective and dense.

“Every man has a past that they do not want to face, just like hands you bathe in blood. And that’s true for me. I have made a lot of mistakes. I used to wear a mask, and I never knew who I truly was. It’s only recently that I’ve finally seen my true identity. Of course, you do not know me.”

Bennett had believed him at that time. He had tried to remember if there’s any faceless legends in different organizations, and he had vaguely recalled a powerful man who disappeared in the flow of history. From his own experience, he had suddenly reached the conclusion that Han Xiao was a man with strong internal struggles, a man who sought self-redemption. Bennett had thought that he suddenly had a common topic that they could talk about.

Well, right now, Bennett was disappointed at how brainless he was.

How dare you trick me‽

Bennett took a few deep breaths and straightened his chest. He looked at this reflection on the broken glass and fixed his hair style. After he calmed down, he turned to look at the frightened assistant and said, “Has the information spread to the public?”

The assistant nodded dumbfoundedly.

Bennett sat down and sank into deep thought as he tapped his finger on the table like he was playing the piano.

…

On the southern front of the land of Andrea, a convoy that was intercepted by the Stardragon drove into the fourth section. Dozens of vehicles were in the area with a few carrying the missiles with cold warheads on top.

Division 13 of Stardragon began their infiltration mission. They took over a military base in the inner parts of the Germinal Organization’s territory, and they got a few batches of warheads.

The secret intelligence agencies of all the countries were working on the same operation. They slowly chipped away at the power of Germinal Organization with the intel given by Han Xiao before the war started. They had made their plans after knowing the strategy of the Germinal Organization, and their scale of operation had become smaller and smaller as time went on. Therefore, the Six Nations were desperate for the intel that Han Xiao had on his hands.

Small teams of agents got out of the vehicles, and Di Su Su and Zhang Wei’s teams were among them.

Di Su Su was going to wave at Li Yalin, but she saw Li Yalin and her team hurriedly left the area.

Li Yalin and her team charged into the commander’s room.

“Sir, it seems that Han Xiao had the intel!” Lin Yao said anxiously.

The commander nodded, and he handed over a document. “The situation is complicated. The upper officials wanted me to give you this intel.”

Li Yalin grabbed the document, and everyone squeezed around her to read it. On the very first line, the document already stated that the true identity of Black Phantom was Han Xiao.

“Haha. He really was Black Phantom. I was right after all!” Li Yalin laughed out loud, and her laugh was similar to a ringing bell. She slapped Lin Yao on the back, and he almost fell over.

In the battle of Tedramira River, Li Yalin did recognize Han Xiao. At that time, everyone in the team had guessed about the identity of Han Xiao. Zhang Wei had reported this to the higher officials, yet the officials did not give any response except to tell them not to further inquire on this topic, as if they were trying to hide something. Lin Yao had also stolen some of the records, but he realized that the higher officials had disregarded the report and never followed up with the case.

Now this proves that they had been right all along, and this truth slapped the higher officials right in the face.

Li Yalin suddenly let out a long sigh and cleared her mind.

“Wait…” Zhang Wei’s face darkened. “He still has another identity.”

The crowd quickly read the paper, and everyone was shocked.

Zero was actually Han Xiao‽

So, his true identity was the wanted traitor of the Germinal Organization!

Recalling about the weird behavior of Han Xiao when he first joined Stardragon, everyone was suddenly enlightened and connected all the dots together.

That is why the higher officials wanted to hide his identity. He was wanted by the Germinal Organization.

Now we know why no one can catch Zero. He can actually change his appearance.

Now we know…

All the mysterious events that had happened all seemed to have an explanation. The people were dumbfounded by this realization.

Lin Yao swallowed the saliva and said, “His history is unbelievable.”

Everyone nodded with agreement. No one had ever thought that one of their teammates was a legend.

On the side, Hou Yue face froze. He had heard a lot about this old team member, but to think he was actually such a great figure.

Du Su Su had also followed them into the office and read the document on the table. The commander did not stop her, as this intel would be spread anyway.

After reading the document, Di Su Su’s face was full of disbelief.

“No wonder when I saw Black Phantom near Seagull City, I felt that he was familiar. It turns out that Black Phantom was Han Xiao… Wait, then what Golden Fox said was…”

As she mentioned the incident, everyone in the room had a chill and stopped her from continuing the topic.

Li Yalin suddenly was aware of the danger that Han Xiao was in. She asked about the situation. The commander replied, “Other than the military operation, the officials have also formed an escort team to enter the battlefield and extract Han Xiao from the Germinal Organization’s territory.”

Zhang Wei walked up and asked, “Can we join the escort team?”

Commander shook his head. “You are nowhere near standard of the team.”

Chapter 251 - Eye of the Storm (2)

As the news spread further and further away from the center of the battle, for those who had no dedicated channel to receive intel such as the wanderer warlords, they were the last ones to receive the news. Alumera was one them.

As a companion of Theseus, the Alumera family did not participate in the frontline of the war. Instead, they were in charge of keeping stability and security in the Northern Continent. This was a chance for Alumera to develop. The Dark Net Organization’s sanctuary plan ignited a few revolts from various warlord organizations. A part of these warlord organizations also tried to build places similar to the sanctuaries. However, their intention was different from Bennett’s intention to protect the innocent. They built their sanctuary only to gain profit and acquire more labor force.

Currently, the Alumera family was guided by the Xiao Faction, and Xiao Jin had a chance to get Black Phantom to visit this place. Xiao Hai looked up to his father’s capability to use methods to trick and gain power. Even though he often recalled that Black Phantom was his godfather and was disgusted by that fact as if he just swallowed a pile of excrement, Xiao Hai was glad that Black Phantom had not showed up in a very long time.

In the study of the Xiao Faction’s mansion, Xiao Hai reported the updated news they had, and he read Xiao Jin’s concerned face. “Father, are you not satisfied with the current affairs?”

Xiao Jin glanced at him. ” I’m still not standing on my own feet, and I’m still restricted under others.”

“Are you referring to Black Phantom?” Xiao Hai was confused. “Even though part of the reason you are in this position today is because of Black Phantom, the power and authority are still ours. Moreover, he is not even here, so he can’t have too much influence over our decision.”

“And this… this is my weakness. Black Phantom brought me up to the head of the house, but his influence is still limited, so he cannot touch on the inner policy making. Other Factions act like they look up to us, but they have plans behind the scenes to overthrow our position. We are not safe. In the end, we can only employ the power we have in the Xiao Faction, and the other factions never lend their resources, so it is hard to push any new policies.”

Xia Jin then reminded the Han Xiao’s threat and added, “Moreover, Black Phantom did not do this for free. I paid my price.”

Xiao Jin stood up and took two wine glasses and the precious Maple wine from the cabinet. He poured for two and handed one to Xiao Hai. He took a sip and continued. “Well, we’ll worry about that later. For now, the Xiao Faction has a more urgent task to deal with. Your brother Han Xiao is a wanted criminal of the Germinal Organization. This fact will be problematic, as people of Theseus came on multiple occasions to gather information. Currently, the war is at the most intense stage, and every organization is trying to severe any relationships with the Germinal Organization, but we will not be able to because of your brother, unless we are able to find to and send him over to the Six Nations.”

As soon as his father mentioned his brother, Xiao Hai’s face became unnatural. He was worried that the man that he had setup was still alive.

“It seems that Zero and the Germinal Organization are in a complicated situation…” Xiao Hai was troubled. The last thing that he want to see was Han Xiao being powerful and successful because he was afraid of revenge. At the bottom of his heart, Xiao Hai knew his brother’s weak character and mentality after growing up alongside him. But he still afraid of the possibility of a drastic change in his brother’s character.

What Zero did was clearly not what his obedient brother would do. Han Xiao was still scared of the revenge even though he had no idea what man his brother had become.

Knock knock.

The door opened, and the assistant peaked his head in. “Leader, Se Qi is here to visit.”

Se Qi was the chieftain of the Red Island Faction, which disagreed on Xiao Jin being the leader.

“Let him in.” Xiao Jin frowned and put down his glass of wine. “Since I became the leader, he has not visited me once. Something must be wrong.”

Xiao Hai nodded and waited on the side.

After a while, Si Qi walked into the room with a large smile on his face. “Leader.”

Xiao Jin remained silent and nodded back. He invited Si Qi to sit down, and Xiao Hai on the side was trying to size up Si Qi’s intentions. From the smile and the friendly expression, it seemed that it was nothing bad. The man was friendly and natural, so he did not seem like he was going to get into an argument with his father.

Si Qi took out a plan book, and this was Xiao Jin’s plan that needed the Red Island Faction’s cooperation. Before, Si Qi had kept on refusing, and now, suddenly, he took it out and said with a sweet expression, “After thinking about this for a while, I think this plan is very doable. I am willing to contribute my resources for this plan. I hope to discuss the details. Don’t worry, I will give all the resources I have for this project.

Xiao Hai was surprised and laughed in his heart. Now the Red Island Faction has finally bent over to our power and recognized the Xiao Faction is the leader.

Xiao Jin was also surprised. He slowly nodded and started discussing the plan with Si Qi.

After a few minutes, the assistant rushed in to the and said, “Leader, Todd has also come to visit.”

Todd was the chieftain of Home Faction, and he also did not have a good relationship with Xiao Jin. But now, he was visiting right after Si Qi.

Xiao Jin suppressed his surprise and invited Todd into the room.

“Hehe, head of the Xiao Faction. Right now, I want to discuss the plan we had last time…” As soon as the door opened, Todd saw Si Qi and acted like he was not there. He also took out a plan book, and just like Si Qi, he wanted to discuss the plan and submit power to the Xiao Faction.

Since the two largest powers had submit to Xiao Faction, they had the proper power to control Alumera. Happiness had come too suddenly, and Xiao Jin was stunned while Xiao Hai on the side could not suppress his excitement.

Before Han Jin could reply, the assistant again said that there were more people who want to come over. And just in a few moments, all the leaders or higher officials were in the room, all to submit power and discuss their plans.

Xiao Jin was lost. He had no idea what just happened. In an instant, and without any reason, he had secured his power without any effort. What was going on?

Todd saw Xiao Jin’s confused expression and laughed. “It seems that Chief of the Xiao Faction has not received the news. Take a look at this…”

He pushed a document across the table, and it was the intel on the true identity of Han Xiao. As the Home Faction, he had a larger information network and was the first to receive the information. He had then relayed the information to the rest of the Factions, and that was why there was such a scene in Xiao Jin’s office.

Todd had almost pissed his pants when he learned that the true identity of Black Phantom was the second son of Xiao Jin, Han Xiao. He had suddenly found the answers to all the questions.

No wonder Black Phantom came to visit Alumera and supported the Xiao Faction at critical times. He was clearly trying to protect his family.

The identities of Zero and Black Phantom were one, and he was the crucial figure in this battle. One could easily see that once the war ended, he would have immense influence over the world. This legend had come from one of the wanderer warlord organization, and it was the Xiao Faction.

Connecting Black Phantom’s action of protecting his family, every organizations in Alumera could not sit still. They could no longer ignore the Xiao Faction after this incident, and the Xiao Faction could be one of the most powerful organizations that they could rely on. Therefore, everyone came to submit power, and Xiao Jin was the last one to know what had happened.

“What‽” Xiao Jin was shocked. Xiao Hao felt that a hammer had smashed his perception of the world. His head was spinning.

“He’s my brother‽” Xiao Hai slowly lost his vision and almost passed out.

Xiao Hai could never believe that his brother who did not have any achievements could become such a powerful figure today. His brother was a man who could change the tide of war and the shape of the world. Yet, Xiao Hai was still only obsessed with powers in a small warlord organization. Times had changed. He recalled that since he was small, he had been the most outstanding kid among his siblings. Han Xiao could only look up to him. Now, the tables had turned, and Han Xiao could not accept the truth. He ground his teeth, and his body filled with rage and anger.

Not only that, as he remembered that Black Phantom was his godfather, Xiao Hai’s lungs almost explored. He clenched his fist so strongly that his fingernails sunk into his palms.

My brother became my godfather, what was he thinking?

He definitely wanted to embarrassment me. That’s why didn’t refuse at the time.

Xiao Hai went dizzy again out of anger.

Xiao Jin’s face was stone cold, but he was not mad. It was his decision to approach Black Phantom, and who knew that the son he had been looking for all this time had been right in front of him? Remembering that he made the exchange, he wondered how excited Han Xiao must have been behind the mask. Xiao Jin sat still, and the awkwardness and embarrassment flowed through this body.

Si Qi, Todd, and other people had mockery in their eyes. His son had suddenly become on the same level as his father all because Xiao Jin tried to pull him to his side. The existence of Xiao Jin was just a joke. However, they could not ignore the power that Xiao Jin had, so they could only mock him behind his back. In the end, they suppressed their desire to mock and argue, and they submitted power of their organization to the Xiao Faction.

With Han Xiao, the position of the Xiao Faction was secured. Even if both the father and son were embarrassed and surprised, they had to give credit to Han Xiao for the power they held today.

After the rage had died down in Xiao Hai, what followed was a sense of powerlessness.

He realized that no matter how angry he was, there was one truth that he could not alter. He could no longer see the shadow of Han Xiao.

Just with the name of Han Xiao, it solved all the internal struggles that they had between the factions and forced the other factions to submit to their power. With this much influence, Han Xiao was probably the most powerful figure on the planet.

Xiao Hai suddenly froze, and tremendous fear flooded his heart.

Now that his brother became powerful… would he seek revenge?

Chapter 252 - Eye of the Storm (3)

The real identity of Han Xiao created a lot of interest among the major organizations because he was not only Zero, the orchestrator of the war, he was also Black Phantom, the top-notch mechanic and contract killer. When one combined the two identities together, all the organizations could see a new star rising that would impact the world.

It had been years since the appearance of such a legendary figure.

Now that he was had intel that could control the tide of the war, he was the eye of the storm, and naturally, there was a lot of attention and expectations on him from everyone on the planet.

After the news had been out in the world for four days, every organization around the world knew the true identity of Han Xiao, and there were two organizations that received the most attention.

First was the Alumera family, which was the place of birth of Han Xiao. Numerous small organizations in the Northern Continent visited the Alumera family. Under the influence of Han Xiao, the Alumera family made countless new allies, and at the same time, the fact that Han Xiao was the godfather of Xiao Hai also spread around the new allies.

This embarrassing joke was a mark that could never be washed away from the name of the Xiao Faction. Seeing that everyone was trying to hide their laughter, Xiao Hai was extremely frustrated, wanting to kill himself to end the shame on him.

Another organization that was in the spotlight was the Dark Net. Han Xiao was one of the higher officials in the Dark Net, yet all the major organization did not see any response from the Dark net. So, no one knew how was their attitude toward the reveal of identity of Black Phantom was.

Like so, four days had passed in an instant.

…

When one glanced down on the battlefield from the sky, the wilderness was full of sand and dust. A ferocious jeep with sharp armor zoomed across the wilderness. Around a kilometer behind the jeep was the Germinal Organization’s vehicles trying to catch up.

“Fourth day, this is Division 13.”

On the passenger seat, Han Xiao was controlling the camera at the back of the jeep to see check the situation on the convoy behind them, and he shook his head with disappointment. “They didn’t send enough people again. Guess we will get some free spare parts to use.”

Hila, who was on the driver seats, gave Han Xiao a cold stare. She was too busy and exhausted to say anything.

At this point, the appearances of the two people were in a stark contrast with each other. After fleeing from the enemy for four days, the enemies were everywhere, and they faced difficult battles every single day. Hila was not a mechanic who could build equipment and machinery to fight. Her power came from her psychic abilities, which required energy and strength. Every battle that she fought was tough and challenging, and at this point of the escape, she had already exhausted all her power, and her face was covered in sweat and dust with dark lines around her eyes.

On the other hand, Han Xiao was completely different. Using Viper, fighting off the enemy was a breeze for him. Most of the enemies who chased Han Xiao were weak and easily defeated anyway. However, Hila could not fend off the enemy as easily as Han Xiao.

While Hila was driving, her brain felt like it was going to shut down at any given point of time. Even though she was extremely tired, she did not want to hand over the steering wheel to Han Xiao—one side was a cliff, the other was an abyss. At least the cliff has a bottom…

“Hey sis, do you want some juice?” Aurora, who was sitting at the back with big sparkling eyes, offered a plastic bag containing liquid.

“That is not juice. That is an energy drink that can help you stay awake and increase your energy, so don’t…” As Han Xiao looked back, he saw the empty bags on the back seat. He continued with a mildly infuriated voice. “… drink too much.”

“But it tastes good.” Aurora hid her face behind the seat.

When she was imprisoned, the food she had every single day had been nutrition cream without any taste. The energy drink was a new experience for her taste buds, and she was wide awake.

At the beginning of their escape, only Han Xiao could fight. They had needed to gather all the resources they could find. The long escape operation was naturally the stage for Mechanics to shine. They could get rid of the soldiers chasing after them, get their equipment, change them into parts, and create a new weapon to fight. They had to fight to keep on fighting and survive.

In the professional gaming scene, there were also some long-term survival game modes similar to this situation, and Mechanic was the best class in this situation.

Other than Military MRE and energy drinks, Han Xiao could get a lot of parts after winning a battle to improve the jeep they had. He slowly modified the engine and cylinder of the car, and now, the jeep ran like a wild bull that could crush anything in its path. The shell of the jeep was full of scratches, which fit its wild style.

The Germinal Organization’s troops were tied up by the attacks of the Six Nations, which almost halved the pressure on Han Xiao. The Six Nations also got rid of the threat of missiles, so they did not have to worry missiles blowing them up if they stopped in a place for too long.

Han Xiao looked at the rear mirror and said, “Turn the car around and kill them all. Hey, little brat, lie down on the back seat and don’t stick your head out.”

Aurora listen obediently.

Hila did not flinch. She grabbed an energy drink and chugged it in an instant. She span the steering wheel, and the jeep abruptly drifted around, leaving a trail of dust behind. Then Hila charged the jeep directly at the enemy like a bull.

Han Xiao quickly finished the modification, and his Viper mechanical suit had a huge upgrade. In order to adapt to the long chasing battle, he had equipped multiple long-range weapons, such as a triple barrel gun turret and the grenade launcher on his shoulder. He had additional magazines on his legs and on his back, with a belt carrying yellow bullets across his shoulders. All these weapons were made from the equipment of the enemy they fought before.

The mechanic suit looked at least twice as large as before, and it was more suited for long range combat. Thus, it was called [Viper – Ranged Form].

The interface information analyzed the enemies’ formation.

“Four executive officers, thirty Valkyrie squad, and ten players. Ten vehicles in total… Oh, they changed the formation.”

The convey spread out and lined up in an encirclement formation. They wanted to avoid head on fights and delay Han Xiao for as long as possible while waiting for reinforcements. They knew that they did not have the power to stop Han Xiao.

Han Xiao was not surprised. After he single-handedly destroyed five convoys, the rest of the enemies had all used the same tactic, so he was already used to this.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The turrets on mechanical suits arms roared with burning iron bullets blasting toward the enemy. With every bullet that he shot, he felt a powerful recoil that pressed on his heart.

The dark-blue electromechanical force coiled around the turret barrel, and the damage was suddenly amplified. One armored truck was destroyed within a few seconds.

The convoy began to return fire. They had stronger firepower compared to the side of Han Xiao, and bullets and missiles, with an orange trail in the air, were coming for Han Xiao from every direction.

Han Xiao’s technical interface analyzed the path of the light rockets for Han Xiao to shoot it down before they hit their target. As for machine gun bullets, they could only forcefully rely on the armor of the jeep to protect them.

Because the firepower of the Germinal Organization was too powerful, Han Xiao had decided to modify a ranged version of the mechanical suit since he knew how difficult it is to fight when one was being kited around.

Boom!

The sound of explosion continues.

Han Xiao fought against multiple vehicles and dozens of soldiers at the same time, and the battle was in a stalemate. Suddenly, Han Xiao gave Hila the signal.

Hila knew that it was her time to fight. Her eyes were filled with red light, and from the corner of her eyes leaked the burning light. She opened the window, pushed her hand outside, and a light red curve of flame penetrated three different vehicles, dealing mental damage that reduced the physical armor.

Hum!

Shock wave explode in their hearts and souls.

Everyone in the car suddenly spat out blood and was heavily injured.

“Cough cough…” Hila suddenly started coughing, and her face looked even more fragile.

The frequent use of such power drained her energy level down to the bottom, but at the same time, her power had somewhat advanced. A few days ago, if she wanted to use this attack, she would have had to charge up for a few seconds, but now, she could instantly cast her attack. Only when people were under extreme pressure could they extract their hidden potential. Hila’s potential was as high as S level, and she had an exceptional improvement throughout the battle

With the cooperation of the two people, the battle quickly reached to the end. The four executive officers were only around LV 30, but it gave Han Xiao two Trial Points. He realized that not only did enemies above LV 40 give out Trial Points, enemies with lower levels could also give out some, but the system would not show that if it is below one point. It would still add the accumulated points in the system.

_____________________

[The Ultimate Trial]: Current Progress 723/2000

_____________________

Seven hundred or so points, I am progressing faster than I expected. Han Xiao looked at the battle interface popped up a new message.

_____________________

Battle has ended. From the difference between the forces of the two sides, you receive an extra 15 Trial Points.

_____________________

In these four days, Han Xiao found a new requirement to advance the mission.

It seemed that fighting against overwhelming numbers of enemies would give out more Trial Points, and the extra Trial Points were calculated after the battle. When he was charging through the enemy forces as he escaped the headquarters, he had gotten an extra eighty Trial Points. He did not have time to check as he was in danger, and later on, he had forgotten to check it since there were too many missions. It was not until now that he noticed the bonus after the battle.

Included in [The Ultimate Trial]’s description was ‘The harder the victory (calculated by the amount of health lost), the more the Trial Points.’ Han Xiao had thought that if he won the battle while having lower health, he could get more points. But for the bigger picture, he had to keep his health at a high level, so he did not bother losing health and reducing his chances of survival just for some small gains.

But now he realized what the statement meant. ‘Calculated by Health Points’ was probably calculating the total Health Point allies and enemies. So, when there were more enemies while he had fewer allies, he could get a higher reward. This means that the mission encouraged players to fight as a small group against a large force, and this could lower the reward for rich players who hired more players to join the team. Therefore, people with higher skill would finish the mission and earn the class advancement at a faster rate. This system was to ensure a balance between rich players and skilled players, shortening the gap between them.

Han Xiao started to disassemble the parts from the equipment that he had just gotten. Destroying was always easier than creating. The speed of Han Xiao taking parts away from equipment makes one’s head dizzy.

“From my calculation, it seems that the enemy reinforcements will come between seven and twelve minutes,” Han Xiao said. “So, we can only stay here for another five minutes. Can you still drive? If not, I will do it.”

“I’m fine.” Hila chugged another energy drink and boosted her energy level.

Han Xiao quickly went through the spare parts that he had disassembled and took the ones that were useful. Then they drove off while having an anti-radar layer on top of them. The only way for the Germinal Organization to catch them again was through a blanket search.

Ten minutes later, as the Germinal Organization’s reinforcements arrived, they could only see the scattered parts lying on the ground. Han Xiao had disappeared from their vision again.

Chapter 253 - A Love Story

In the car, Han Xiao was smoking and repairing his suit when he decided to check out the forums and saw the post made by the Germinal players that he had just killed.

“Found mission target. Han Xiao’s location coordinates are…”

“Germinal has distributed new tailing missions. We are looking for two more members for this group mission. Leaving in twenty minutes.

Han Xiao chuckled when he saw this.

Germinal players were also trying to find him. As the mission only required the players to find his whereabouts, it would not lower their reputation points with him, and many players took on the mission for the reward.

As the old sayings went, there is no better way to show your love than through beatings.

Although Han Xiao had not given them any benefits, but following the players from the three other continents as examples, the Germinal players still loved him.

Once his identity was revealed, the players became very passionate about him and were eager to accept any missions that were related to him. However, it was not like they had much of a choice. Now that Germinal’s full attention was on catching Han Xiao, practically all the missions had something to do with him.

Logically, having to fight immortal players should have had been troublesome, but Han Xiao was actually glad that a lot of players were chasing him.

Aside from trying to find him directly, the Germinal forces were constantly trying to widen their search net to encircle Han Xiao. However, Han Xiao was always able to escape through a gap just before they could complete the encirclement.

This was not just a coincidence. The forum posts made by Germinal basically gave Han Xiao free information on the enemy troop movements.

Germinal was not aware of the existence of the forums while there was no way the players could have known that an NPC could see their posts.

Han Xiao’s group kept escaping through the openings between their forces, and Germinal had no idea how the information was being leaked.

Germinal could not have known that their own Inhumans were the ones dragging them down. All this did was further convince the Germinal leader of Han Xiao’s power to predict the future.

…

Han Xiao was not afraid of running out of posts to read. Due to the recent rise in his popularity among the players, posts about him basically dominated the Planet Aquamarine forums.

Revealing his own identity also gave his image a boost. Compared to Black Phantom’s uninspiring middle-aged uncle face, Han Xiao’s current look was basically prince-like, and he was able to capture the hearts of countless female players. There were a bunch of comments along the lines of “Well hello, handsome…” that started to appear in the forums.

A BOSS level character that manipulated the war behind the scenes actually looked so young and handsome. This change finally helped Han Xiao acquire female fans. One should know that back in his Black Phantom days, all those who chased after him were just a bunch of stinky, hairy, hot-blooded, gamer guys…

However, the players’ enthusiasm on this topic far exceeded Han Xiao’s expectations, and after the initial shock, the direction of the conversations on the forums started to go somewhere weird.

Many of the players had seen Han Xiao bringing a sister-duo along with him when he broke out of Germinal’s ambushes. Discussions about this suddenly exploded.

“Why would he bring two girls when running for his life? Is there any doubt? It must’ve been for love!”

Then, a player who had let his imagination break through the skies posted this story…

“I was once a test subject. I was tortured and went through endless unimaginable suffering in a hell-like place.

“She was my only source of light. Every time I saw her tall figure and ice-cold face, the pain I felt all over my body suddenly disappeared. Although I was only a test subject, and she never spared me so much as a smile, seeing the fury in her eyes taught me the warmth of spring.

“Maybe this is what it feels like when love finally arrives.

“So, I swore, when I one day escape this place, I will become stronger and rise to the top. When that day comes, I will stand in front of you and tell you with all my heart that I love you… ”

When he saw this post, Han Xiao coughed all the energy drink that was in his mouth onto Hila.

Which god damn pervert wrote this‽ Where did this idiot jump out from?

Don’t you ever let me see you! I will kill you all the way back to level one!

This was only one of the versions that the players came up with. Another person wrote about how Han Xiao fell in love at first sight with the older sister and decided to elope with her while bringing along the little girl!

Or how Han Xiao and the redhead were lovers to begin with, and the little girl was actually their secret child!

Some even claimed that the sisters were already Han Xiao’s women, but they were taken away by the evil Germinal leader. To take back what was his, Han Xiao had gone on the path of revenge, eventually causing this whole war for love.

Basically, the people’s imaginations were endless!

“Ohohoho, I never thought that you were like this, Black Phantom.”

“So, we’re all the same…”

“Oof, the little girl’s the best!”

“The older sister’s where it’s at!”

Just as Han Xiao was having a headache from all these stories, he found out that the players had given him two new nicknames.

Black Phantom: The Womanizer!

Technician Han: Your Knight in Shining Armor!

Han Xiao was conflicted.

Although it was not his original intention, his popularity still went up because of this. It was normal that characters with some ‘dirt’ on them were more likely to be talked about by the players.

Although my image among the players isn’t what I intended, at least I’m getting more and more famous.

Han Xiao could only stay optimistic. Most of these posts were not made seriously. These people must have come to cause trouble because of popular he was.

The reveal significantly boosted his popularity with the players, but his legend points on the interface were taking a while to be updated.

Suddenly, a new post caught Han Xiao’s attention.

“Everyone, look! I have received a new mission. It’s a large-scale encirclement operation this time! Request for group members to carry me…”

A Germinal player posted his mission details, and the photo of the map that he attached showed a massive force that stood on what was supposedly Han Xiao’s current route of escape. This group of Germinal forces was unlike anything that they had ever seen. It completely blocked off all the possible openings that Han Xiao could use.

Han Xiao’s expression grew heavy when he saw the post.

“This is bad.”

…

“The encirclement forces are in place. It will take another six hours before they make contact with Han Xiao.”

“How many men do we have?” the Germinal leader asked in a grave voice.

“Sir, we have mobilized a total of eighty high ranking executives, six hundred super soldiers, and several thousands of armored infantry troops. There are also over three hundred tanks and thirty attack helicopters. I’m sorry, sir, but this was all we could muster. The Six Nations are currently applying pressure on all fronts, and we are stretched thin.”

Boom!

The leader violently smacked the table and roared, “If it weren’t for those b*stards from the Six Nations, this encirclement would’ve already been complete. Zero must’ve made a deal with them. We have already locked onto him four times, yet all our missiles have been intercepted by the Six Nations!

“Humph! Now that our forces are in place, the Six Nations will have to drive their troops right into the middle of my territory if they want to stop us from catching Zero. Order the troops to start closing in on him. Even if he can predict the future, he will still be forced to go head to head with our troops!”

The Germinal leader spared no efforts in taking out Han Xiao. He had already learned his lesson from the numerous times that Han Xiao had broken out of his traps so far. Now, the new group of troops were placed right around his escape route, and he had finally trapped the traitorous b*stard!

The leader believed that even if Han Xiao was able to predict this all from happening, there was nothing that he could have done to stop the encirclement from being completed. He had sacrificed the previous squads who pursued Han Xiao to direct him to this path.

The encircling forces on the plains were to be the leader’s decisive move to end things once and for all with Han Xiao.

“Zero is very strong; only the older executives can finish the job. How many of them went with the troops?” the leader asked.

“Five in total. Here are their files,” the assistant quickly replied.

The leader took a glance and nodded. These old folks could be considered the organization’s strongest force. Even he would have to be careful against them in a fight. Their strength had already reached a certain level and would be enough to take on Han Xiao.

With five of them together, even the leader would take some time to come out on top.

This time, the leader was confident that Han Xiao would finally be taken care of, and he let out a vicious glint in his eyes.

Chapter 254 - Separation

The night came, and two rays of light were moving around the plains. Han Xiao and his companions got away from the chase from the troops. The plains were quiet, and they could only hear the low humming sound of the exhausted engine.

“Pull over,” Han Xiao suddenly said.

Hila shook her head and disagreement. “We just got away from the troops. If we stop now, they will soon catch up.”

“We are heading into a trap. The path ahead has been closed off. There will be nowhere out.” Han Xiao shrugged.

Hila jumped. “What? How did you know?”

But she recalled hearing that Han Xiao could predict the future, so she took back her question. Both of them had forced their way out of the headquarters, and after the eventful and stressful days, she trusted Han Xiao with all her heart.

She stopped the jeep, and silence took over the scene.

“If the Germinal Organization has encircled the plains, they will for sure move inward and confine us in a smaller area. We now have two options. First, we fight our way through before they enclose their forces on us, or second, we wait for our opportunity.”

“If we drag this out for too long, our area for movement would be smaller, and our chance of surviving will be even slimmer,” Hila said hesitantly. “Will we have a chance if we break through the encirclement?”

“The trap they’ve set up this time is strong and secure. All the troops are close to each other, and there is no space or opportunity where we can sneak past them. Even if we head back the way we came, we still cannot escape.” Han Xiao shook his head—this was the analysis done by a player who had posted this information on the forums. [The Encirclement of the Plains] mission was the largest mission in the Germinal Organization, and it was a mission in the battle series, so more and more players came together.

“There is a chance that we can break through their trap, but the risk is too high, and we won’t be able to protect your sister. But what you said was right; waiting around is also bad for us.”

After Han Xiao analyzed the situation, Hila remained quiet and tried to think for a new method.

Even though Aurora could not understand what Han Xiao had said, she could tell that the atmosphere was serious and dense. She then grabbed Hila’s sleeve.

Hila’s serious face relaxed, and she patted Aurora on her head.

It was not the end. No matter how dangerous and challenging the circumstances were, she would never give up. When she had been the Germinal Organization, Hila was as cold as an iceberg. But after Han Xiao showed the hope that she could save her sister from imprisonment, he slowly chipped away at her cold personality and would occasionally show her care and kindness to others. Although, most of the time, she still wore an unemotional face.

Hila looked back and asked, “Do you have any idea?”

“I need to make a few calls.” Han Xiao had a plan slowly forming in his head.

…

Buzz!

The leader’s computer received a call. When he saw the notification, his pupils suddenly contracted. It was Zero.

Why is he calling me?

The leader was shocked and shouted at his assistant, “Track his location now!”

The assistant quickly called for communication technicians to track the communication system.

The leader then accepted the call. Han Xiao’s face appeared on the screen, and the leader showed a murderous intent in his eyes. Han Xiao also did not talk, and they stared at each other for a while. Even though they were looking through a screen, they could feel the intense hostility from each other.

After a while, Han Xiao started the conversation. “Long time no see.”

“Isn’t it too late for you to beg for mercy?” the leader replied coolly. He could tell that Han Xiao already knew that he was trapped in the encirclement and could not find a way to escape. That was why Han Xiao directly called his mortal enemy to try some petty trick.

From his understanding, there was nothing for them to talk about. The leader was the one in a better position, and Han Xiao was just a stray dog that he could catch whenever he wanted.

“Do you still remember our little secret, when I said I will destroy your organization?” Han Xiao asked in a slow, clear voice. “You were so arrogant, and I was never in your eyes. And now, I’ve single-handedly push your organization to the brink of destruction, and you can’t ignore me anymore. Now, you spend all your energy and resources trying to kill me. Don’t you regret it? Why don’t you try to persuade me with your little fancy ideology? Then, maybe, I will listen you and turn myself in.”

The leader took a deep breath as what Han Xiao had said stabbed right at his heart. The only thing that the leader wanted to do was punch Han Xiao right in the face. The Germinal Organization’s ideology was to overthrow the Six Nations, and the leader’s ultimate enemies were the regime and the country. Yet, all his ambition had been burned down by a mere traitor. The leader could not let go of this crying shame. “Save your breath. I know you can tell the situation you are in, and now you’ve decided to call and try some petty tricks, right?”

“Do you think you can stop me with only those few troops?”

The leader laughed in his heart. Han Xiao did realize that he was being surrounded. So, he believed that Han Xiao was just trying to act tough.

“With the power of predicting the future, you have been fooling us, but this time, your power won’t save you anymore.” The leader snorted. “When you have nowhere to run, I wonder if you will smile like you are now.”

The leader noticed the assistant on the side, hinting that the communication channel was secure, so there was no way to locate the precise location.

If that was the case, there was no need to waste time talking to Han Xiao.

Just as the leader decided to hang up the call, Han Xiao suddenly said, “So, why do you only send your men to kill me? Are you too scared to face me in person?”

The leader shivered and showed a wry smile. “You don’t want to live anymore, do you?”

“Still arrogant, aren’t you?” Han Xiao laughed. “Well, you only look powerful on the surface, but deep down in your heart, you are a coward, and you will never face me by yourself.”

“Want to fight with me, huh? You’ll die before you get a chance to see my face again.” The leader snorted and hung up the call.

…

“I didn’t get anything useful.” Han Xiao turned off the tablet computer and let out a sigh.

Other than trying to scout the intention of the leader, he also communicated with the Six Nations’ escort team.

The good news was that the backup from the Six Nation had arrived on the east side of the plains. They had infiltrated the defense line of the Germinal Organization without being detected. They would arrive at the encirclement by the next day to provide combat support for Han Xiao.

Han Xiao suddenly regained confidence and scheduled a time to meet up. With the reinforcements as the ace up his sleeve, the operation became much safer.

Even if he and Hila failed to escape the encirclement, at least they would receive support. So, it would not be a waste of time and resources.

The reinforcements consisted of superhumans who were the best of the best in the Six Nations. One could not underestimate their capabilities.

“We will start the operation tomorrow afternoon, but we cannot bring your sister along with us. We won’t have the energy and awareness to protect her safety. If we can hide her in the encirclement, we can fight without worrying about Aurora,” Han Xiao said.

Surprisingly, Hila agreed. Bringing Aurora along would only increase unnecessary risk, and the encirclement could actually be a temporary safe space without any battles.

If they could break through the encirclement, then they could attract all the attention.

Of course, they had to find a way to bring Aurora back, and it would pose a lot of trouble in the future, but under these circumstances, Aurora would only hold them back, and this was the best option they could go for.

“Sister, am I to stay here?” Aurora looked up and her big eyes looking at Hila.

“We are only leaving you for a moment. This is safer for you.” Even though it hurt Hila to leave Aurora alone, she knew that this was the only way to keep her safe.

Aurora looked down and covered her eyes. “I’ll do what you say.”

“I’m sorry.” Hila felt a needle pierce through her heart, and she pulled Aurora into her hug.

After searching for a while, they found a natural cave. Han Xiao dug out the dirt to create a bigger space and fortified the structure. Then he covered the cave with camouflaged material and closed off the entrance to the cave, leaving eighty percent of the food and resources with Aurora.

Chapter 255 - The Hidden Tactic

“The food we left you should last you for around five days. Try save as much as possible. If you hear any troops from the Germinal Organization, do not make any sound,” Han Xiao said.

Aurora nodded quietly. She culled up and buried her face in her knees as she looked at the back of Han Xiao and Hila. “Sister, I’ll be waiting.”

Hila stopped for a second, took a deep breath, and started walking forward again.

Han Xiao finished covering up the cave and noted the location. He let Hila drive as he sat in the back and cleaned the car tail, making sure that the Germinal Organization could not follow the track to where Aurora was hiding.

After they reached the main road, Han Xiao got back into the passenger seat. Hila looked at Han Xiao and asked, “Do you believe that we will pull through?”

Han Xiao nodded. “I would never use my life to bet on something that I am not confident about.”

Hila stayed quiet for a while, then she replied, “If I die in the battle, please help me take care of my sister. With your strength, the chances of you surviving are much larger than mine.”

“If you talk more in this tone, I think you will see death right around the corner,” Han Xiao said with his dead eyes, which he had not shown in a while.

Even though Han Xiao teased her, he understood Hila’s feelings. For Hila, every step that she took was lurking with danger. She was not as strong as Han Xiao, and the future was uncertain. Her sister was the sole reason that she had the perseverance to go through all the hardship, and she cared for Aurora with all her heart. She was even willing to sacrifice her life for Aurora, and that was why she had started to develop a pessimistic view on her own destiny.

But Hila’s statement also showed her complete trust toward Han Xiao, and this was the original objective that Han Xiao had before he intervened in this event.

“I contacted the Six Nations’ reinforcements. They are already nearby, and we decided on a place to meet up tomorrow. If we fail the breach tomorrow, we will still get back up, but if everything goes well, we can probably get out of here before we meet up with the reinforcements.”

“I hope so.”

Hila glanced at Han Xiao and never spoke again.

…

An hour later, the vehicle stopped on an obscured hill.

“There’s still around ten hours until we meet up with the reinforcements. We will breach the encirclement on the east. This is the plan…” Han Xiao took out Viper and put it in front of Hila. “You will wear this suit in the battle tomorrow. In these ten hours, you must master all the controls and weapons on the suit.”

Hila was stunned. “What about you?”

“In order to get through the encirclement, we must create chaos. I will go and blow up their vehicles and ammunition. They will be prepared for my ability to change appearance, but I also have an invisibility power.” What Han Xiao said was naturally Dion’s character card, which he had used once in the headquarters.

Hila understood. “So, I will use the mechanical suit to act like it was you and attract the attention of the enemy because you are the target they want to kill.”

Han Xiao nodded. This strategy took advantage of the mentality of the Germinal Organization. Even though it was just a trick and in no way genius, the plan would be effective.

He adjusted the mechanical armor, opened access for Hila, and helped Hila put it on.

It was a brand-new feeling after she wore the mechanical suit. Through the display, she observed the outside world as if she had stepped through the door of the new world. Hila tried to move around in the armor, but she soon felt the dense weight of the armor. She listened to Han Xiao and tried to learn the confusing controls of the suit.

“What a complex design. Did you make all this?” Hila had a slight surprised tone in her voice.

“What, did you think the suit fell from the sky?” Han Xiao replied.

Han Xiao walked through the maneuvers of Viper with Hila. She knew that she only had ten hours to learn, so she was extremely focused.

Han Xiao did not need Hila to actually master the controls. He only needed Hila stand her ground for a while in front of the enemies.

The darkness faded as the sun rose from the east. Time flew as they wasted no time training for the battle.

Neither of them got any sleep that night.

As Han Xiao realized that it was daybreak, he said, “It’s time. There’s no need for you to take off the suit. Remember the plan and don’t make a mistake.”

…

The encirclement around the plains was like a fishing net that covered all routes. The security was deadly, and the troops were scattered in every direction, awaiting the command from the headquarters. As the encirclement enclosed, the defense line was even denser, making it harder to break through. On top of that, there were mobile reinforcement troops that could quickly provide assistance to any engagement.

On the east side of the encirclement, a large number of vehicles stood by and slowly marched forward as soldiers stood outside the cars, scrutinizing every movement on the plains.

Devin was the executive officer for this troop. He was not a senior executive officer, but he has Esper powers that strengthened his muscles. During combat, his bones would surface and cover his body. His whole body would grow and become a two and half meters tall with skeleton armor, greatly boosting both his Strength and Endurance.

Even though this Esper ability was powerful and threatening, the enemy was the notorious Black Phantom. Devin had no confidence in stopping him.

I hope that guy doesn’t try to breach on my side. I will never be able to stop him,Devin prayed in his heart.

The executive officers in his team also felt the same way. As the Germinal Organization shattered, some people lost part of their loyalty to the organization, and they started to slack during their mission and protocol. This was the vicious cycle on the side losing the war. Only people who viewed the Germinal Organization as their religion and savior had not lose their loyalty, and these groups of people were from the old era that wanted to overthrow the Six Nations. All they wanted was to go to war with the Six Nations while sacrificing their lives. The deadlier the war, the more relieved their hatred would be.

Suddenly, the scouting soldier shouted, “There movement on the southeast side! A vehicle is approaching at a very high speed!”

The entire troop looked over, and they saw a jeep charging through the sand and dust. They quickly realized that the driver was wearing the dark black mechanical suit.

“Attention! An enemy has appeared!”

Why did they choose to break through here‽

Devin was nervous and kept on thinking about how unlucky he was. He even thought of running away. Han Xiao had already killed more than a dozen executive officers, and he did not want to be the next victim.

Suddenly, a tank fired a shell right at the jeep!

Bang!

The sound was louder than thunder, and the smoke and blaze exploded around the jeep.

The jeep jerked violently and dodge the shells and explosion.

After the jeep was five hundred meters away from the enemy, it finally got hit by a gun shell, and the jeep exploded into pieces.

At the same time, Hila jumped up in the mechanical suit, activated the Electromagnetic Hover-boots, and charge forward with an even higher speed. Hila was more agile in the new suit. She dodged all the bullets coming her way and sprayed her machine guns right at the enemy.

Clashes, explosions, screams, and cries—the battlefield was in chaos.

The battle became more intense!

The situation was instantly reported back to the headquarters, and the battle was clearly shown right on the display. The leader jumped up after waiting desperately for intel.

“He finally showed up!” the leader yelled. “Send the rapid response team as reinforcements! Tell everyone else to close up the encirclement with the east side being the center!”

The other troops received the command and started moving. The leader stared closely at the changing formation, and the encirclement quickly closed in onto the east side as if it was a bird cage closing off all escape routes.

Victory is mine!

On the east side of the plains, Hila kept on fighting with the suit on, creating a lot of destruction.

In order to pretend to be Han Xiao, Hila did not use her Esper power and only fought with the suit.

She was not a mechanic, and Hila could not unleash the true power of the suit. There were still a lot of abilities and weapons that she could not use, so she only fought with the basic battle mode. She got exhausted really fast.

The common soldiers could not stop her, so it was time for the executive officer to stand up.

Crack! Crack!

The sound of the cracking bone exploded as Devin started to expand. The bones spiked out and formed his skeleton armor, and he was as tall as a small giant. Devin suppressed his fear and anxiety as he swung his fist at ‘Black Phantom’. Their fists clashed and set off an explosive wave.

Bang!

Such power. Hila held her breath and barely stood still. She did not have enough strength or machinery affinity with the suit. With only the basic combat stats, she could barely hold back Devin’s power.

Devin was prepared to die, but he was surprised that he was still standing, and ‘Black Phantom’ seemed to have suffered damage from his punch.

Why is he so weak? Devin questioned in his mind.

Chapter 256 - Breaking Out (1)

Devin carefully probed his opponent with feints at the start of the battle. However, ever fighting for a while, he found out that ‘Black Phantom’ was not as overwhelmingly strong as he had been led to believe.

The legendary Black Phantom is nothing much. I was worried for nothing.

Devin got a confidence boost and started to attack without reserve.

The battle between the muscular giant and the armored mechanical suit caused a constant sound of clashing fists to be heard. The other Germinal executives that followed behind Devin started to realize that Devin was actually starting to gain the upper hand in the fight, and they were all surprised.

“When did the captain become this strong?”

“No, look! It’s Black Phantom that grew weak!”

“Even someone as strong as him can’t fight in his peak state after escaping for so long. He is at his weakest right now!”

The group of executives were then also bolstered and were no longer afraid. They stepped up one after another to gang up on Black Phantom.

Based on how much attention the leader paid Han Xiao, capturing him would definitely count as a great achievement!

Get him while he’s weak!

The battle between this group of superhumans wreaked havoc on the surroundings, creating massive ditches everywhere. The troops were not just watching either as they open fired whenever Black Phantom showed an opening.

Hila was fighting for her life, and she was losing ground every second. She could only clench her teeth as she received blow after blow from all directions. If she was using her usual fighting style, she never would’ve let her enemies gang up on her like this. If not for Viper’s defensive capabilities, she would’ve long since bit the dust.

The Germinal leader’s eyes lit up. “His condition is getting even worse. Now we definitely got him!”

The leader originally only wanted to use the five senior executives to stall Han Xiao. However, Han Xiao’s strength was now deteriorating by the second. It must have been caused by the built-up pressure while escaping.

“Who is this executive? He’s got potential,” said the leader.

The assistant hurriedly searched up the information and answered, “His name is Devin, and uhh… no notable achievements so far.

The leader scoffed and replied, “We are at war, and every single strong soldier is an important asset. Missing out on him would be a true misstep on our part!”

…

_____________________

Character Summon card has been used.

Current Usage: 2/2

The card will soon disappear.

_____________________

When Hila had all the Germinal forces’ attention, Han Xiao sneaked into the midst of the troops and was busy planting explosives underneath every single Germinal vehicle.

The ability gained from Dion’s character card was extremely effective, and not a single soldier noticed what he was doing. It was as if he had disappeared off into thin air right in front of them, but Han Xiao was still being as careful as possible, as entering combat would immediately cancel the concealment effect.

This is such a suitable Esper ability for thieves. No wonder Dion was able to steal classified information with ease. He probably even went to some good places with this ability. Damn…

Han Xiao was a little envious. He had also coveted some sort of invisibility skill when he was young. It had even been one of his thirty-three life goals at one point. It had only been scratched off the list afterward when he had already gained a decent amount of experience.

Under the cloak of invisibility, Han Xiao’s senses toward his surroundings were completely different. It was as if a thick cloud had covered everything around him, and it felt quite surreal. The feeling of being invisible reminded of an old film that he had watched. He remembered that it was called the Lord’s Ring or something.

This surrounding troops had a limited number of vehicles, and Han Xiao quickly finished planting all the explosives. He only left a few cars to be used for escaping later.

There’s still two minutes left on my invisibility. I just need to wait for the explosion and steal a car to escape.

Everything up till now had progressed as planned.

Han Xiao returned to the edge of the battle and saw that Hila was getting beaten up from all directions pitifully. The suit that she was unfamiliar with was not able to offer much help in holding out against all those executives.

Han Xiao took out a communicator that was connected to the earpiece inside the armor and said softly, “I am about eighty meters to the north of your position. A big explosion will occur in a few moments. Run toward me immediately after and switch out of the suit with me. There’s an armored car here for us to escape in!”

Although Hila could not see him, she had heard his instructions.

Han Xiao started counting down. Ten… five… three… He pressed down on the button.

Boom!

It was as if the ground shook for second!

Like a volcanic eruption, flaming pillars rose up high into the sky as all the armored vehicles blew up one after another.

A wave of heat rolled over and brought with it a dust storm. Countless ordinary soldiers were instantly knocked off their feet.

The Germinal forces were shocked stiff!

Why did it all suddenly explode‽

Using the brief moment of chaos, Hila rushed over to Han Xiao’s position through the clouds of dust. She quickly got out of the suit and swapped with Han Xiao. Han Xiao ran along as he put on the suit. The whole process only took about three seconds. Han Xiao had already accomplished his mission with the invisibility, and continuing to let Hila wear the suit would just be a waste. The last time that Han Xiao had modified the suit, he had added an assistive device to help with equipping it and taking it off, making it much more convenient.

Hila got into the driver seat of the car and turned on the engine. However, the dust and smoke cleared at this moment, and the Germinal forces once again saw Black Phantom’s figure. However, no one knew that, this time, it was the real deal.

“Don’t you even think of running!” Devin roared furiously and swung his fist. His big and muscly form bounded over and shook the ground briefly. His talent allowed him to strengthen his skeletal structure, making it as strong and heavy as steel. The might of his talent was combined with an active skill as he threw a fist at his foe. Based on the previous exchanges, he had already found out that ‘Black Phantom’ could not break his defense at all, and he did not even bother guarding his body this time.

It’s fine if you thought you could bully Hila, but now you want to do the same to me‽

Han Xiao’s eyes focused, and he activated both [Surging Mechanical Force] and [Overload]. The Mini Bonfire Reaction Furnace on his back burned bright red and started to make turbine-like sounds as the suit’s power rose exponentially. A piece of machinery would only truly become powerful in the hands of a mechanic.

As Devin swung his fist out, full of confidence from his previous fight with ‘Black Phantom’, he suddenly realized that his current enemy was releasing an unbelievable amount of murderous pressure. He instantly felt a gust of cold wind up the back of his head. This Black Phantom was drastically different from the one that he had fought against just a minute ago!

Danger!

Extreme danger!

Devin was shocked and felt goosebumps rising all over his body. The next second, all he saw was a sudden flash before an arm that travelled so fast that it left behind after-images slammed into his head. What followed was an explosive force on the top of his head before his whole body was smashed onto the ground like a bag of trash!

Bang!

His skull, which was as strong as solid steel, cracked into pieces as if it was made of glass.

Han Xiao’s left hand firmly held Devin’s head and locked him on the ground. The muscular giant could not break free no matter how much he tried. Just like a chef holding down a fish on the chopping board, Han Xiao’s right hand bulged up with the suit’s muscle system, and he slammed another fist onto Devin’s back as he activated the repulsion device, causing a wave of smoke and dust to spread out with the two at the center.

Crack!

Devin’s skeletal structure exploded apart, and blood splattered everywhere before his whole body sank to the ground. The Germinal executive had long since fallen unconscious. The battle interface showed that Devin had received critical damage and was currently in a stunned state.

“Boy, you came after the wrong opponent.”

Han Xiao shook his arm a few times as he observed the pieces of bone and skull scattered everywhere.

This talent is rather interesting. Was he able to strengthen his bones?

Devin was only level forty-something, and his strength meant nothing in front of him. It took Han Xiao less than three seconds to put him down. The others who had been prepared to rush up just a moment ago slowed their steps in confusion.

Just half a minute ago, Devin had still been going blow for blow with him, yet now he had been taken care of in just a single exchange!

Why was there such a huge change? It was as if this was a whole different person!

The ‘Black Phantom’ from before had been fighting like a newbie compared to this current one whose presence alone dwarfed those around him.

The group of Germinal executives had wanted to rush up earlier to take advantage of Black Phantom’s weakened state, but now, no one dared even take another step forward.

The leader saw all this unfold through the screen, and he could only feel a ball of fire clumped at the back side of his throat. It was as if someone had poured ice-cold water on him as he was just starting to get excited.

Chapter 257 - Breaking Out (2)

Viper worn by him was the true Black Phantom!

The drastic change in their opponent’s strength caused the Germinal forces to sink into temporary chaos. Han Xiao took this chance and jumped onto the car, and Hila immediately stepped on the gas and took off. The car was like an unleashed bull, and it just slammed its way out of the encirclement.

The Germinal soldiers were still wary of their leader’s orders and tried to give chase. However, Han Xiao had already armed the car with long range weaponry, and they were able to shoot off all the pursuers.

As most of the vehicles had been blown up by his explosives, there were only a few who managed to give chase while the rest were all soon left behind.

The journey ahead was smooth, and this raised Hila’s spirits despite her fatigue.

“We made it out!”

The moment Han Xiao heard that sentence, he knew that something was up.

Just as he thought, just as Hila finished the sentence, three black hawk helicopters appeared on the horizon and made a beeline for them.

“This is Germinal’s instant response taskforce!” Hila’s expression became grave. “Thankfully, there are only three of the helicopters. With their limited firepower, we can get close enough for me to take care of the pilots directly with my powers!”

Buzz!

Viper’s built in radar suddenly sounded an alarm as it picked up five extremely strong life signals in the helicopters. These individuals were all well over LV 50 and were Germinal’s strongest military force. All three of these helicopters were built to carry combat personnel, and now that they were being chased by the five similarly high-level people, there was no way that they were going to escape easily. Han Xiao suddenly felt depressed.

“Is something wrong with you? Please stop speaking already! Do you want to die that bad‽” Han Xiao shouted toward Hila, then without a single delay, pulled out his Ghost sniper rifle and took a shot at the closest helicopter.

A ray of faint blue accompanied the bullet as it shot out of the barrel and drew a line in the sky like a horizontal streak of lightning!

However, the always trusty sniper rifle did not find its mark this time!

The charged bullet was stopped short in front of the helicopter as if an invisible hand had grabbed it midair.

Force-field type. At least LV 50! Han Xiao’s heart dropped as he knew that things were not looking good.

A middle-aged female soldier in combat uniform then poked her head out from one of the helicopters. Han Xiao zoomed using Viper’s interface and saw that she had average looks, a nasty scar that cut through her lips, and short hair. She raised her hand and pointed it at the car on the ground.

Han Xiao then felt the car shake.

No, that was not right. It was the ground that was shaking!

The ground within fifty meters of the car started to vibrate as if waves on the ocean, and suddenly, a large chunk of ground rose up in front of the car, forming a ramp. Hila was not able to avoid it in time and drove right on top of it. The mini platform was too narrow for the car’s wheels, and so the car was stuck upside-down as the wheels slowly stopped spinning. The two people in the car almost flew out from the sudden stop.

At the same time, the helicopters did a fly-by and released their missiles toward the stranded vehicle.

Han Xiao and Hila hurriedly abandoned the car.

Boom!

Both the armored car and the surrounding rocks were blown to smithereens. Metal parts and dirt flew out in all directions.

Five people jumped down from the helicopters—the senior executives!

They instantly rushed toward the duo. Each of the five had a drastically different appearance, but all of them gave off an intense pressure.

Han Xiao and Hila went prone on the ground have just dodged the explosions, and Hila’s eardrums were still ringing because of it. She struggled to get back up, glanced toward the five executives, and said through gritted teeth, “I can’t believe that Germinal has sent them. They’re the top fighting force in in the organization, and except for extremely urgent missions, not even one of them even show up. This time, all five came to stop us. We’re in big trouble. There are two Espers, ‘Soul Shield’ Jeross and ‘Earth Hand’ Ingris. The three other pugilists…”

“Shut up and start running!”

Without waiting for her to finish, Han Xiao took off in the opposite direction while firing back at the executives. However, all the bullets were all stopped short by the force field executive.

Hila followed behind. Although she had a pair of long legs, she was still no match for Han Xiao’s Electromagnetic Hover-boots. As he could not just leave her behind either, Han Xiao grabbed Hila’s hand, increased the shoe’s output, and dragged her across the landscape.

Helping Hila meant that he could not fire back at the executives as much, but since it was still able to slightly delay the executives, it was more than enough for Han Xiao.

“We have backup ahead. Just hold out for a bit longer and wait for their help,” Han Xiao said with a low voice.

Although the enemy reinforcements would also soon arrive if they were to stall for too long, it was their only option as they had already lost their car and could no longer shake off the pursuers.

Hila turned her body and shot an arc of dark-red energy toward the executives, but doing this caused her to start coughing. Her condition was not looking good. If it was not for the dire situation, Han Xiao would have already tried to make fun of her.

“Leave me behind.” Hila, with a blank expression on her face, suddenly spoke. “You have the suit and can surely outrun enemy transportation. Just escape without me. I’m only a burden to you at this point.”

Han Xiao frowned and was enraged by what she had said. “Don’t you give me that self-sacrificing bullsh*t. How long do you think you can even hold them back? Ten seconds? Twenty? What’s the point‽ If you dare let go of my hand right now to stay back to fight, I won’t even bother taking care of your sister after you’ve died!”

“You!” Hila got angry, too. Just then, she had started to loosen her grip on Han Xiao’s hand. However, just when she had made up her mind to stay behind and buy time for Han Xiao, he had stopped her with her only weakness—her sister. Hila was troubled. Although she was trying to sacrifice herself for the sake of her sister, Han Xiao was actually threatening her with Aurora. “Do you not understand the situation? If you just leave me behind, your chance of escaping will rise above seventy percent. What’re you not satisfied with‽”

“I don’t need you to teach me that. Let me tell you something, you aren’t worth that much. If things do get to that point, then I will leave you behind without a second thought. So, shut up and just follow me! I don’t need no favors from you,” Han Xiao replied without even turning his head.

Hila was dumbfounded. She gave a meaningful gaze to Han Xiao’s back, and just let herself be dragged along without saying another word while occasionally shooting waves of red energy toward their pursuers.

The five senior executives were slightly faster than them and were able to catch up with the duo after a three-minute chase. Now that there was no point in running, Han Xiao turned back to fight. His Magnetic Chain Split Blades drew arcs in the air, his Thermo-Electrical Incisor Gloves gave out hissing sounds as it reached an extremely high temperature, and his Ghost sniper rifle shot out round after round. Han Xiao made no reserves.

The fierce battle between this group of high level superhumans destroyed the surroundings. Jeross’ force field power was used to blast out constant cannon-like shockwaves that left craters on the ground. With him also supporting the other executives with defensive type forcefields, Han Xiao had a hard time trying to deal damage. Ingris formed the earth into numerous dragons that brutally clashed into Han Xiao and Hila, forming even more holes on the ground. The three pugilists fought as their fists were imbued with unspeakable strength, and their bodies were aflame with energy. The shockwaves from their punches were capable of doing massive damage.

Hila tried her best to muster her dwindling strength to cooperate with Han Xiao. Her unique Esper ability allowed her to directly attack her opponents’ minds. Although she was not that powerful yet, with how tricky her powers were and her experience in combat, she was able to work with Han Xiao seamlessly and significantly lessened the pressure on him.

None of the five senior executives were mechanics. Up till this point, mechanics were among the rarest among the people with high levels due to the class’s unimpressive early game attributes. Han Xiao was basically the strongest mechanic on the planet.

Fighting five people who were all approaching LV 60 simultaneously was taxing even for Han Xiao. The five worked together perfectly, and Han Xiao could barely go even with them, much less actually defeat them. Jeross’ force field abilities were like a natural counter to Han Xiao, and he could not get anywhere with his attacks.

In the middle of the fight, Han Xiao caught a glimpse of the Germinal forces that he had previously left behind. However, there were even more Black Hawks flying over from the horizon.

It was like a huge net that was slowly closing in on Han Xiao and Hila.

The enemy reinforcements were here!

Chapter 258 - Breaking out (3)

On the horizon, the reinforcements from the Germinal Organization quickly approached and surrounded Han Xiao. The situation turned south as a number of military helicopters hovered around the battlefield. The longer the fight dragged on, the more enemies would show up. Han Xiao had to fight while diverting his focus to look for any signals of the Six Nations reinforcement. His anxiety grew every second he waited for the signal.

Bang bang bang!

Han Xiao took three hits from the attacks from the pugilists, and bursts of energy exploded on Han Xiao suit. The platinum alloy armor started to show some dents and cracks. The energy of a pugilist had an armor penetration buff, but Han Xiao’s armor level was on par with that of a boss. If Han Xiao was a pugilist on the same level, under the continuous heavy attacks, he would have at least received some light injuries. However, Han Xiao acted like nothing had happened, and his movement was as agile as before.

The five senior executive officers’ jaws dropped as Han Xiao handled their attacks with ease. They thought that they could take Han Xiao’s life if it was a five versus one, and yet the battle was still in a stalemate.

“Even if we are on the same level, Han Xiao is too strong.”

Han Xiao fired back and pulled out compounded magnetic chain split blades with the skill [Revolving Slashes]. However, Han Xiao maneuvered the skill into [Blade Hurricane], as if a hedgehog protecting himself with the spikes. The pugilist would only inflict damage on himself as he punched Han Xiao.

The battle information flooded Han Xiao as the battle went on. He quickly observed the situation and thought, Ingris’ Esper power that can control earth and mud poses the most trouble to me even though it does not inflict much damage. Her health is the lowest out of everyone else, so I can use that as the opportunity to break the encirclement. If I use the Flaming Will and get a critical hit, he will at least be out of the fight. However, it will be hard to get rid of Jeross’ forcefield to attack him.

He contacted Hila using the earpieces and asked, “Do you have skills that are lethal? Only your power can get through the forcefield without much effect. I just need you to stop Jeross from using his Esper power for a second, just one second!”

“Give me two seconds,” Hila replied and stood still. Her body slowly sent out a dark red light, and she trusted Han Xiao to provide the two-second opening.

The five officers instantly noticed the action of Hila. They knew that Hila had been a powerful soldier in the Germinal Organization until recently, so even though they did not know what she was doing, they quickly switched target and threw attacks toward Hila.

Han Xiao jumped in front of Hila without hesitation. He reached out one arm, created the repulsive field, and blocked off the hail of bullets and two pugilists, and then he blocked the rest of the attacks with his mechanical suit.

After two seconds, Hila’s eyes looked like two dark red suns, she pointed her arm toward Ingris, ready to fire. Jeross quickly reacted and created an invisible force field around Ingris.

The next second, with Hila still pointing her arm toward Ingris, a red visible storm was sweeping toward Jeross, and he took a direct hit!

Jeross did not expected this. Blood shoot through his nose as he blacked out while falling on his back.

The psychic attack that Hila had released had never been directed with her hand. She could easily attack in whichever direction she wanted. Moreover, Hila’s fighting sense was sharp, and seeing that everyone was focusing on protecting Ingris, she tricked Jeross by reaching her hand out toward Ingris and inflicted great damage onto Jeross.

Now’s my chance!

Han Xiao used Moving Snipe and got away from the pugilists. With the Ghost sniper rifle in his hand, he fired a shot at Ingris while activating all his buffs.

_____________________

You used [Flaming Will]. The attack damage is amplified by 512%.

_____________________

At this moment, Han Xiao almost cried.

Oh, the lord has answered my prayers! I’ve had this skill for almost a year, and this is the first time I’ve gotten the maximum critical damage!

Buzz!

A thin and straight pierce right through three walls and shield Ingris tried to create, and her chest exploded with blood like a rose blossom.

_____________________

From your skill [Lethal Critical Hits], damage increased by 250%.

[Lethal Shot] activated, the damage is turned into true damage!

You dealt 4,346 points of critical damage!

You’ve killed Ingris (LV 58). You’ve gained 175,000 experience.

You’ve gained 32 Trial Points.

_____________________

“Holy sh*t, that damage!” Han Xiao shouted with surprise!

From LV 60 onward, one-shotting an enemy on the same level was much more difficult when Han Xiao was at lower level. If he had not seen it with his own eyes, Han Xiao never would have believed that his explosive power was that strong.

All his abilities and skills made his buff higher than anyone had expected, including the preposterous skill [Flaming Will] that he had learned from Bennett. This was the first time that his own damage had scared Han Xiao himself.

Ingris collapsed and did not make a sound.

The remaining four people was stunned, and everyone’s face turned green.

They had never heard of someone who could one-shot a superhuman at this level. After witnessing the death of Ingris, fear that they had never felt before quickly swallowed their hearts.

Han Xiao pressed on while their morale was low. However, the helicopters and tanks suddenly fired at Han Xiao, providing support for the executive officers.

Bullets and bombs exploded right where Han Xiao was standing as dust and smoke filled the air. Han Xiao tried to dodge the bullets, but an armor penetrating tank shell directly hit Han Xiao, and his body flew back under the impact and rolled on the ground. The side of the suit was smoking and shattered. The durability of the suit dropped a few hundred points after that hit, and the microchip system was temporarily unresponsive.

After taking a direct hit from a powerful shell, even a Class-C superhuman would suffer injury, while a Class-D superhuman would be in a critical condition. If one were a Class-E superhuman, one’s body would be shattered into pieces, and there’s no need to talk about average human being.

Han Xiao’s enemies were not only the five senior executive officers in front of him but also the entire fleet backing them up!

“God damn it…” Han Xiao struggled to get up. Suddenly, he felt strangled around his arms and legs. Jeross snared and limited his movement. Han Xiao suddenly felt a cold shiver through her spine. He was in danger!

The three pugilist executive officers charged toward Han Xiao, and their energy was at its peak. Because of their fear of death, they used all their hidden potential and power to defeat Han Xiao.

Hila stood in front of the three officers, and her enemy blew her hair up. She bit her tongue and forcefully released the Necromastery shock blast. However, all pugilists had strong endurance, and they easily blocked off the mental shock of Hila’s power. The fists and kicks covered in energy quickly landed on Hila’s body. The sound of cracking bone pierced through Han Xiao’s ears as if it was a firecracker.

Without any delay, a dense forcefield in the shape of a spear pierced through Hila’s stomach and left a bloody wound that was as large as two fists—her organs were all destroyed.

The impact of the force field made Hila fly away a dozen meters and land on the ground. Her hair was scattered like flower blossom, covered in a pool of reddish blood.

In Han Xiao’s mind, there was no way for a LV 40 Esper to survive under that attack.

“One down, one more to go!” Jeross said with his deadly eyes.

The dark blue force exploded, and Han Xiao got away from the force field. He quickly ran next to Hila and checked her condition. After a single touch, he knew that Hila’s arms, ribs, and spine were shattered to dust. A huge hole was in the middle of the body, and all her organs were mashed together like jam.

Han Xiao took out Adrenaline and stabbed it into Hila, but as he looked at her body, Hila’s kidneys also turned into mush.

Hila closed her eyes and stopped breathing.

“Hey, you’re not just gonna die, right‽” Han Xiao could not react. Hila was going to be a superhuman capable of planetary destruction and single handedly wiping out starship fleet. How could a huge talent die here without making history?

Or did he take the battle too far?

As more and more enemies showed up, Han Xiao frowned.

During a battle, rage could never overtake his mind. He would never get overheated since he knew that he did not have that kind of personality. He quickly analyzed the situations on the battlefield, and the best option was to run away by himself.

Han Xiao glanced at the corpse of Hila, and his face froze.

Hesitation only leads to trouble…

Chapter 259 - Reinforcements and Traps

Suddenly, within a radius of two kilometers, all the corpses released a gray mist, which slowly gathered around Hila.

Hila opened her eyes, which were covered in mysterious gray instead of the dark red light. Her bones started to crack, and her wounds healed. Within a few breaths, she fixed her bones and the bloody wound in her stomach also closed off.

Aha, she’s still alive! Han Xiao was surprised.

Oh, doesn’t this scene perfectly resemble the words ‘What doesn’t kill you make you stronger.’ Like how Gandalf came back from the dead as a white wizard.

No wonder she’s the candidate for the goddess of death. Show them you power girl!

Hila sat up, and the gray mist faded away. Her eyes returned to the normal collar, and she started coughing intensely. She said in a fragile voice, “Go, leave me now. I’m too weak to do anything.”

Han Xiao bit his lips.

Damn it. Why did you make such a scene if you are not going on rampage? I got excited just to get disappointed. You’re still a weakling!

Oh right, I remember she had an ability called [Ignore Sudden Death], where she gained a special effect if her health points were lower than 1%. I thought she would ignore the damage from the fatal attack, but it’s actually rapid healing. What a tenacious life force, but this ability must have a cool down.

The enemies surrounded them. Han Xiao was not in a good position, and Hila had become a burden. The chance of surviving became slimmer and slimmer.

“Didn’t you say that you’ll abandon me when you have to? Now it’s the time! Run away!” Hila’s face was pale, and she used all her strength to get those words out. Her hand was on Han Xiao’s chest, trying to push him away.

“Okay.” Han Xiao nodded directly. He was not the type of person who would hesitate. Abandoning her was the best course of action, and there was no benefit to staying with Hila. He would not make a choice that made him worse off.

Even though Han Xiao really wanted Hila to be on his team, if necessary, he would up give Hila up in the blink of an eye.

Seeing that Han Xiao had already made his choice, Hila relaxed and said, “Please take care of my sis..”

Suddenly, Han Xiao heard an unfamiliar voice through the earphones.

“Hey, I see you guys, we are coming!”

Han Xiao was slightly relieved as he looked toward the south. Three black armored jeeps without any plates showed up on the side of the battlefield in an arrow formation, approaching them at high speed.

The helicopter from the Germinal Organization flew toward them. Han Xiao’s display zoomed in and clearly saw a woman’s white arm, wearing a bracelet made out of red pearls, stretched out of the windows of the jeep.

The next moment, a surge of burning flames shot out from the palm of the women’s hand, and the flame turned into a roaring flaming dragon that flew into the sky and consumed the helicopter.

Boom!

The helicopter fell from the sky.

The three jeeps drove around the burning helicopter and headed right toward Han Xiao.

“The reinforcements are here!” Han Xiao felt the boulder in his heart finally lifting. He slapped Hila’s cheeked and laughed. “Seems that you don’t have to die today.”

The reinforcements were composed of the best superhumans in the Six Nations with the best equipment that the nation provided.

The three jeeps crashed right into the battlefield and broke open the Germinal Organization’s encirclement. The female Esper released her power without any reservation, turning the battlefield into a burning sea.

This was not normal fire but the fire created by energy using special an Esper power. After the flame hit the target, it would explode. This was called the explosive flame, one of the destructive powers of the fire Esper.

With only one look, Han Xiao already judged that this woman was a Class-C superhuman.

All the Germinal Organization’s troops tried to turn their crosshairs on the jeeps, but the three jeeps suddenly released smoke similar to a smoke bomb, which quickly spread out, blocking the vision of half of the battlefield.

The Germinal Organization lost their targets, and they could not even see their own team. The visible range was only as far as one meter.

Then, the sound of coughs arose in the smoke. The smoke contained a strong irritating substance similar to tear gas.

“Where is the enemy‽ I can’t see, cough cough—”

“I can’t breathe! Cough.”

“New enemies have shown up. Please give us instructions, bleurgh… give us instructions!”

“The radar is not working. The enemy have an interference machine!”

The Germinal Organization was in chaos. However, the four senior executive officers quickly grasped the situation and recalled the view of the battlefield before the smoke appeared. Then they charge toward where Han Xiao had been, but Han Xiao had already disappeared.

“He’s getting away!” Jeross was shocked. “Can any of you track his position?”

The three pugilists stared at each other.

They knew how to punch things, but tracking enemies was not in their job description.

Ingris had good perception due through sense movements on the soil, but she had already been killed.

In the dense smoke, Han Xiao carried Hila on his shoulders like he was carrying a sack of rice. The reinforcements quickly gave the location to meet up, and he soon found the three military jeeps. One of the doors to the back seat open, and Han Xiao jumped in without a second thought.

There were three people in the jeep. The driver was a Sharnuk, wearing sunglasses, and had a buff body. The white woman with the red pearl bracelet sat in the passenger seat. She was the Esper who had the explosive flame power. There was another yellow man who was using a control panel on the ceiling of the jeep.

“Target acquired, we need to move out!” the Sharnuk driver shouted with his deep voice.

Three jeeps changed direction and left the smoky battlefield behind them.

The troops quickly recovered from the smoke and got back into formation, chasing right after the jeep. The helicopter kept its distance from the jeeps, fearing that the fire Esper would shoot them down.

“We’re saf…” Hila was about to show a sign of relief, but Han Xiao quickly covered her mouth.

Stay quiet and rest, will you?

The yellow man looked at Han Xiao and smiled. “I have heard a lot about you. We finally got you out. I am Tang Tang, a member from Stardragon’s Division 13. The director-general always mentions your name. You have done great things. The driver is Alaupog from Theseus, and the lady is Diana from the Maple.

“Okay let’s stop with the mindless chit-chat.” Diana did not even look back and said, “Now that we have the target, all the enemies are right behind us. What should we do?”

“Uhm, since they still have reinforcements behind them, we can’t afford to stay and fight them,” Tang Tang replied. “We just follow the planned route, and we can shake them off after half a day and remain hidden.”

Hila regained some of her energy and asked, “Why didn’t you use a plane?”

“How would you have wanted us to sneak into the Germinal Organization’s territory in a plane? Or do you want us to be a shooting target in the sky?” Diana’s tone was sharp and cold.

The reinforcement had three jeeps in total, and they still did not know who was in the other jeeps.

After successfully meeting up with the reinforcement team, they were still being chased by the enemy. However, it was good news that they already broke out of the encirclement, and all they had to do was to spend some time and lose the troops behind them.

Han Xiao let out a long sigh. He was providing his intel in exchange for the Six Nations’ support. It definitely felt nice to have reinforcements rather than just fighting alone.

Other than Tang Tang, the two people in front of the car kept on observing Han Xiao from the rear mirror. They were all the aces from their own countries, and this large-scale joint operation was only to save one person. On paper, they knew the incredible things that Han Xiao had done, and since they had finally met in person, they were naturally curious.

From stealing intel from the headquarters of the Germinal Organization to fighting the entire army to get away from the territory, all these people viewed Han Xiao as a superior human compared to them, and they could not help but observe Han Xiao.

After two hours, the ground became less and less firm, soon turning to sand. They had left the plains and now reached the desert. The troops behind them could no longer be seen, and they were temporarily safe.

The dense atmosphere soon relaxed. Han Xiao did not take off his suit, but he just left it on sleep mode, waiting for it to recharge.

“The east side of the plains has a small desert right next to it. The place used to be a nuclear bomb testing area, and the radiation is high, killing all plants and animals. It will take around eight hours to travel through the desert. After that, we will reach an area with complex hills and mountains. As long as we avoid any base along the way…” Tang Tang explained the escape route.

Suddenly, Han Xiao’s computer in his suit received a call.

It was from the leader.

“Well done, you actually got through the encirclement in the plains.” The leader seemed calm, but Han Xiao had expected the leader to be raging. His suspicion quickly rose.

Something is wrong!

“Hehe, do you think you safe now?” The leader laughed. “Do you think I never noticed the team that infiltrated my territory a few days ago?”

Han Xiao froze. Something bad was coming their way.

“I never tried to stop them just so that I could get this change. I really wasn’t be able to track your position, but at least I could track your reinforcements. I knew you were going to meet up with them, and from the movement of you and your team, I could at least predict the where you would meet up.

“That’s right, your reinforcements were heading to the east side of the plains, meaning that you will escape from this side. Unfortunately for you, I knew this at least ten hours ago.

“Zero, you are not all-knowing and all-powerful, right?”

The leader suddenly had murderous intent in his voice.

“Open your eyes, and be grateful for your last parade I have prepared… This will be the end, Han Xiao!”

Han Xiao looked out from the window, and the hills and valleys were filled with ambush troops with dozens of military helicopter hovering around the sky. Hundreds of machine guns were spread in the sandbag base, and soldiers holding grenade launchers and SMGs stood still near the base, awaiting orders.

The number of soldiers was more than double the previous battle.

Chapter 260 - Unexpected Helpers

“How can there be an ambush‽” Tang Tang was spooked. “Cr*p. Could Germinal have been monitoring us all this time and waited all this time to catch us in one fell swoop‽”

“What’s the point of saying all this now?” Diana furiously responded.

Their squad had snuck this far into Germinal territory, and everything had been smooth sailing. No one had thought that this would turn out to be a trap!

The situation had turned completely reversed!

Ten hours earlier, the Germinal leader had secretly ordered the troops that were to form the northern, western, and southern parts of the previous encirclement to make haste for this patch of wasteland to wait in ambush. The leader knew that if Han Xiao succeeded in breaking out, he would definitely pass by this area.

Han Xiao did not read about anything on this ambush in the forums. This operation completely excluded the players as the leader remembered from what Cyberlos had told him—that Han Xiao could be an Inhuman—and feared that there was some sort of a special way for Inhumans to communicate between each other. This completely blind guess from the leader paid off, and Germinal was able to set up the troops without warning Han Xiao and the rescue team.

Moreover, the leader was no longer making orders from the faraway headquarters, but rather, right there on the field.

The long-awaited moment had finally arrived!

The leader stood on the sand dunes ahead of Han Xiao’s group as his windbreaker flapped in the air, and his face was still covered under a mask. Behind him were several dozen executives who stared in front of them like hunters staring at prey who had fallen into their trap.

The two’s eyes met in this fated moment.

Han Xiao’s communicator once rang out with the leader’s voice.

“Didn’t you wanted to fight me? Now that I’m right here, do you dare come?”

Han Xiao released a breath and said, “Not bad…”

This move by the leader was outside of Han Xiao’s expectations, but in hindsight, it was not too surprising. The two’s conversation last night had not only been used by Han Xiao to probe his enemy; the leader had also used it to his advantage.

As the prey in the middle of enemy territory, it was way too hard to always make flawless plans to react to the enemy’s movements. Faced with Germinal troops encroaching from all directions, it was impossible for Han Xiao to predict everything, given his limited resources. Getting this far was already a feat in and of itself.

The Germinal leader finally got him back for being trolled so many times!

If they had not been standing on opposing sides, Han Xiao would have wanted to give a standing ovation for the leader.

How hard did he work? It was too touching!

No plan could always work. There were always unpredictable factors, and now that they had run into this situation, they could only rely on their own strength. All Han Xiao had done up till this point was help himself amass strength. Now, he was standing right in front of the limit of Version 1.0, just a step away from breaking through the LV 60 threshold.

This dangerous situation was also filled with opportunity.

Approximately ten C-class superhumans against thousands of heavily armed elite soldiers and fifty executive offices!

“What more is there to say? Let’s just do it.”

Han Xiao was calm as he turned off the communicator. There was still about half a minute before the two sides would clash, and he used the time to inspect his own status.

Viper still has 61% of energy, about 4,200 armor points, 3,800 health points, which is about 87%; about above-average form.

His mission details showed that [The Ultimate Trial] had reached 815/2000 in completion.

The enemy forces are numerous with very high firepower. Our advantage lies in our individual fighting strength, Han Xiao thought as he hoped that his teammates in the other cars who he had not met would not let him down.

A mission suddenly popped out in the interface.

_____________________

You have triggered C Class special mission, [The Traitor’s Ambush]!

Mission Requirements: Defeat the Germinal leader. Must deal at least 60% of the total damage.

Mission Award: Lottery draw on two of the leader’s skills or talents.

_____________________

Han Xiao’s eyes flashed when he saw this. At least sixty percent… This won’t be easy.

He had not fought the leader before this, and the leader was a main character on Planet Aquamarine, just like Bennett. He was certainly extremely strong. In his current form, putting aside defeating the leader, Han Xiao might even struggle to shave off a third of his health even if he went all out.

Moreover, there would be countless obstacles in his way on the battlefield. Han Xiao might not even be able to single out the leader. However, despite its high difficulty, the mission reward was very tempting to Han Xiao.

As a main character on the planet, the leader had to have some pretty amazing skills and talents. He might even have the legendary Lucky Halo. It would be like hitting the jackpot if Han Xiao were to get that. However, when he thought about Germinal’s pitiful condition, Han Xiao started to have doubts. Uhm… He should have the Lucky Halo… right?

Then, everyone was pushed back into their seats as the three cars accelerated toward the enemy.

Tang Tang said in a grave voice, “Everyone, ready up!”

…

“This is our chance to take out Zero and the Six Nation’s top fighting force once and for all.”

The leader looked down on the fast approaching cars as he stood on the dune.

He had only had ten or so hours to mobilize these troops, and the heavier vehicles like tanks had been left behind. The main force of the ambush consisted of thousands of foot soldiers who would provide cover fire along with over ten attack helicopters. The dozens of executives behind him and the leader were the trump cards.

“Fire!”

At once, gunfire exploded across the battlefield, sounding like countless thunder strikes. A hail of bullets flew in from all directions, virtually covering all the empty spaces. The rescue team was trapped in the middle like a caged beast. At the same time, a semi-transparent circular force field expanded and covered the three cars. All the attacks landed unceasingly on the energy barrier, causing it to flicker constantly. However, the cars in the center remained unharmed throughout.

The cars continued to move at a high speed, leaving a trail of black smoke as attack after attack landed on them. The large number of mines that were planted in the sands exploded upon contact with the barrier, causing yellow sand to fill the sky. The barrier was growing dimmer by the second.

This barrier came from the inside of the car on the left side at the rear of the group. Under the protection of the barrier, the Six Nations’ forces were able to approach their enemy without taking much damage.

“Ordina’s ‘Azure Protector’ Fazzad.” The Germinal leader was calm. He had an impression of all the top fighters of each nation, and he could pretty much guess their identities just by seeing their powers in action.

The rescue team was about to smash right into enemy formations, but the leader remained unfazed. He sent out some orders, and the Germinal troops repositioned themselves to encircle the cars while keeping a safe distance instead of clashing head-on. He understood that ordinary troops had no chance against a group of extremely powerful superhumans, so he had long been prepared for it.

The cars were soon stuck in the middle of the swarms of Germinal forces, and the leader’s eye flashed. “Let me see. Who else is here?”

“Go!” Diana was the first out of the car and immediately blasted gusts of flame out of her hands toward the surrounding troops. Three of the machine gun nests in her immediate vicinity were turned into raging infernos.

The driver, Alaupog, was a Sanu warrior. People of the Sanu tribe were born with patterned stripes on their skins. These stripes lit up in bright red as Alaupog entered the battle. The stripes snaked around and covered more skin, and his whole body started to grow larger, causing his shirt to rip, eventually allowing him to grow into a four-meter-tall giant. He was like a humanoid tank as he smashed through the Germinal ranks, causing bodies to fly up into the sky along the way.

Aside from these three, the other two people in the car also stepped off to join the fight. One was fully equipped with a heavily armored mechanical suit that made him resemble a rhino. His weapon was a specially-crafted two-handed hammer with rocket boosters built into one end [1. This is similar to Reinhardt’s hammer in Overwatch]. The other newcomer let out an animalistic roar before he summoned a flood of bugs out of the desert ground that tore countless Germinal soldiers into pieces. It was a genuine beast summoning skill, much stronger than Han Xiao’s half-assed [Call of The Wild]. Fazzad also continued to supply his allies with a glowing protective barrier.

The dozens of Germinal executives rushed forward to meet their foe. Although they were up against the best fighters of the Six Nations, they soon turned the battle into a stalemate due to their numerical advantage and impressive teamwork.

The superhumans went all out with their respective abilities and caused chaos in the surrounding battlefield.

Han Xiao dragged the still-recovering Hila out of the car, and he found out that these people were all familiar faces. They were all famous people on Planet Aquamarine.

Each of them was their own nation’s highest fighting force. In the past, players had to earn an astronomical amount of reputation points before they even had a chance to make contact with these NPCs. Now, these powerful characters had all come together, all for Han Xiao.

Han Xiao had truly built up a fearsome influence for himself.

In this war, at least, he was the most significant player.

All the powerful helpers that had appeared up till now had been within the leader’s predictions. He had already made plans for each and every one of them. Although the ambushing force would suffer heavy casualties, it would still be well worth it to be able to eliminate this team of elite fighters.

The leader glanced at Han Xiao, who stood some distance away, and his eyes turned sharp, as if locking on to a prey. With every single step the leader took, his life force gusted out of his body in the form of dark purple flames, and the flames were still increasing in intensity with every step.

He had even dreamed of squashing Han Xiao’s brain himself.

The Germinal leader’s power level was in an unknown territory, and the Six Nations’ forces present all showed a hesitant look on their faces when he approached.

“Can you take care of yourself?” Han Xiao did not even turn his head. If the leader wanted him, he would get him. No matter what, Han Xiao steeled himself as he would not back down from this fight.

“No problem,” said Hila through gritted teeth.

Han Xiao nodded, took a deep breath, and made sure he was in tip-top form before he started to take strides toward the leader. However, suddenly, another burst of monstrous life force could be felt from another side of the battlefield. This new presence suppressed the leader’s life force and took away everyone’s attention!

A familiar figure then stepped out of the last car with a clean-cut hair, heroic facial features, and neatly arranged clothing surrounded by raging white flames.

Bennett!

The Germinal leader was shocked, and his gaze faltered.

Why was the Dark Net’s leading figure part of the rescue team‽

The Germinal leader never would have guessed that the Dark Net leader, who had always been neutral, would step onto the battlefield himself. Bennett was completely outside of his pre-arranged plans for the Six Nations’ forces. With Bennett’s strength alone, there was now no way to know the outcome of this fight. All the previous calculations were useless.

Not only that, four more experts that were not affiliated with the Six Nations stepped out of the car following Bennett. Two of them were elite fighters of the Dark Net and were not any weaker than the Six Nations’ superhumans. The other two were Han Xiao’s acquaintances—Hannes and Vernia, whom he had previously met in Maple. Han Xiao had accepted a secret main story quest line from these two, and they were very grateful to him.

All these powerful people had come in Han Xiao’s aid!

Han Xiao stopped his steps and remarked, “Why are you here? How did you get mixed up into the rescue team?”

Bennett only gave Han Xiao a glance and could not be bothered to reply. He was still mad about Han Xiao not telling him about his secret dual identity beforehand and did not want to talk to him.

Although Dark Net started out with a neutral position when this war first erupted, Bennett realized that the information that Han Xiao had stolen from the Germinal headquarters was key to ending this war.

Bennett had started the Shelter plan to save lives, and now that he had found an opportunity to end the war once and for all, he had finally decided to change his neutrality in this conflict. The Dark Net still had not supplied any resources into this war, but he had come himself, as his own person—with some helpers, of course!

Bennett and his group truly regarded Han Xiao as one of their own! He made this risky move as he had absolute confidence in his own capability; he was publicly acknowledged on Planet Aquamarine as one of the strongest superhumans.

“Leave him to me,” Bennett said as he looked calmly at the Germinal leader. It was as if the bullets that rained down around him were non-existent.

The Germinal leader had a dark look on his face, and he was burning up out of fury from the inside.

Bennett stood right in front of him, seemingly trying to defend Han Xiao no matter what. The leader knew that he would not be able to get to Han Xiao unless he dealt with Bennett first.

“The famous Germinal leader. It is said that not a single person has seen you go all out on the battlefield. Looks like it’s my lucky day today,” Bennett said with a smile on his face, yet his words carried unspeakable strength.

“You think you can touch my people without asking me first‽”

The leader remained silent as his walk turned into a sprint and then into a streak of black afterimages. Bennett also did not show any weakness as he turned into a gust of white flame and clashed with his enemy.

From Han Xiao’s observations, Bennett had triggered [Burning Will]. From his overpowered Lucky Halo, he had definitely gotten the highest quintuple critical on that attack.

Dark purple and white flames struck each other.

Booooom!

The scene looked like hell had broken loose as thunderous explosions sounded around the fight, causing ordinary soldiers to start bleeding from their ears.

It was a showdown between the two of the Planet’s protagonists!

Chapter 261 - Evolution

The shockwave created by the clashes blew sands up drifting in the sky. After the view cleared, the battle ring sank down in the ground and formed a perfect bowl shape. Bennett’s critical hit that quintupled the normal damage. However, none of them got any advantage after that exchange!

The two men danced with their punches and kicks that no one could follow, as if it was a violent battle between a snow-white dragon and a violet python, biting and tearing each other. Everyone backed off, Germinal and Six Nations alike, afraid that they would be sucked and torn in the battle.

What the hell! These two are wild beasts. Han Xiao could not take his eyes off the fight. Both of them were Pugilists with all sorts of ability and skills, making their energy as dense as concrete. Each of them followed different disciplines of the Pugilist class. Bennett was tactical as his power was an accumulation battle experience. Every move had a purpose and was used at the perfect time.

On the other hand, the leader’s style was savage, barbaric, and unpredictable, just like the color of his energy.

The two beasts were clearly stronger than other high-level superhumans. With multiple special Molding Abilities and high attributes compared to the characters on the same level, they were both boss-level superhumans.

No wonder they are the stars of this planet. Han Xiao’s eyes suddenly widened.Bennett just used Flaming Will and increased his damage by five times; the leader must have a skill that is as strong as Flaming Will to block the damage.

Remembering the reward of the mission [The Traitor’s Ambush], Han Xiao was excited. He knew that a lot of hidden missions could give out powerful skill and abilities, and this mission was simple and straightforward. As long as they won the fight, he would have the chance to get a luxurious reward without spending too much time and thought.

Han Xiao and his teammates were fighting off the enemy on the side, and he was calculating the difference between him and the leader. In the end, Han Xiao concluded that the discrepancies between their power were too high. First of all, Han Xiao had already been in many battles, and he was not in his best form. With only Viper left, Han Xiao did not have enough equipment and weapons to survive a head-on fight against the leader.

With the number of weapons I have, I can at most get an even trade between me and the leader even if I perform well. Bennett will not allow me to do that… Han Xiao sighed. Then if I try to help Bennett and get in a two versus one situation, I can’t surpass Bennett’s damage. Bennett also has Flaming Will, and the damage is more disgusting than mine…

Han Xiao thought for a second and decided that the current situation was the best position that could be. If he let Bennett and the leader continue to fight each other, even though their fight was intense, they were not losing much health since both of them could parry or block each other’s damage. It would take time to find out who the victor of the battle was, and no one on either side had the intention of intervening with this battle between Bennett and the leader.

“At the end of the day, legends are still legends. The leader is stronger than any one of us here, and only Bennett can stop him. There’s no way we can help Bennett in that battle.” Tang Tang talked through the earpiece as he controlled the battlefield with the sandstorm.

Bennett was the strongest man in the era, and no one could deny the fact, even if they were arrogant and prideful on their own abilities.

“This is a war of attrition. We are in a stalemate right now, and the most powerful fighters are fighting each other. The outcome of this battle will change the course of the war,” Fazzad said as he released an energy shield, and everyone else agreed in silence.

Han Xiao heard the words and suddenly realized that this was the best change for him to finish the other mission. If the current battle is a stalemate, then it means that they are squeezing time for me to finish [The Ultimate Trial]! As long as I get a class advancement, I will have the power to take down the leader!

With so many helpers around and even more enemies, this was the perfect chance to earn Trial Points!

Moreover, Han Xiao had found the right way to handle the battle. The bonus Trial Points were calculated after one went out of combat. From previous experience and calculation, Han Xiao could estimate the amount of bonus Trial Points he would get by looking at the number of enemies and allies. Then if he got a chance to go out of combat after killing sufficient enemies, he could reach the two-thousand-point mark with the bonus Trial Points!

The main mission was to defeat the leader and break out of the encirclement, yet it was not in conflict with finishing [The Ultimate Trial]. Han Xiao took the opportunity and executed his plan.

The battle was intense, and Han Xiao’s allies suppressed the Germinal Organization with their higher battle power. There were often executive officers that would get injured, and through the battle information on the interface, Han Xiao spotted the executive officers that were low on health and get the last hits on those enemies, even stealing kills from his own teammate at times. Earning Trial Points had never been so easy before, and the rate quickly stacked up.

If there were players witnessing this scene, they could tell that Han Xiao was just last hitting all the kills with only one eye open. However, the teammates were not players. Seeing that Han Xiao was only shooting some bullets on the side, they thought that Han Xiao was exhausted and in a bad shape.

They originally thought that that Han Xiao was a powerful assistant, but it turned out that he had no place to be there. The reinforcements felt like they were babysitting Han Xiao. Diana, whose temper was as explosive as her Esper power, shouted at Han Xiao, “Hey, Black Phantom, you are not doing anything here. Just leave the superhumans to us and go fight off the normal troops.”

If Black Phantom was in poor condition, the obvious solution was to let Han Xiao handle the minions. Diana’s suggestion seemed fine in front of everyone’s eyes, but Han Xiao ignored her command and continued his mission.

Everyone’s face switched. Their role in the battle suddenly changed from that statement. If Han Xiao disobeyed the commands, did that mean that he wanted to see the others fight with everything they had just to protect him?

We should be teammates and stand side by side to fight the battle. Moreover, we are your reinforcements, yet you act like this is a game…

All the team seemed annoyed at Han Xiao, and Diana was about to reproach Han Xiao before she was interrupted by an enemy’s attack. She grumbled in her heart, He was a traitor of the Germinal Organization to begin with. All he knows is to run around and hide, setting things up in the dark to trigger the war. He indeed is a slippery and treacherous man.

At the same time, Han Xiao could not explain anything. He had to kill superhumans to get Trail Points, and this was the only change to turn the tide of the battle. To fight off minions was just a waste of talent, yet his allies did not know what he was happening. So, he could only remain silent, focus on his mission, and take all the complaints that his teammates had.

The war slowly approached the most heated stage. Time slowly became vague in the intense battle, and additional reinforcements arrived at the stage. Jaross and the other three executive officers joined the team fight, and Han Xiao and his team felt a sudden increase in pressure from the enemy. They tried to break through the encirclement, yet the enemy’s disgusting tactics denied them to chance do so. In the end, his team was trapped in the fishnet. However, the Germinal Organization also had to sacrifice uncountable soldiers and weapons to keep holding them back. Corpses and metal scraps were lying on the sand, slowly being covered up as wind and sand blew by.

Although the enemy troops could not deal a devastating blow to the superhumans to win the war, their firepower was as annoying as a flying bug, slowly chips away at the stamina and energy of the superhumans. Water droplets could wear away stone; many a little makes a mickle. In the end, injuries started to surface on Han Xiao’s allies, and everyone soon felt worn out.

Tang Tang and a summoner Esper were the target of the enemy. One had the power to control sandstorms, while the other could summon desert bugs and beasts—both of them were excellent at providing crowd control to the battle. The Germinal Organization’s executive officers successfully separated the summoner out of the team. They broke through Fazzad’s energy shield and took him down with a round of focus fire. The summoner had broken limbs, and blood spilled everywhere. The beasts who were no longer under control quickly ran away from the battle.

Everyone was alarmed. Once fatal injuries and deaths started to occur, it meant that the momentum of the battle slowly shifted to the other side. It was extremely likely for the enemy to snowball the lead.

Han Xiao quickly calculated his Trial Points in his heart.

At first there was around fifty executive officers, and an additional twenty showed up. I’ve killed around thirty people, and from the difference between our force and their force, I just need another twenty Trial Points along with the bonus I gain once I get out of combat to reach the two thousands mark!

At the same time, Tang Tang, who was right beside him, got hit by a force field attack from Jeross. Tang Tang kneeled down and pressed his chest. All the other executive officers charged toward him and attacked.

Seeing the deadly energy that would soon consume Tang Tang, Han Xiao used his field repulsion to push away Tang Tang, and the attacks flew past his shoulder.

Tang Tang escaped from the death as he shivered out of fear. He quickly turned around and thanked Han Xiao. “Thank you for saving me.”

Han Xiao nodded and looked around to find any other target. Suddenly, he saw the man wearing full plate armor with a large mechanical hammer in his hand, charging toward a pugilist like a rhino and swashing the hammer onto his head. At the same time, the executive officer returned some punches and shattered his chest armor. Both of them fell down and spat out blood at the same time.

Chance!

Han Xiao’s calm heart was suddenly excited. He instantly sniped the pugilist with [Flaming Will] and ended his life.

_____________________

You dealt 964 damage to Tayron (LV 54).

You have slain Tayron. You gained 136,000 experience.

You received 23 Trial Points.

_____________________

I finally got it! Han Xiao tried to suppress his thrill and use all the energy on to the Electromagnetic Hover-boots and the mini maneuvering equipment. Without a second thought, he ran toward where the enemies were coming from, which was actually the weakest and safest area, without looking back.

No one would expect one would go toward the enemy reinforcements, which was why it was the most defenseless area.

Han Xiao quickly left his teammates and instantly got out of combat.

Everyone was stunned!

“Is he trying to escape by himself while leaving us to fight off the enemies?” Diana raged.

The leader was still being tied down by Bennett and could not get away from the fight. Seeing that his prey was getting away, he was pissed and shouted, “Chase after him!”

Jaross led some troops and chased after Han Xiao, and the pressure on the Six Nations’ superhuman lessened.

“Wait, maybe he is trying to divert the enemy’s forces and create an opening,” Tang Tang said quietly. “But if this fails, this will be the end of us. This is too reckless… he should have discussed with us beforehand.”

After getting away from the battlefield, the enemies were still close behind Han Xiao. Han Xiao was zooming forward like lighting while counting down the time before his status was out of combat. After running away for five minutes, he saw another wave of reinforcements in front.

He was trapped, and there was no escape.

But Han Xiao smiled with his mouth wide open. The time wasted while he was escaping finally got him out of combat status, and the interface updated the bonus Trial Points that he had earned.

_____________________

[The Ultimate Trial]: Progress 2000/2000

LV 60 Ranked class advancement mission! Endurance increase, 1 Endurance = 30 Health = 40 Stamina]

You obtained new life form evolution. Detected race: [Human/Carbon-based (Yellow)].

Proceeding to random evolution path… Complete.

Please choose one of the five options as your evolution species. Warning! The action cannot be reverted. Please choose carefully! [Appendix – Evolvement Path Guide]

– [Yete] – 78% Compatibility

– [Manu Giants] – 64% Compatibility

– [Magicka] – 81% Compatibility

– [Type-i Space Humans] – 97% Compatibility

– [Elementary Energized Life] – 31% Compatibility

Choice received… Proceeding… Evolution complete.

You gained a Race Specialty, [Adaptive Herd].

You learned a skill, [Machinery: Last Stance].

Chapter 262 - The Sound of Hammering

Every class advancement was an ascendance of life status. LV 60 was provided a large upgrade to the status among all other levels of class advancement since it was the boundary between Version 1.0 and Version 2.0. The effects of class advancements were based off accumulated experience, and the life form experienced its first evolution. The path of evolution was not completely random, but it was dependent on the initial race that was chosen by the player. For example, carbon-based human evolution paths were usually all in human forms.

The chain of evolution was not always certain, and one could have millions of possibilities for one’s evolution. Compatibility determined the volatility of randomness of the status of the evolution. The lower the compatibility, the more random the evolution effects would be, similar to flipping a coin where one could get a powerful evolution, while it was possible to get disastrous effects. For example, the [Basic Energy Organism] could directly change the body structure of a human, abandon the flesh and blood, and become a body made out of pure energy.

On the other hand, if the compatibility was high, then it meant that the evolution path was the most logical. Han Xiao chose [Type-i Space Humans] had close to a hundred percent compatibility since the Space Humans were the most common human species in Galaxy. The race was famous for its fast adaptation to the new environment with the unique characteristic [Adaptive Herd]. Debuff resistance, physical resistance, and mental resistance all increased by ten percent.

All races had different specialties. Once the evolution effects took place, it would be a major upgrade in status, where every race would have a different focus on statuses it improved on. Galaxy contained thousands of races, and from this step forward, all the players started to shape their own unique characteristics that were distinguishable from others.

Compared to the other four choices, the [Type-i Space Human] was the most common one. It was an all-round upgrade, so there was not a lot of uniqueness. However, with higher resistance and adaptability, the upcoming evolutions would have a wider range of choices. The evolution process could not be reverted, which was why Han Xiao clearly remembered the evolution tree, and the [Type-i Space Humans] was the best initial evolution in his mind, so he made his choice without a second thought.

Superhumans could become strong through the process of evolution, and the same went for NPCs. However, since they did not have an interface, they could not choose the evolution path.

Han Xiao took a deep breath.

There was pain aching from his bones, his muscles, and every other part of his body. Han Xiao bit his tongue and tried to take in all the pain from the evolution. The process of evolution was gut-wrenching, and a player could feel less by lowering the intensity of pain. However, all the pain that Han Xiao was feeling was a hundred percent real.

Fortunately, the pain did not last long. It quickly faded, and Han Xiao suddenly had a new perspective of the world!

The enemies were quickly approaching, and Han Xiao did not have time to investigate the changes in his body. He frantically used all the upgrades in his interface and used seventy-four million experience points. [Magnetic Ring Mechanic] instantly went from level five to the maximum level!

_____________________

[Magnetic Ring Mechanic] Level15 (Max).

+180 Energy, +2 Dexterity, +1 Endurance, +4 Intelligence, +4 Free Attribute points.

_____________________

A third of two hundred million experience points were spent with a blink of an eye.

As the level of skill increased, the more resources were needed to level up the skill. Of course, the benefits corresponded with the expense, and with a ten-level upgrade, his energy increased by 810, and the energy attribute point reached 3,070. The energy attribute points broke through the level eight benchmark of 3000 points, and Han Xiao obtained another additional upgrade in his attributes.

Han Xiao suddenly felt a surge of energy flowing through this body. He reached LV 70, breaking through the level upper limit of version 1.0.

He was the only superhuman on the Planet Aquamarine that was above LV 60.

The Attribute was an enhancement in jumping abilities.

_____________________

111 S trength, 185 Dexterity, 159 Endurance, 321 Intelligence, 21 Mystery, 14 Charisma, 1 Luck

Free Attribute Points: 40

Potential Points: 72

Health: 7,980

Stamina: 9,580

Energy: 3,070 (Level8)

Energy Rank: 3,275 Ona

Grade: C

[You are qualified to be the Space Explorer Warrior.]

_____________________

The overall strength has increased by more than half my previous status. The health points were 4,300 before the evolution, and now I have almost double that number. Moreover, the exchange ratio from Endurance to Health Points has increased from 1:20 to 1:30. After all the upgrades and level ups in the status, the four important attributes all increased by around thirty or forty points.

He quickly calculated his combat power, and he did not use the forty Free Attribute Points. Under an unpredictable battle, he could quickly adapt to different situations by adding attribute points.

Han Xiao stood up and turned toward Jeross and the troops. He eyes was sharp, cold, and deadly.

Prepare for your death, Germinal Organization!

The troops arrived in front of Han Xiao, and Jeross roared, “Block all the escape routes. Don’t let him get away!”

He then shot his force field toward Han Xiao.

Bang!

The ground exploded with a pit. Han Xiao dodged the attack with ease, and he was a lot faster and agile than before. He charged in front of Jeross and used his Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades. The skill blew a violent wind with so much power that it instantly broke through the defense force field as if it was a knife slicing through cake.

Deng!

After a flash of light, Jeross suddenly lost his vision, and he felt that he had lost control over his body. The pain exploded in his body, and he felt sharp blades sink into his flesh.

He had already sensed what would happen to his body—his eyes had lost all hope.

“No…”

The nine blades pierced through the body at the same time, and Jeross’ body was filled with holes with blood splattering everywhere. The blades sliced through the muscles and tendons, and Han Xiao headbutted through the last desperate force field created by Jeross and smacked his head with all his strength!

With only one move, Han Xiao eliminated the powerful and troublesome senior executive officer.

The role of predator and the prey instantly swapped at that moment.

Han Xiao looked around at the surprised soldiers, as if he was the wolf that would hunt everyone down.

…

On the main battlefield, fight was still going on. Everyone had their attention on the area where Han Xiao had run off to, curious about the result.

Suddenly, the sounds of explosion came from that direction, and everyone looked over.

“What’s going on? Did he get away?”

“Are they fighting right now?”

Everyone tried to guess what happened. Then they saw a small dot that was coming toward them. As the dot got closer, they recognized that it as Han Xiao, and all the enemies who had gone after him were nowhere to be seen.

“If he already escaped, why is he coming back?” Tang Tang asked with confusion.

Diana shot another two explosive flame and barely caught her breath. “He probably ran back here because he can’t deal with the enemies.”

Hila, who was silent the whole time, suddenly said, “His vital sign is different from before!”

In her Esper perception, Han Xiao was as bright and hot as a sun!

She had never seen anyone with such a strong vital sign.

She also felt another subtle change, but she could not tell what it was. The subtle change was the evolution of race that Han Xiao had gone through, so Hila naturally had no idea.

“Where’s Jeross?” The leader spared some attention away from the battled. “Focus fire on Zero! Do not let him get away from my vision!”

The troops changed their targets and move their crosshairs right on top of Han Xiao. However, Han Xiao suddenly sped up and dashed through enemy force like lighting. He picked up machine guns off the ground and shot at the enemy with perfect aim. With every shot, there was at least one man that fell to the ground.

Han Xiao moved forward and attacked the executive officers surrounding his allies without saying anything.

Bang Bang!

As if meteors falling down from the sky, the executive officers were all scattered by the firepower of Han Xiao. Han Xiao fought through the enemy with a crushing force, and he was clearly a different man compared to his performance before.

The veterans of the Six Nations were relieved from pressure and stared at Han Xiao’s courageous engagement with the enemy.

There was only two words to describe this scene—complete suppression.

“I think that he tried to save some up some energy and get back to his normal condition. After he exhausted the enemy during the chase, he turned back and showed true strength.” Tang Tang thought that he understood Han Xiao’s plan. Everyone else nodded, and all their doubts toward Han Xiao dispersed like dust.

Diana also held back her hate toward Han Xiao and said, “Well… he could have told us beforehand.”

After murdering all the executive officers, Han Xiao moved toward the battle between Bennett and the leader. The leader saw Han Xiao and gave a strong attack to Bennett. Bennett fell back, and the fight stopped.

“Hey Ben, you did good, but his head belongs to me.” Han Xiao patted on Bennett shoulder and said, “This is the battle of rivals.”

“You…”

Bennett had a sharp sense on people’s strength. He knew that Han Xiao was strong, but right now, he could not see through the strength of Han Xiao as if he was looking at the lake without a bottom.

Looking Han Xiao straight in the eye, Bennett did not reply and moved away to fight in another battle. He trusted Han Xiao to win against the leader.

If Han Xiao wanted to fight the leader, he must have been confident.

This was trust that needed no explanation.

The leader’s eyes were burning with blue flames. “Bennett was protecting you, and now you came here to fight me. Just because he wasted some of my energy, do you think you can beat me now? Haha… Good… Very good. Even if I’m not in my best condition, I will still murder you with ease!”

“Let’s get into it then, haven’t you been waiting for this day for so long?”

Han Xiao lifted his arm and shot a bullet right at the leader. The leader made a claw with his hand and released a violet shockwave that slowed down the speed of the bullet.

The leader had mastered several advanced techniques in Pugilist class. With the shockwave blast and physical flame, he was strong in both offense and defense.

The leader’s information showed up on the interface.

He has eighty-one percent of his health! Han Xiao’s eyes flickered. The leader and Bennett were on the same level, and the leader had only lost a small amount of health, which meant that Han Xiao could still take sixty percent of his health.

Diana, Tang Tang, and the rest of the soldiers watched closely at the fight and worried for Han Xiao. Bennett was considered the strong man on their side, and they trusted Bennett to deal with the leader. However, their suspicion rose as Han Xiao took on the leader, thinking that Han Xiao did not have the ability to suppress the leader.

The fight was intense, and multiple pits was created by the fight. Each was the other’s mortal enemy, and every move was filled with their intent to murder, as if they were two beasts fighting each other. None of them tried to dodge the attack and only focused on landing attacks on the opponent.

Han Xiao used all the weapons and machinery at his disposal to drag down the leader’s health, including the Sunworm Flamethrower, Ghost sniper rifle, Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades, and Sonic Bomb.

The leader was a Pugilist, so Han Xiao was at a disadvantage when fighting in close quarters. However, with the rapid growth of attributes and status, plus upgrades for Viper, his Endurance and Dexterity were much higher than those of the leader. So even if Han Xiao lacked in Pugilist techniques and close combat skills, he could still get the upper hand with his stats and attributes.

There was no use for tactics!

Han Xiao took a look at the battle information and thought, He has a lot of strong skills that do armor penetration damage and also wear out the defense of the enemy. Also, he has a lot of skills that can reflect damage. He must have used this kill to block off the powerful punches of Bennett.

The two men continued to clash against each other. Han Xiao was focused, and he did not panic. He calculated the skills, health, and other battle information in his mind. He had once been a professional power leveler, so he had tons of experience. One must understand the mechanics and calculations to become a master.

The health bar for a LV 70 character was much higher than the leader, and with Viper, he knew that the best chance for him to win this fight was to use brute force to power through. Even if Han Xiao could only land an attack in exchange for three or four attacks from the leader, it was still worth it.

The leader’s health slowly decreased, but Viper was on the brink of destruction. With multiple cracks and dents, the durability of the suit was almost zero, and it would be broken after one or two more hits.

The chips carried on the suits were all shattered, and the Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades was bent into scrap metal. The fuel tank for the Sunworm Flamethrower was empty, and there was no more ammo for the sniper. The battle screen had cracks, and the energy was almost depleted.

In other words, Han Xiao had no weapons to use anymore, and this was the worst possible scenario for a mechanic to be in.

I finally can break his suit! Without this turtle shell, there’s no way he can fight me anymore!

Seeing that his dream had finally been fulfilled, the leader could not wait and gave a final blow to the suit as he tore it apart.

Crack!

The sound pierced through people’s ears.

The damaged Viper suddenly released a bright light and went back to full power! The originally empty durability was restored to fifty percent! The energy of the suit also replenished mysteriously.

[Machinery: Last Stance]

When a machinery’s durability was less than ten percent, by using five hundred energy points, one could make a machinery restore back to fifty to eighty percent of the status. The higher the quality and the more complicated the machinery was, the shorter the time of effect of the skill. One’s Intelligence attribute also affected the duration of the skill. After the duration, the machinery would self-destruct.

This skill was the equivalent of [Battle: Last Stance].

Han Xiao had already prepared this as his final trick. Taking the opportunity while the leader was still surprised, Han Xiao landed his fist right on the leader’s face. The leader fell back and rolled on the ground, and the mask started to crack. He tried to get up, but he suddenly felt a weakening force dragging his body down.

The leader had been in such an intense battle that he did not realize his status was dropping at an abnormal rate. He had injuries all over his body.

“Hey, you there, can you lend me your weapon?” Han Xiao looked over to the Mechanical Pugilist in the dust.

The man hesitated for a second, and with his injured body, he threw the energy hammer to Han Xiao.

“Catch!”

After he caught the hammer, a dark blue Mechanical Force covered the hammer, and Han Xiao activated the [Flaming Will], which had just come off cooldown.

Han Xiao swung the heavy hammer around, and the small boosters on the head of the hammer left a curve in the air. Han Xiao smacked down with the hammer right on the leader’s face as he tried to get up.

Boom!

Bull’s eye!

Like a baseball being hit by a bat, the leader flew away a few hundred meters and hit three vehicles along the way.

In the air, the mask broke into pieces and landed on the ground.

Chapter 263 - An Unfamiliar Face

The sand blew in the wind as if the world was covered in a thin cloth. As the sands drifted down to the floor, the whole slowly became clear.

In the violent wind, a shadow of a man got up with difficulty, kneeling on the ground.

Tick tock, tick tock….

Blood dripped down from the corner of his lips. The leader covered his face and stood up with difficulty.

At this moment, the atmosphere froze. The entire battle looked over at the leader as if there was a temporary ceasefire.

The leader of the Germinal Organization always wore a black metal mask. Almost no one, even including people from the Germinal Organization, knew his true identity.

To have the ability to lead such a powerful force, the leader should be a man with a well-known background. All the countries had a lot of guesses on the leader’s true identity, and they thought that since the Germinal Organization had been created during the Old Era, the most plausible guess was that he was a legend in the Old Era who had changed his appearance.

Han Xiao also looked over. No players in his previous lives had been able to find out the identity of the leader, so he was as curious as the rest.

The leader put down his hand, and the face that presented in front of everyone’s eyes was a distorted face with multiple scars, as if there were bugs crawling under the skin. The scars looked like it was a deep scratch left by a wild beast.

Most importantly, it was an unfamiliar face.

Even though his looks were appalling, the outline of the face was still recognizable. Han Xiao was confident that he had not seen this face when he looked at the intel on the Dark Net. He looked over at Bennett and the superhumans from the Six Nations, and they were all confused.

No one recognized the leader.

Bennett frowned. He was a legend from the Old Era, and he still remembered numerous legends from back in the day, including those who died in battle or died of old age. Yet, he could not recognize face of the leader. There were only three possibilities.

First, the leader had also worn a mask in the Old Era. Second, he had changed his appearance to hide his identity. Third, he had not been a powerful man during the Old Era and stayed under the radar during that time.

With his appearance revealed, the leader did not show any expression as if he could not care less.

Can no one recognize him? Does that mask only try to hide the terrifying face so as to avoid decreasing the morale of the soldiers? Han Xiao frowned. Babies would cry seeing the leader’s face. If he did not wear a mask, he probably would bring a ‘-20 Military Morale’ debuff.

The battle was not over. Leaving the questions behind, Han Xiao went on the offense, swinging his mechanical battle hammer with only thirty seconds before Viper broke down.

Bang bang bang!

The fist covered with purple energy clashed with the hammer, and the sound of metal clashing never stopped.

The leader’s eyes were spicy and deadly, and he quickly saw the poor condition of the mechanical suit. As long as he can drag it out long enough, the suit would shatter, and that would be the end of any Mechanic.

Defend.

The leader switched to a defensive stance and took all the direct hits from Han Xiao. Under the heavy attacks, the leader did not flinch and was as hard as stone.

The unmovable body and the unbreakable hammer clashed more and more intensely, and the wind created by the impact blew the sands up like a wave.

Clink! Clink!

After thirty seconds, Viper suddenly made a weird sound, and pieces of components and chips shattered like a withered flower.

The mechanical suit was broken.

Han Xiao revealed his real body.

“Yah!” the leader screamed, and he switched back to the offensive in an instant. All the energy saved in his body travelled to his fist and punched right at Han Xiao’s stomach. In addition to armor penetration skill, the impact directly hit the flesh of Han Xiao.

Bang! Hong!

One attacked created two sounds. First was the fist hitting the body, then the impact passed through the body of Han Xiao and created another explosive sound as the energy left Han Xiao’s body from the back. The second explosive sound was almost loud enough to deafen everyone present, leaving a cone shaped dent in the sand behind Han Xiao.

Under such a powerful force, Han Xiao barely even moved. He did not even take a step back and absorbed all the impact.

“How did you!” The leader could not believe his eyes.

How could a Mechanic block a punch with his own body?

Then, a shadow appeared above the leader’s head, and the hammer started to smash again. The leader tried to block the hammer with his arms, yet a sudden pain shock through his arms, and his body sank into the ground until the sand covered his knees, as if he was a nail being hammered into the ground.

The leader’s pupils reflected a man’s shadow with dense energy. It was denser than his own energy as a Pugilist!

“Why…” The leader ground his teeth, then he suddenly realized what had happened. “Did you break that limit?”

The class advancement every twenty levels had always been a bottleneck for NPCs, who did not have an interface. They could not easily break through the limit as they could not finish any missions. Therefore, the only way for them to obtain a class advancement was hard work and luck.

Among the top superhumans in the Planet Aquamarine, there had not been any news where anyone had conquered the bottleneck and reached the next stage. It was nearly impossible for them to obtain the next level.

The dream and thirst for a class advancement that he desired the most happened to the person whom he hated the most at the worst possible moment.

Is this… fate?

The word kept on ringing in his ears like a broke record player.

“Eat my battle stomp!” Han Xiao randomly shouted a skill name and smashed his hammer onto the leader’s head.

Without Viper, Han Xiao lost the bonus buff and damage on to his attacks. Moreover, he had finished using all his ammunition. The only thing that he had left was the mechanical hammer, and on the surface, it seemed that it would still be a tough battle. However, with the new Strength, Dexterity, and Endurance, his status was on other level compared to the LV 60 BOSS-level Pugilist. In addition, the leader was already heavily injured with only thirty-seven percent of his health points left.

Once the health points reached below a certain point, all the debuff would start kicking in and slowly decrease his combat strength. The difference in power between the two men did not change much after the Viper broke down. Han Xiao still could handle the leader and save the world.

Seeing this, the leader was already discouraged. Along with his bad condition, he had no way to fight back. He kept on being smashed by the hammer as blood splattered around.

On the side, the superhuman from the Six Nations could not believe their eyes.

In their mind, the only person who could fight the leader was Bennett, and no one had thought that that this man would be Han Xiao.

Bennett was undoubtedly the strongest man, the only one who could stand toe to toe against the leader. Yet, Han Xiao battered the leader with ease without taking much damage other than a broken suit.

They witnessed the entire process of Han Xiao beating down the leader. It was no ambush nor sneak attack; it was an honorable and straightforward fight with nothing to hide. This also meant that Han Xiao was on other level compared to Bennett.

Who was Bennett? He was the strongest man on the entire planet.

Han Xiao’s performance could get rid of ‘strongest’ from the title.

He was now the strongest superhuman on this entire planet!

The stalemate of the intense battle was broken by Han Xiao as he took over the battlefield.

Diana’s temper was as explosive as her power. She almost threw a fireball at Bennett and asked, “Is he actually that strong? Why did he need our support?”

“This feeling… it can’t be wrong. He just broke through the limit in this battle!” Tang Tang’s eyes flickered.

Shock and jealousy slowly surface on the faces of the crowd.

Seeing that the leader was getting beaten, the morale of the Germinal Organization dropped, and soon, the enemies panicked.

Bang!

Another hammer landed on top of the chest. The leader spat out more blood on Han Xiao. The leader suddenly roared with blood in his mouth.

The violet energy became dense again and was alive like burning flames.

Han Xiao thought that the leader was going to use his ultimate skill. He held the hammer in front of him and prepared for an attack.

But the next second, the leader turned around and ran as fast as he could. He used his energy as a booster and ran like a missile being launched. After running for two hundred meters, he headed into a base, and his energy died down. His whole body was out of strength and collapsed on the sand with blooding flowing out of his nose and mouth.

With those heavy injuries, he could not take any more of Han Xiao’s attacks. No matter how angry the leader was, he had to escape.

“He ran away! He admitted defeat!”

Han Xiao quickly checked the battle information.

The leader had only fourteen percent of his HP left and was in weakened status.

Taking sixty percent of his HP had been achieved.

Chapter 264 - The Historical Moment

The leader had sustained heavy injuries, and this caused the Germinal forces to instantly collapse.

Some troops rushed to surround and protect the leader while others were still bogged down in a battle. The Six Nations’ experts used this opportunity to concentrate fire on a single spot and created a hole in the Germinal formation.

“Get in the car!” Tang Tang yelled.

The cars were about to drive past Han Xiao, and this was the best chance to get in the car.

Han Xiao took a glance toward the leader and saw that he was blocked by several lines of bodyguards.

The leader still had fourteen percent of his health left, and with the troops surrounding him, it would not be easy for Han Xiao to kill the leader in a short amount of time. Seeing how his allies were all about to successfully escape from the Germinal forces, delaying any longer could risk them getting encircled once more.

Han Xiao himself did not really mind this. With his current strength, he could solo the Germinal army that was on the brink of breaking apart with ease. However, aside from Bennett, all other members of the team that came had sustained injuries, and casualties might arise were they to keep on fighting.

Han Xiao had once been their rescue target, but now, he had turned into someone who needed to protect them.

Han Xiao did not know whether he should laugh or cry at this, but he made the logical decision within a short moment.

[The Traitor’s Ambush] mission is already completed, and my job is done. All I have to do now is relay the confidential information to the Six Nations and let them worry about the rest.

He decided not to deal the final blow as it did not really matter to him at this point.

As the cars were just about to pass him, one of the doors opened, and Han Xiao quickly jumped aboard, leaving the troops behind in the dust.

The Germinal troops were completely left behind this time, slowly becoming specks on the horizon.

“It’s done.” Han Xiao finally let out a deep breath. The leader would no longer have any chance to stop him now.

This had truly been an exhilarating experience.

This time, he had rescued Aurora and Hila from the Germinal headquarters, stolen advanced Mechanic Knowledge from their lab, and even gotten hold of a bunch of crucial war information. Killing his way out and revealing his identity had also cemented his position as a Legend on the planet as well as further boosting his reputation among the players. He had broken past Version 1.0’s limit after killing countless high-level Germinal executives and even beaten up the leader himself, obtaining the lucky draw on two of the leader’s abilities.

Although he had faced endless danger along the way, the reward made it all well worth it!

Han Xiao thought of something and suddenly looked back at the Germinal leader from the car window.

The leader stood shakily on a distant sand dune, with his now weak-looking figure swaying in the wind.

Han Xiao and the leader’s gaze locked onto each other’s despite the long distance.

The leader was expressionless. He had mustered all his resources this time yet had ended up with nothing to show for it. However, instead of raging over it, all Han Xiao saw in the leader’s eyes were conflicting emotions of pain, dejection, and even a sense of release and weariness. It was as if he had used up all his will and no longer had the energy to let out his fury.

Han Xiao was somewhat puzzled and became curious about this character.

Leading the Germinal Organization to overthrow the mighty Six Nations. Why did he do all this? What kind of person was he?

Ambitious? Cruel? Immoral?

Despite his long-time adversity with the leader, Han Xiao barely knew about his foe.

Oh right. I don’t even know his name.

Han Xiao once again focused his gaze on the leader, and the leader also met his gaze from the distance.

In that instant, it was someone had pressed the pause button, and even time itself had stopped. The gaze between the two looked almost like a still painting.

This was Han Xiao’s first face-to-face contact with the leader…

… and also the last.

Later, the Six Nation fighters present would describe this scene and leak it to the whole world.

After the war had ended, when each nation was re-organizing, they would find out that this was the turning point in the war. The stare-down between Zero and the Germinal leader would become a historical moment and be recorded in Planet Aquamarine’s history.

…

The moon lit up the night, and stars were scattered throughout the sky. The astral sea lit up this side of the hill, and artificial lighting was not even needed deep into the night.

The three cars were parked atop a hill that was hidden in the middle of a small forest. The engines were turned off, and silence filled in the surroundings. Everyone had gotten out their cars and spread out to mind their own business. Some chewed on their rations, some tended to their wounds, and others made small talk.

After the intense combat throughout the day, they had decided to stop there for the night to rest. Driving past the plains in front of them would get them to the border between the Six Nations’ and Germinal’s warzone. Germinal had limited control over this area, and it was nothing compared to the forces that were swarming around the headquarters. The forces that had pursued and ambushed them earlier had suffered heavy casualties, and there were truly no more threats to the team.

Han Xiao finally had some time to take in the changes that he had gotten from evolving his race.

He observed his body under the gentle moonlight. His skin was still yellow, but there were some minor changes. After the minor changes to his DNA, his body became even better proportioned, and his limbs seemed to have grown longer. He also felt that he had become more handsome as he checked himself out with a mirror…

Yup. Definitely not just my imagination.

[Type-i Space Human] had high compatibility with his body. This was a race of humans who had adapted to live in space and had been exposed to a variety of different types of radiation as well as the planet’s environments over the years. This was a race that followed strictly followed the laws of evolution, and those who could not adapt naturally could not survive. The logic behind was similar to how humans on Earth had evolved into different races: Asians, Caucasians, Africans, etc. The differences all came from the different living environments. Type-i Space Humans also started as the countless normal humans in the universe—more commonly recognized by other alien races as Carbon Monkeys, Parasites, Sneaky B*stards, Prideful Creatures, Racists, Not Delicious, etc.

Due to the harshness of space, the Type-i Space Humans had much stronger bodies. They had a more perfect body structure, and their organs could function at a higher capacity. If normal humans were comparable to thin sheets of paper, they would be like rubber, much harder to break.

Of course, the body still looked more or less like a normal human. There was not anything such as green skin or longer teeth.

Each race and species’ evolution paths were very much traceable. Carbon-based organisms could not suddenly become mechanical lifeforms. Those that evolved or mutated into having potential to utilize life energy were commonly known as True Soul Carriers. Most thought-capable species had the potential to develop this power.

Although a normal human has a lot of evolution paths to choose to follow, the more one evolves, the harsher the requirements will become to evolve again. A Space Human has less of an option in evolving as there is usually only one main pathway, but with more evolutions, the compatibility will also increase. Those extremely powerful races all require high compatibility and also have the most potential.

Han Xiao nodded. Evolution was a step-like process. Gaining massive power early on would naturally mean that one would mean losing out later on. Only by walking on a wider road would he have more options in the future.

It was also important how well the evolution pathway worked with his class. As he did not need to go for those all-brawn-no-brain races, the [Type-i Space Human] evolution was very suitable for Han Xiao.

I might as well finish dealing with [The Traitor’s Ambush] now.

Han Xiao rubbed his hands and was full of expectations like an old gambler.

Ahem. It was more like the excitement one felt from getting their pay.

_____________________

[The Traitor’s Ambush] has been completed.

You have obtained: Lucky draw for two of the Germinal leader’s abilities.

Commencing lucky draw… Draw complete.

Please choose two out of the five following abilities:

1. [Advanced Martial Arts] – Talent: Decrease energy consumption by 30% when using pugilist skills and increase damage output by 15%.

2. [Venomous Attack] – Skill: Assassin-type skill. Strike fast like a snake, and deal 4 – 7 consecutive blows to your opponent. The first hit will deal 41 – 59 bonus damage, and each following blow will deal 5% less.

3. [Repel – Thorns] – Skill: Use your energy to absorb 30% of all incoming attacks. If it’s a melee battle, reflect the same amount of absorbed damage back to your opponent. Uses 300 energy, 500 stamina, and cools down in 110 seconds.

4. [Iron Fist] – Talent: Bare-handed attacks increase in damage by 7% and block chance increases by 3%.

5. [Steel Body] – Talent: Immune to true damage.

_____________________

Unfortunately, the Lucky Halo was not one of the draws.

Does he not have it, or is my luck just too bad? Han Xiao shook his head.

The leader had several dozen different abilities, and the chances of getting something good with only five draws was truly too low. So, Han Xiao was not that disappointed.

The leader was a pugilist, so most of the drawn abilities had something to do with martial arts. He was able to choose two out of the five abilities for himself.

“This is great! It’s a Molding Ability!” Han Xiao’s eyes lighted up.

Molding Abilities were unique in that they were very powerful, specific, and absolute—as in the case of damage immunity. This was exactly what Han Xiao was looking for.

[Steel Body] was basically a BOSS template. It would make him immune to attacks that dealt true damage. This would greatly reduce the chance of accidents from happening, and he would be much hard to be killed in one-shot. For example, without this ability, someone with a skill similar to [Flaming Will], which could do true damage, would have posed a huge threat to Han Xiao. However, with [Steel Body], that danger was completely negated. As Han Xiao himself did a lot of explosive attacks, he knew the pros and cons of true damage very well.

He chose [Repel – Thorns] because he did not have any other better choice out of the remaining draws. The others were all pugilist skills.

When he thought back on the previous fight between Bennett and the leader, the leader must have used this ability to tank Bennett’s broken quintuple damage punch.

When Han Xiao thought about the leader again, he could not wipe away his interest in this main storyline character.

Chapter 265 - The Next Class Change Requirement

You have obtained [Repel – Thorns]!

You have obtained [Steel Body]!

_____________________

A paralyzing feeling passed through Han Xiao’s body, and it made him much more focused. When he stretched out his arms, he found out that his body had become much tougher. His chest even gave off satisfying echoes when he gave it some test smacks.

Looks like I’m progressing well on the road to become a true meat shield. Han Xiao was in a good mood as he was very glad about the mission reward this time around.

He had obtained his second Molding Ability. True damage was damage that directly reduced one’s health regardless of other defensive stats. For example, when a normal attack with a hundred attack power landed on someone, it would be reduced by a certain amount depending on the armor that the assailant wore. On the other hand, true damage would be able to do a hundred flat damage without reductions.

With this ability, he was much harder to kill and was starting to look more and more like a BOSS character.

After maxing out his [Magnetic Ring Mechanic] class in the interface, Han Xiao still had 125,000,000 experience points left, which he used to directly max out [Machinery – Last Stance] and [Repel – Thorns]. After spending another 13,000,000 exp, he gained two additional Potential Points.

Both of these abilities were very useful. [Machinery – Last Stance] was self-explanatory—it was basically like combat Viagra for Mechanics. [Repel – Thorns] was a very powerful defensive skill as it could directly mitigate a portion of all incoming damage.

Maxing out [Magnetic Ring Mechanic] also unlocked the new class change requirements.

_____________________

Class Change Requirement: Reach LV 80, obtain 400 Intelligence Points, learn five advanced mechanic knowledges.

_____________________

Well that’s surprising. Han Xiao’s eyes flashed.

Several of the class change requirements for main classes were the same for everyone. Han Xiao had class-changed four times and had [Mechanic Novice], [Novice Technician], [Mechanic Trainee], and [Magnetic Ring Mechanic]. All Mechanic players who went with the Magnetic Ring class change tree would have to complete the same requirements.

Only when they had learned enough advanced knowledge and leveled up intelligence enough would they be able to move onto the next level.

My intelligence stat has already reached 321 points. With 40 free points, I now only need 39 stat points to meet this requirement. So, the important thing now is to look for a sub-class to max to obtain LV 80 overall.

Even someone like Han Xiao who basically only assigned points into intelligence did not have enough to do the class change. It was even worse for the Mechanic players who did not know any better and put points randomly into different areas. These players would have no other choice but to arduously look for more subclasses to gain stat points from.

The cap on Version 2.0 was LV 90. The higher the overall level, the higher the required experience to level up one’s sub-classes. This was why the later one fulfilled one’s class change requirements, the higher the cost would be.

Eventually, when a player’s sub-classes’ levels made up most of their overall level, their actual strength would then be laughable.

In the past, some Galaxy players had only been able to meet their class change requirements once they got to LV 80. Before they could level up their main class after the class change, they soon ran into the Version’s level cap. Unsurprisingly, these players were the weakest when it came to PVP.

Han Xiao threw in all forty of the unassigned points into intelligence and muttered, “I also need to find a subclass. My strength has already far surpassed the Version cap, so I don’t need to focus on leveling up anymore for now. Hmm… I should try to look for one of the rarer sub-classes. Those tend to give more free skill points per level, so I will be able to class change without leveling up too much.

He was not worried about obtaining advanced mechanical knowledge. It seemed hard because the rate of his growth had already surpassed the norm in the current Version. Advanced knowledge was something that would come by sooner or later.

“Hey, Black Phantom. Can I have my weapon back?”

Someone called Han Xiao from behind him. Havalen had walked over as he asked Han Xiao.

He was the mechanical pugilist who owned the rocket-boosted hammer. The hammer was still with Han Xiao at the moment.

Han Xiao turned and replied, “Oh this! I gave it a small check before, and it seemed like your weapon wasn’t functioning properly. Let me help you repair it first.”

Or in Han Xiao’s mind… You can have it back after I’ve figured out the blueprint for this thing.

Havalen had a face full of suspicion. “There’s a malfunction? But it worked fine when I was using it.”

“Oh, you know, damaging weapons is often unavoidable during intense battles.”

“Uh, this weapon was developed by Theseus’s military factory, and I was ordered not to let anything about the technology leak out…” Havalen was troubled. He knew that Han Xiao was a Mechanic, so he was naturally concerned.

“That’s not right,” Han Xiao replied in a righteous voice. “Do I look like that kind of person? We’re teammates right now, you and I!”

Han Xiao was not feeling guilty about this at all. Teammates were supposed to be used, or what difference would they have from fish in the market?

Havalen hesitated for a few seconds before finally relenting, and he returned to where was previously.

He did not believe a word Han Xiao said, but the thing was, this dude was much stronger than every other person present.

What could he do?

The Six Nations’ agents were busy reporting the current situation to their higher ups. All the nations had their full attention on this issue. Han Xiao did not really mind. He might as well let the Six Nations people know how strong he was so as to avoid any misunderstandings in the future.

Han Xiao saw that Bennett was huddled up and talking with a small circle of people, so he walked over. He noticed that they were clamoring over a wheel that had fallen off and asked, “What’s this about?”

“I’m not sure if you have noticed, but we’re trying to fix this wheel,” Bennett said in a salty voice.

Han Xiao looked at him weirdly. “I have eyes. Are you taking the piss with me?”

The two stared at each other before Hannes could not stand it anymore and butted in to explain, “This wheel had been shot. There are some tools in the trunk. Do you think you could help us fix it? You’re a Mechanic, right?”

“You should’ve said that earlier.” Han Xiao pulled up his sleeves, took out his tools, and started fixing the wheel while making a bunch of clanking noises. The group of people just stood around him and gawked like a bunch of fools.

After Han Xiao was done, Hannes reattached the wheel onto the car. Bennett then finally looked at Han Xiao and signaled before he walked off to the side. Han Xiao shook his head a few times before he followed behind helplessly.

The debt collector was finally here.

Once they were a distance away from the campsite, Bennett stopped, and so did Han Xiao.

“Humph!” Bennett turned before staring at Han Xiao and said, “Explain yourself.”

Obviously, he was talking about Han Xiao’s double identity. Bennett still could not get over it.

Han Xiao was delighted upon hearing this. Bennett sounded just like a pouting daughter-in-law…

“So, you don’t want to talk about it? Do you see yourself right now? Oh… you think you’re so tough?” Thinking back to what had happened over the past few days pissed Bennett off. “Why not tell us that you’re an alien as well?”

Han Xiao was speechless.

You might’ve guessed right…

However, Han Xiao was extremely thick-skinned, and no matter how much Bennett whined and complained, Han Xiao only gave off an occasional “huh” to let the other person know that he was still listening. When he saw how Han Xiao was not willing to speak at all, Bennett also felt helpless about it and sighed before saying, “Whatever, it’s all in the past anyway.”

Han Xiao was a friend and someone who had made great contributions to the Dark Net. He had also devoted himself to the Shelter plan, and Bennett trusted him completely. He would not fuss too much over something like this. Moreover, Bennett secretly respected Han Xiao for his accomplishments.

Bennett coughed a few times before saying in a muffled voice, “You… how did you break past the limit?”

As a superhuman, he also wanted to become stronger. Bennett wanted to ask about Han Xiao’s experience in hopes of gaining some enlightenment for himself. He actually did not care about being surpassed by Han Xiao or any of that. Bennett had never been one to not care about these small things, and he had always lived life by trusting his friends. Han Xiao was one such friend. Although this youngling would irk him from time to time, he was still a likeable helper.

Han Xiao thought for a bit before replying with a straight face, “Like the old teachings… First, take in a deep breath but wait. You also need to start circulating energy around your nether region. You know where I’m talking about, right? So basically, your bladder. You will then start to feel like energy is slowly leaking out of you, but don’t worry, this is common for all beginners. Once you can control this feeling and hold the energy from leaking on will, you will be able to break through your limit. It’s as easy as that.”

“… You’re bullsh*tting me again, right?” Bennett was shocked. He had a mouthful of inelegant terms stuck in his mouth, waiting to be spit out.

Why do you never change! Do I look that gullible to you‽

At that moment, the two suddenly quieted down as they noticed that someone was approaching—it was Hannes.

Hannes swept his eyes across the two and said in a grave voice, “I have something to tell you guys. I might’ve found the Germinal leader’s origins.”

The duo was shocked, and their expressions drastically changed.

“He is as powerful as me,” Bennett said. “This kind of character definitely can’t just be some random hooligan, but I have no impression of him at all. It’s very odd.”

“So where is he from?” Han Xiao asked curiously.

“Black Phantom… Oh, I will just call you Han Xiao. Do you still remember the mission we left for you?”

Han Xiao nodded. The hidden A-rank main storyline mission [New Ear – Origin]’s objective was to dig up the buried past of Planet Aquamarine. He had broken down the mission into different portions and assigned pro Galaxy players to deal with the mission. The first part of the mission had already been completed, but Han Xiao just had not turned it in.

He never would have thought that the leader had something to do with the hidden main storyline, and this instantly piqued his interest.

Chapter 266 - The Origins of the Germinal Organization

“The intelligence you found has given us new clues. And several various investigations, we’ve found traces of the Germinal Organization’s origins from a dead country’s sealed confidential scroll…”

Just as he finished his sentence, the notification appeared on the interface.

_____________________

[New Era – Origin] First Round Complete

You have received 350,000 Experience

Completion Grade: Good

You have received 280,000 Experience bonus.

You have received Level45 Rare Large Dungeon Crystal – [Gollum Protection Warfare] x 5.

Listen to Hannes

_____________________

“In the old era, there was a small country called Gollum. Their government went through many changes and revolutions throughout history. In a year during the old era, a terrorist group targeting Gollum appeared, going by the name ‘Mimok’. They attacked the nation of Gollum many times and created terror in society. The government took action.

“However, it was as if the members of Mimok were everywhere. The repeated attacks destroyed the sense of safety of the people of Gollum. They demanded the government take stricter measures, and the government did. They came up with all sorts of strict laws. The regulations in the nation became tight, and the people of Gollum were under constant surveillance and management. They called it ‘protective measures’. After that, Mimok seemed to have disappeared in just a night. There were no more attacks. The measures seemed to have worked.

“However, Mimok was actually an organization that was created by Gollum’s government secretly to inflict violence upon their people. For safety, the people of Gollum willingly accepted the strict ‘protection’. The government took the rights back from the people one after another. All media sources and any platform that could give the people a voice were under the government’s strict control.”

Bennett nodded and said, “That is ruling through terror. You create an enemy for the people, and you will be on the side of the people. They will feel the danger themselves. And when there’s no guarantee of safety, terror will push most people to give up freedom in exchange for safety, accepting strict regulations.”

“That’s right.” Hannes nodded and continued. “There’s no way of knowing why the government back then chose this way of ruling the nation. Maybe they didn’t want to make the same mistake that was made in history. However, some people discovered the truth about Mimok. The tricks of the government were exposed—it became a scandal that could bring them down. The people of Gollum were furious. They paraded, protested, and created a civilian resistance organization. It led to one violent conflict after another, wanting to overthrow the government.

“When the internal conflict in Gollum was most heated, the galactic civilization came. They brought along knowledge that could change the world. At that time, chaos appeared everywhere around the world. Then war broke out, Gollum got invaded by their neighboring country. Gollum had focused too much on the internal conflict. With the threat from both inside and outside the nation, the government fell. The nation was invaded and taken over. Gollum died.”

“So, the Germinal Organization is Mimok.

“The current Germinal Organization leader was a citizen of Gollum. He was once a member of the Gollum Civilian Resistance Organization.”

“Oh? The Gollum Civilian Resistance Organization should be an enemy of Mimok,” Han Xiao said in surprise. “What’s his actual identity? What’s his name?”

Hannes shook his head and said, “That era was too long ago; the detailed identity can’t be found anymore. What we know for sure is that the leader of the Germinal Organization was once just a nobody. Gollum died, but Mimok survived. After getting out of government control, the leader of the Mimok was ambitious. He turned the organization into a starving wolf looking for an opportunity in the war.

“They were once active before the Old Era war. However, one day, Mimok suddenly disappeared. Then only appearing again after a few years. And when they reappeared, they were called the Germinal Organization. Their power expanded dozens of times; they became a shark from a shrimp. The original Mimok leader was nowhere to be found. This is all the intel I could find.”

It got quiet, and they stared at each other.

“Seems like the leader took Mimok away,” Han Xiao said in a low voice.

Bennett was more concerned about another problem. “What happened to the other people of Gollum?”

“Some were killed by the nation that invaded Gollum, some changed their nationality, and the rest became wanderers.” Hannes paused before saying, “Also… the nation that invaded Gollum is now called Raylen.”

“So that’s what happened. Now we know the motive of the Germinal Organization leader being hostile toward the Six Nations—revenge.” Han Xiao nodded.

Everyone had hope in their life. Hope would become a wish, and that wish would become a belief. Different beliefs led to different paths that would clash with each other, resulting in conflicts and possibly even war, the ultimate form of conflict.

The Germinal Organization was created from the Old Era. They had been at the front lines of the conflict, yet not only did they still exist, they had even become stronger and stronger. The leader’s past sounded legendary. From an ordinary person that no one had heard of, he became the leader of the organization that could fight against the Six Nations. He sure did match up as one of the main characters on Planet Aquamarine.

However, only the leader himself knew his actual thoughts and experiences.

At this time, the second round of missions of [New Era – Origin] appeared on the interface. It was the same type of mission as the first round, consisting of many small missions to find clues around the world. There was a total of nine missions. Han Xiao decided to use his old method, splitting them up and giving to the players.

This hidden storyline is about digging through the history that was buried. The introduction says it will have unknown impacts on Planet Aquamarine. Will something so astonishing appear and change people’s knowledge of the entire world? Han Xiao guessed.

The basic reward of the second round was 800,000 Experience, and the grade reward was still unknown. The first round of the mission had given the reward of five Dungeon Crystals of a large twenty-man dungeon, the type that had save points and could go on for days. Large guilds would definitely be interested; Han Xiao felt he could make a fortune from this.

After some chit chat, they went back to the convoy.

Han Xiao sat at the side and ate some dry food. Suddenly, he smelled a fragrance.

Hila came beside him, then said with a serious face, “We have already escaped. When are we going to fetch my younger sister? I’m very worried about her.”

Han Xiao ate the last piece of biscuit, wiped his mouth, and said, “We have to go back there in order to fetch your sister. These people of Six Nations definitely won’t agree to us taking the risk.”

“Then we can go ourselves,” Hila said without hesitation.

Han Xiao shook his head. “If I go back, the leader might fight back again, and there will be more trouble.”

Like Han Xiao had said at the start, fetching Aurora was very troublesome. However, splitting up was a must—bringing Aurora along would have meant taking care of her and not being able to fight all out. There would have been many restrictions, and Aurora might have faced danger, leaving openings for the enemy. If the enemy had realized that the two of them were protecting Aurora and decided to focus their attacks on Aurora, the two of them would have shown more flaws in the fight. They might not even have made it out if they had brought her along.

Hila scowled at Han Xiao but did not say anything. They had been through life and death situations together, so she believed that Han Xiao would not go back on his word.

Hila and Han Xiao could be considered comrades.

The Hila now was younger and more sentimental compared to the goddess of death in his memory, who was ice cold and unpredictable. Han Xiao felt very joyful seeing the sentimental side of the person that would become one of the strongest in the future.

Friends made during hard times would definitely be closer than those made after being successful.

He stood up, tapped Hila on her shoulder, and smiled. “Don’t worry, I have someone better to do the job.”

Hila frowned. Honestly, she did not want an outsider to fetch her sister, but Han Xiao definitely had his reasons for saying that. “Is that person trustworthy?”

Han Xiao touched his chin and nodded. “We are in a trading relationship; he has no reasons to be my enemy, and his abilities are most suited for this task.”

Hila nodded. She chose to trust Han Xiao and stood to the side. Han Xiao took out his laptop and dialed into a communication channel. After a few seconds, a voice came out of the laptop.

“Black Phantom?”

“It’s me.” Han Xiao smiled and said, “How are you, Dion?”

“I didn’t think you would find me at this moment. Aren’t you on the battlefield? News about you is all over the place.” Dion was surprised. Han Xiao now had an astonishing level of influence, so his tone was also a little gentler.

“Then you need to wait for the latest news,” Han Xiao said. “How’s business recently?”

“Quite good, many big customers are willing to spend at times of war.”

“I wanted to buy something from you,” Han Xiao said. “The Bonfire Reaction Furnace, PE0 Nanotechnology Fiber, and so on. I want to buy a few more units of these; money is not a problem. I will give you a list later.”

Viper was done for, and Han Xiao wanted to build a new one. His skills had improved, so he wanted to make an even stronger version.

As a Mechanic, he just had to build another one if the previous one was destroyed—that was how life was.

“Sure,” Dion agreed immediately. “I’m in Andrea, too. As you know, war is a business opportunity. You decide on a location, and I will send the things. It’s best not to be anywhere near Ordina.”

“You’re in Andrea? In that case, I have a small favor to ask of you.”

“What?”

“Help me fetch someone.”

Chapter 267 - Exposed Intel, Turning Point of The War

It was dark and damp.

The rotten smell filled the air. The dark and cold air pierced into the bones.

In a pitch-black cave, a petite person cowered and shivered.

Aurora carefully tore open a bag of military use biscuits slowly, stopping after every bit of tearing, worried that the sound might attract enemies. After opening the packaging, she took small bites on the hard biscuits and took her time finishing them.

These sounds actually would not get out of the cave, but she kept Han Xiao’s reminder in mind and did not dare to make any noise.

This is already the thirteenth meal, Aurora thought.

The passing of time could not be felt in the cave. She ate as soon as she was hungry and calculated the time based on the number of meals she had.

A pair of bright eyes hid in the shadow, always looking toward the cave entrance.

In the cave, there was only a pile of resources, the sound of breathing and her beating heart, and the wait in complete darkness.

…

A few days later, in the front lines of Stardragon camp on the South Battlefield of Andrea.

The convoy stopped inside the camp, and people waited in boredom.

Diana played with the fire sparks between her fingers for a while, then asked impatiently, “We have waited for twenty-two hours, how much longer are we going to wait?”

“Be patient. Probably not much longer,” Han Xiao said with a cigarette in his mouth.

After breaking through the leader’s ambush, they went smoothly through the Germinal Organization’s territory and came to the Six Nations’ territory. Their original destination had been a temporary base on the southern battlefield, but Han Xiao had suddenly requested to stop at this place, saying that he had to wait for someone.

Since they were already safe, the people of the Six Nations did not have any objections. They did not leave because they had a mission, which was to monitor Han Xiao and give the intel to the Six Nations. Since it was a very important matter, the Six Nations had to make sure of it.

At the side, Hila walked back and forth anxiously, continuously glancing at the entrance of the camp.

The soldiers passing by looked at them with admiration. They usually did not have the chance to see so many high ranked people.

Suddenly, there was a commotion at the entrance of the camp.

Hila stopped in place and looked over nervously.

The guards opened the gate, and man in a hoodie held the hand of a little girl and walked in slowly. The face of the little girl was pale and filled with curiosity. She looked left and right, and when she saw Hila, she could not take her eyes away.

It was Dion and Aurora.

Hila walked forward with wide strides, hugged Aurora tightly in her arms, and only let go when Aurora almost could not catch her breath. She squatted down, touched Aurora’s face, and looked at her carefully. Seeing that Aurora was unhurt, she felt relieved immediately. Then she looked at Aurora’s pale face and said apologetically, “I’m sorry, I will never leave you again.”

Aurora wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and smiled brightly.

The smile seemed to have lit up the entire world.

“I knew you would come to fetch me.”

Seeing that her younger sister was safe, Hila was so relieved that she suddenly felt that the wind was so gentle and the sunlight was so warm.

It was the feeling of freedom.

At the other side, Dion looked for Han Xiao and said, “I didn’t disappoint.”

Dion’s invisibility ability was most suitable for sneaking into all sorts of dangerous places. He had found Aurora with the coordinates that Han Xiao had given and brought her out. Ever since the ambush for Han Xiao failed, the alert level of the Germinal Organization had dropped tremendously, so they had escaped safely.

“Thanks.” Han Xiao nodded and smiled. “Sorry to let you take the risk, I owe you one for this.”

“Don’t have to. You saved me once—count this as my payback. It was not a big deal.” Dion waved his hands. “Compared to you infiltrating the Germinal Organization’s headquarters, this is not considered a risk at all.”

Han Xiao chatted for a while and started to get down to business. “Have you prepared the things I asked for?”

“I have already ordered my subordinates to withdraw them from the warehouse according to your request. They will be directly shipped to the Southern Continent. You can get them as soon as you go back there.”

“Okay. I will pay you whatever’s needed by then.”

After they chatted for a while, Dion left. Diana said impatiently, “Can we go now?”

“In a bit.” Han Xiao walked toward Hila and Aurora. They were still talking. After he got closer, he heard Aurora ask a question.

“Sis, where do we go now?” Aurora asked with anticipation on her face.

Hila suddenly paused.

That was right; they were free. Where should they go?

They did not have to work for anyone anymore. Where should they go in this big world?

Hila was lost.

“If you have nowhere to go, how about you come with me? My territory is very safe.” Han Xiao walked over.

“With you?” Hila hesitated. She touched Aurora’s head.

She wanted to bring her sister to explore the world.

“Your sister was imprisoned for so long; her health is in very bad condition,” Han Xiao said. “Even if you want to take her to places, at least her health condition needs to improve first.”

“You’re right.” Hila’s face tightened. She agreed with Han Xiao’s point immediately. The priority now was to improve her younger sister’s condition. She felt heartache every time she looked at how weak and skinny Aurora was. Although she still had immeasurable hatred toward the Germinal Organization, she was now focused on her younger sister and did not have any thought of taking revenge. She just wanted to settle down with Aurora first.

She respected her younger sister’s opinion and asked Aurora, “What do you think?”

“Sounds great,” Aurora replied joyfully. After such a long time being imprisoned, everything in the outside world was new and exciting to her.

Aurora suddenly thought of something. She said to Han Xiao timidly, “Thank you for saving me.”

Han Xiao smiled and did not say anything. He reached out his hands and pinched Aurora’s face, and Aurora did not resist.

Hila looked at Han Xiao complicatedly.

Never had she thought that her younger sister would be saved by him. She did not know how she could pay back for something so huge.

We’ll follow him for now then…

…

After a few days, they passed through a few camps and came to the temporary base in the southern battlefield. The representatives of the Six Nations gathered in the meeting room and waited for Han Xiao’s arrival.

After he settled Hila and Aurora down, the guards led Han Xiao into the meeting room. The focus immediately turned to him as he entered.

The guards closed the gate.

These representatives were mostly strangers. Han Xiao only knew the Stardragon representative—Gu Hui.

“Yo, everyone is here.” Han Xiao greeted casually. He pulled a chair with his leg and sat down casually like he knew everyone.

The people present could not help but size him up. This was the first time that many of them had seen Han Xiao with their own eyes. Thinking of the things that he had done, many felt admiration and fear.

The person in front of them was the one who had provided intel secretly all along. He had used the hostility between the Six Nations and the Germinal Organization, rode along the waves, and become the mastermind behind everything.

People like this were very dangerous.

Furthermore, according to the latest reports, Han Xiao had broken through the power ceiling and should now be the strongest superhuman on the entire planet. From the Six Nations’ viewpoint, they definitely feared someone so strong that belonged to another organization.

Dark Net had both Bennett, who was previously the strongest, and Han Xiao, who was now the strongest. They had become a worrying organization no matter how the Six Nations looked at it.

Luckily, the Dark Net had always stayed neutral. At least that was good news.

Gu Hui knocked the table and said seriously, “Han Xiao, we fulfilled our side of the deal. It’s now your turn.”

“Come on, don’t we know each other? What’s with the formal tone?” Han Xiao said jokingly. “We haven’t met in a long time. How have you been recently? Have you been promoted? Although it is easier for you to be demoted rather than promoted in your position…”

Veins appeared on Gu Hui’s forehead. He knocked the table heavily. “Get! Down! To! Business!”

“Sigh, people nowadays don’t even want to chat. All they have in mind is serious talk—business, work, and the future.” Han Xiao shook his head. “Life is about more than that.”

“That’s not the point. Why do you have so many things to talk about?” Gu Hui was frustrated.

Please respect the formal occasion!

The representatives of the nations’ mouths twitched. Han Xiao gave them a completely different feeling compared to what they had imagined.

Shouldn’t the mastermind be ferocious, mysterious, and a man of a few words? What’s with the chitchat with the Director-general of Division 13? What kind of mastermind is so friendly?

They could not see through him.

As they talked nonsense, Han Xiao was secretly observing the structure of the room. After he confirmed there was no ambush or bug, he stopped talking nonsense immediately, took out a portable hard drive, connected it to the computer, and showed the image on the big screen in the meeting room.

The secrets of the Germinal Organization were exposed one after another. All of their plans, deployments, military power, and trump cards were exposed.

Chapter 268 - Will You Love Me If I Am the Title...

The intelligence included the location of all the nuclear warheads that the Germinal Organization possessed. The Hand of Death system would be of no use once these nuclear warheads were broken down; the Germinal Organization would not even be able to make the Six Nations die with them.

His goal had been to give this intelligence to the Six Nations when he stole it from the Germinal Organization Headquarters. The earlier the Germinal Organization was destroyed, the sooner he could complete his A-grade main storyline mission, [Fall of the Germinal]. The progress at the moment was at 36.2%. His impact in the war to destroy the Germinal Organization would further grow after he provided this intelligence, and the progress would likely increase once again.

The only intelligence he kept to himself was the class advancement knowledge. Han Xiao planned to sell that to the players and make a large of profit. He was familiar with monopolizing.

The representatives of the Six Nations stood up in excitement.

“This os all classified information!”

“With this intelligence, the war can be ended early!”

“Amazing job!”

This intelligence brought unimaginable convenience to the Six Nations; it was like knowing all of the enemy’s card when playing poker. The entire war was going to change with this intelligence.

The source of all this was Han Xiao, who sat at the end of the meeting table, picking his ears.

The representatives exchanged looks, and the atmosphere became quiet.

Han Xiao was very understanding. “Alright, I have already provided the intelligence. What you do with it is up to you. I shall leave you guys to it.”

He stood up and left. After pushing the door open, he suddenly stopped, turned his head around, and saw that the expressions of the people present were unchanged. Disappointed, he said, “There really isn’t an ambush…”

The representatives’ mouth twitched.

Ambush? Do you not have any damn idea how strong you are?

We still want to live, damn it!

Gu Hui wiped his cold sweat. “The intelligence you provided is very important—it has helped us a lot. We need to have an emergency meeting… so you should leave quickly.”

…

The situation of the expedition war changed drastically within a few days. The troops of the Six Nations marched forward and defeated the enemy easily like they were on steroids. The Germinal Organization was at a disadvantage on every battlefield. Then it snowballed, and they started showing signs of collapsing, their territory becoming ever smaller.

The entire planet was paying attention to the war and got shocked by the sudden change. After some research, they came to know that Han Xiao had given the intelligence that he stole to the Six Nations.

When Han Xiao’s real identity was exposed some time ago, he had been surrounded, so it had become the focus of the battle between the Germinal Organization and the Six Nations. Being in the center, it was like Han Xiao was in the eye of the storm, surrounded by stronger winds. At that time, the head-on battles all over Andrea had all reached a climax. The large number of troops of the Germinal Organization had been stalled by the Six Nations with all their might, so they did not have enough troops, and their ranged missiles were all blocked by the Six Nations.

The organizations could already tell at that time that, if Han Xiao could escape, the entire situation would be changed.

As expected, he became the turning point of the entire war.

The person who triggered the war secretly was him, and the person who was going to end the war was also him. The organizations were all astonished.

His legendary status is indeed well deserved!

Having the upper hand in the war, the Six Nations started to report the situation of the war within the nations, spreading the word that the war was going to end and comforting the civilians. The civilians of the nations were relieved, and the nations felt the pressure on them lessen.

Of course, the media undoubtedly exaggerated the negative things that the Germinal Organization had done. Although the name of the Germinal Organization was already bad enough, they still made it worse out of habit, emphasizing that the expedition was an act of justice, and it was to protect the homes and the nations.

The players in Planet Aquamarine felt the change of the war themselves. The most obvious and direct impact was that the missions became fewer.

With Han Xiao’s influence, the conflict between the Six Nations and the Germinal Organization had broken out ahead of schedule, so the impact of the players on the storyline was minimized. What they could do was negligible, but at least they had things to do. However, as the war became more one-sided, they did not even have the chance to do anything at all anymore; the players could now only watch as things happen.

The players belonging to the Germinal Organization were the exception. They had more missions… and they failed them more often.

Even with the increased number of missions, they still seemed to be at a loss considering how often they failed.

The players of both sides fought many times. The players of the Six Nations were gloating, and the players of the Germinal Organization were crying.

Why! Why does Black Phantom keep hurting us?

You are full of love toward the other players, but we have no benefit at all!

Why were we born in the Germinal Organization!

The piece of sh*t Germinal Organization, give me back my youth!

Han Xiao’s activities in the war were all exposed, a passionate player edited these videos into a short film and shared it on the forums. It received very positive feedback.

However, the last battle was not in the short film. No players had been present during the leader’s ambush battle, so there were not any recordings. The players could not help but feel that there was something missing.

Therefore, Bun-hit-dog, who was the source of ‘first hand Black Phantom information’ was affected as well. His personal page was raided by the players.

“What happened to first-hand information? Shame!”

“Lousy host, subscribed!”

As words spread all over the outside world, Han Xiao had already boarded the return plane and left Andrea, returning to the Southern Continent together with Hila, Andrea, Bennett, and the others.

…

Stepping out of the cabin, the warm air of the Southern Continent blew against his face, brushing away the feeling of war in his chest. Han Xiao squinted with comfort and took a deep breath. The exhaustion in his mind was eased.

He had spent the most time in the Southern Continent, so it had a sense of familiarity like he was returning to his home. He felt very relaxed.

Hila held hands with Aurora and walked off the plane. Aurora was full of excitement and kept looking around. Everything in the outside world was fresh to her, and she could not get enough of it.

“I shall go back to Sanctuary One first. There are some matters that need to be taken care of,” Bennett said and left with his people.

Hannes and Vernina nodded at Han Xiao and left together as well. Only Han Xiao, Hila, and Aurora were left.

Coming to the Southern Continent, Hila suddenly remembered, when the Germinal Organization retreated from the Southern Continent, she had fought with Han Xiao before and was hurt. She had even decided to get revenge.

She had never thought that things would turn out to be how they were now.

“Where’s your territory?” Hila asked.

His territory was none other than the sanctuary. Han Xiao remembered that the early stage construction had been completed when he left, so he wondered how things were progressing since he had been away for so long.

…

At night, Sanctuary Three was still bright as day.

A group of tough looking man dressed like refugees crossed the alleys in the residential area. They seemed to be up to no good.

These people were robbers and entered Sanctuary Three disguised as refugees.

As Sanctuary Three became larger, its name spread further, so some robbers had malicious ideas. After they knew that the Sanctuary Three had a large amount of resources, some people got greedy and decided to take the risk.

As they passed by an intersection, they heard people having a conversation. These people hastily hid in the alley, waited for the group of players to pass by, and then started to move again.

“There are too many Inhumans here. It’s better to be more careful,” one of them said.

The leader of the robbers was a rough man with a crooked mouth. He spat thick phlegm onto the floor as he heard what the other man said. “Inhumans are all disgusting monsters.”

A part of the locals of the Planet Aquamarine spurned the Inhumans and looked at them as a different species, but of course, their deepest emotion was that they envied the fact that Inhumans were undying.

“We just need to rob a few resources from the warehouse, and we will be rich.”

A few tens of meters behind these robbers, Frenzied Sword, Hao Tian, Maple Moon, and Bun-hit-dog were following them discreetly. They had discovered these suspicious ‘refugees’ by chance, triggered an urgent mission that required them to track these people, and followed secretly.

“They have thirty-four people, average LV 10, only one small BOSS, and the rest are minions,” Bun-hit-dog said quietly.

“They all have yellow names. Not sure if they are enemies,” Maple Moon said.

If they killed residents of the sanctuary by mistake, their relationship with the sanctuary would drop. They followed behind patiently and came to near the warehouse.

The warehouse was heavily guarded, and armed men of Dark Net patrolled the place. These robbers hid in the dark. The man with a crooked mouth looked at his watch rapidly and said quietly, “When the guy that bombs the power plant succeeds, all the electricity in this area will be cut off. We will grab the resources in the chaos then.”

Chapter 269 - The Players Here Are Super Welcoming

It was ten minutes past the planned time, but the power plant still did not explode, so the robbers were getting anxious.

“Did the guy bombing the power plant get caught? It’s been so long, and there’s no update.” The crooked mouth man called many times, but no one picked up.

The others wanted to back away.

“The plan is exposed. We should quickly leave. If the guy bombing the power plant got caught, he will give us up.”

The crooked mouth man’s eyes were vicious. “What are you panicking for? We have to take risks if we want to be rich. We can’t come here for nothing!”

These robbers were obviously very weak yet daring… in short, suicidal.

They waited a while more and finally found an opportunity when there was only one patrolling guard at this side of the gate.

The crooked mouth man pointed at one of his subordinates and said, “You, go assassinate that guard!”

The guy who got pointed at stepped forward unwillingly and approached the guard cautiously on tiptoes. His hands held onto the handle of the dagger at the back of his waist, shivering nervously and sweating continuously.

Although the enemy was just one patrol guard, he was armed.

The guard turned and saw a shadow sneaking into within twenty meters. He immediately yelled, “Who’s there!”

The subordinate was shocked. He hastily stood up straight and nervously stammered, “I—I’m just passing by!”

He then ran back and said sadly, “Boss, I was discovered.”

“Useless!” the crooked mouth man angrily said. He pulled out a self-made humble handgun from his waist, passed it to another subordinate, and yelled, “You go! The effective range of this handgun is twenty-five meters. Kill that guard!”

The subordinate swallowed his saliva and headed over sneakily with the handgun.

When he was at about twenty meters away, the guard discovered a shadow again.

“Who’s there this time‽”

The subordinate was shocked. “I—I’m out for a walk!”

The guard saw the outline of the handgun and, alarmed, asked, “What’s that in your hand?”

“Th—This…”

The subordinate suddenly had an idea. He looked up and put the handgun near his eyes then said with panic, “This is a pair of binoculars fo—for me to watch the moon.”

Then he ran back, too.

On the other side, Frenzied Sword and the others were confused. What were these people going back and forth for?

The crooked mouth man was furious. “Useless! All of you are useless! Give me the gun. I will do it myself!”

The crooked mouth man snatched the handgun and walked quickly toward the guard. The guard was already alert because of what had happened. He immediately yelled, but when he had only said one word, the crooked mouth man fired. The bullet hit the guard’s shoulder. The guard yelled in agony and fell back onto the ground. The crooked mouth man fired two more times. The guard was severely injured and had no ability to fight anymore.

“Quickly, go in and take the things,” the crooked mouth man said. The subordinates all rushed over. This time, the names of these robbers became red in the eyes of Frenzied Sword and the rest. The mission requirement changed to catching these robbers alive and giving them to the guards of the sanctuary.

It was easy to deal with now that they were enemies—players were most familiar with fighting.

Hao Tian led the way, Frenzied Sword was right behind, and the other two followed—the four of them all dashed out. The robbers were all shocked. They hastily wanted to take out their weapons to fight back, but half of them were defeated in an instant.

“Inhumans, they are all Inhuman!”

The four of them defeated those robbers with ease. The crooked mouth man was the last one left. He held his handgun, shivering, and acted tough. “Don’t come here, or I will shoot… I really will shoot!”

Suddenly, the ground started shaking. More than ten red dots appeared in the dark and closed in quickly, showing themselves. It was six Generation 2.5 Rangers. They surrounded the scene, their black muzzles locked onto the people present.

In important locations like warehouses and power plants, the true protection was the Rangers that Han Xiao had built, which were on standby at all times. As soon as they detect a gunshot or anyone unauthorized entering the area, they would activate combat mode, striking instantly like awakened beasts.

Sanctuary Three was Han Xiao’s territory, so it was heavily guarded, not a place that just anyone could mess with!

The change was sudden, and the people were stunned.

Frenzied Sword recognized that the Rangers had been built by Han Xiao, and Bun-hit-dog said hurriedly, “Don’t shoot, we are allies…”

However, as soon as the Rangers were activated, they would kill everyone within the area. Furthermore, the Rangers did not have a voice recognition function.

The next second, bullets rained upon them, and all of them were killed in an instant.

The chips of the Rangers were connected to the alarm system of the sanctuary. A patrolling team arrived at the scene shortly after the Rangers stopped firing. They cleaned up the scene and sent their injured ally to the hospital.

Frenzied Sword and the others revived at the square and looked at each other, upset.

Not only was the mission requirement of catching them alive failed, but they had also died.

The square was a lively area. The players set up stores and requested to team up, and tens of thousands of players gathered there, day or night.

“Sigh, there aren’t any good missions to do. Han Xiao’s not been here for so many days. I miss him.” Frenzied Sword shook his head upset.

“Exactly,” Bun-hit-dog said with a bitter face, “I don’t even have any material for new episodes of my show and have been receiving tons of complaints on the forums. It would be even worse if not for you and God Hao being my guests.”

Hao Tian was a man of few words; he nodded as a reply. Maple Moon had already gone to the fair to shop. The passion for shopping in women was the same even in the game.

This time, the four of them realized something and looked up at the same time.

Whoosh!

The sound of a helicopter came from the sky far away, getting louder and louder. The searchlight showed the location of the helicopter, and it landed on the helipad in the sanctuary. Very soon, a commotion started in that area, and players headed over continuously.

The players in the square closed their stores one after another and rushed over in excitement.

The wave of people headed toward the helipad.

Black Phantom had returned!

…

As soon as he walked down the plane, Han Xiao noticed the countless players standing in the streets near the helipad, all looking at him with curiosity and welcoming him.

Wow, the treatment is not bad at all.

Han Xiao was surprised. He wondered if he should thank them for their efforts but decided not to.

The players were so welcoming it felt like he was back home, he really liked this place.

The heads of the sanctuary had all been notified of his return long ago. Huang Yu was waiting, and he immediately walked over to report the situation. “Following your plan, more areas of the sanctuary have finished their construction. The war made quite a number of wanderers join the sanctuary. There are now more than 23,000 residents.”

“Tell me something that I don’t already know.” Han Xiao raised his palm and stopped him. He could see the construction progress in his mission log, so there was no need for any further elaboration.

“There were not any accident overall, but we just discovered a small group of thieves just now that seemed to want to rob our warehouse,” Huang Yu immediately replied. “They were killed by the guard robots.”

“Okay, strengthen the selection process of refugees. Don’t let just anyone enter, anything else?”

Huang Yu hesitated and said, “One more thing, Inhumans have been fighting each other regularly, damaging public property. Shall we…”

Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled.

What Huang Yu referred to was PVP (Player vs Player). This was something that the players loved to do, and it definitely could not be banned. The Great Mechanic Han had a flash of an inspiration.

“Get some men and build a large arena in the next few days.”

Huang Yu was stunned.

Arena?

This is a sanctuary. What’s the use of an arena in a sanctuary? To have performances for the refugees? They might not even have a filling meal. Isn’t that a waste of space and resources?

Huang Yu could only hold himself from giving his suggestion, but Han Xiao shook his head and said, “Your thought process is too rigid. The Inhumans have too much energy. The arena will give them a place to use that energy. We can sell tickets and earn back what we spent on it. Not only are we building the arena, but we are also going to encourage the Inhumans to fight in the arena, then create a fair betting system with our guarantee and earn handling fees. Won’t that gain us profit?”

Huang Yu opened his mouth and said in confusion, “Then why don’t we just dedicate an area for them to fight?”

Han Xiao’s face turned serious. “Damn it, are you in charge or am I in charge? Trying to revolt on the first day I return? Tsk tsk, you’d better be careful, or I will…”

Huang Yu was covered in sweat

Okay, you’re the boss, whatever you say.

Making profit was not the main reason to build the arena. What was more important was that it was another step toward the Players’ Main City plan; it was a function that it must have. The more the players enjoyed PVP, the more they would like the arena. The players would also have a stronger sense of belonging to Sanctuary Three.

Furthermore, the long-term goal of this action was to host the future Galaxy Pro League!

Chapter 270 - Main City Action Plan

The pro league consisted of many competition modes. The arena would of course be most suitable for Challenges, which was a contest where the winner remained on stage and the loser left, and Singles, one-on-one battles. According to Han Xiao’s experience, with an already built arena, there was quite a high chance that the pro league would be hosted there. After all, the arenas for the planet divisions of the first pro league in his previous life had been built last minute by the players themselves. Although it sounded very pathetic, the players had enjoyed the DIY process.

If the pro league were to be hosted in his territory, the position of ‘Main City’ would become firmer. It would also bring in a large number of people, and these were all potential customers in Han Xiao’s eyes. He was aiming to make a huge fortune during the pro league, and the temporary enhancement drugs that he had would definitely sell very well in such situations.

However, there was a small problem—the pro league would only be hosted around the time when the first batch of players reached LV60. He had to stay on Planet Aquamarine for quite some time if he wanted to wait for the pro league to start.

I shall consider it as preparation for heading into the galaxy. Plus, I have to wait for opportunities as well.

It was not easy to leave the planet. None of the novice planets in Version 1.0 had an official route into the galaxy. He could think of many simple ways to leave one of those novice planets that had more contact with Galactic Civilizations, such as Planet Winterfrost—the Space Devil Species had galactic battleships, and Han Xiao was confident that he would have been able to wrangle one of these.

On Planet Aquamarine, on the other hand, the nations could not even build a spaceship, so his chances were extremely low.

However, it was not completely hopeless. When he decided to leave Planet Aquamarine in Version 1.0, he had started searching for clues in his memory, and after thinking for very long, he did discover a few extreme cases that might give him a chance. However, he had to wait for these events to occur naturally—only then would he have a chance.

Therefore, he did indeed have time to wait for the pro league to start.

By then, the highest-level players will mostly have reached LV 60. I should still be LV 70 if I can’t find any suitable subclasses.

Han Xiao was not worried at all. His strength had exceeded the version, and he had the BOSS model. If the players had any malicious intent, he could easily defeat a forty-man team.

The other organizations would be stunned once the players became stronger. They would see ‘Inhumans’ as very dangerous, and the situation of Planet Aquamarine would change again.

Only he would remain steady.

Aurora hid behind Hila timidly. It was the first time that she had seen so many people at once. She was shocked and could not get used to it.

“This is your territory?” Hila raised her eyebrows. She was a little surprised. She had not expected there to be so many Inhumans there, and it seemed like Han Xiao was very influential to the Inhumans, but she could not understand why.

The players crowded around because Han Xiao had attracted way too much attention recently. The Planet Aquamarine panel in the forums was very popular, and the players in the sanctuary all wanted to look at him closely.

There were players all along the path looking at him from all directions with passion and thirst in their eyes. He almost felt like he was being paraded. He felt that these players might all have pounced at him at once if not for the guards opening a path.

It was finally quiet when they returned to the areas for high-ranked officials of the sanctuary.

Han Xiao settled Hila and Aurora down and said, “Huang Yu, arrange two rooms for them. They will be staying here from now on…”

He then rethought it and said, “Never mind, one room is enough.”

“Please follow me.” Huang Yu brought them away.

After they left, he was the only one in the room. Han Xiao lay in bed and rested for a while. He then closed the door and windows, locked himself in the study, took out a pen, and wrote the focus of the upcoming plans.

Since he was preparing to leave the planet, he had to list down all sorts of opportunities on Planet Aquamarine. He even wrote down the details of the opportunities for him to leave the planet. He edited and added details again and again to prevent missing any details.

“… therefore, I need to get more Experience from the players in Planet Aquamarine as, for a short period after leaving the planet, there won’t be any chances to meet players. Also, for me to maintain my influence, I have to improve the Players’ Main City as much as I can, filling in more functions, improving transportation, so that the players in the main city will be reminded of me every once in a while. I might as well build a statue to remind them…”

He then burnt the paper to ashes, not leaving any clues behind. It was already late night, but Han Xiao headed toward another building. This was the special residence that he had given to Frenzied Sword and the other three players. No other players received such treatment.

Frenzied Sword was the only one in the room. He has been waiting for Han Xiao, and when he saw Han Xiao, he bounded up to him immediately with joy.

“Only you?” Han Xiao looked around, then casually created a simple mission with rich rewards and gave it to Frenzied Sword.

Finally!

Frenzied Sword was overjoyed.

It was better to follow Black Phantom after all. The mission requirement was so fun. He just had to sing and dance to get Experience. The other missions were so much more boring in comparison.

The pro league was going to happen, and Han Xiao planned to raise these players that he was closer to so that they would perform better in the league.

Han Xiao was very generous to them since they helped him as well. At the same time, if they had more stable achievements, the other players would have a stronger belief that following him was beneficial.

His mission reward quota increased too, so it could satisfy the needs of more players.

_____________________

Single Mission Experience Reward Quota: 115,160

_____________________

The daily quota was seven times of the single mission quota—which came from the basic multiplier of five and two from his Legendary Points—about 800,000 Experience. It was very high, and even Han Xiao himself was tempted. It would be great if he could give the Experience quota to himself. In that case, he would not have to worry about Experience at all. Sadly, it did not work that way.

Sigh, still have to get Experience from the players.

After spending a day settling several cumbersome issues, the resources from Dion arrived. Han Xiao locked himself in the workshop right after to go on a building streak and arrange what he had earned.

The Mechanic class advancement knowledge from the Germinal Organization is [Nerves Connection]. This is knowledge that is very important to the Mechanic class; it revolutionized the control mode of machinery. By inputting programs into the chip, orders can be made by reading the signal from the brain. The process of thinking is much faster than talking or hand signs.

By spending eight Potential Points, he maxed out [Nerves Connection] to Level5. Basic knowledge required one Potential Point to level up, advanced knowledge required two, and it increased as the knowledge became more advanced, requiring more and more potential points. Therefore, Han Xiao had been keeping his Potential Points and only spending them to level up important knowledge.

The first task was to build a new mechanical suit. Han Xiao did not plan to duplicate according to the [Viper] blueprint. He wanted to innovate freely from that basis and create an enhanced combat suit. He already had some ideas.

A large number of parts and resources were placed near the workstation. Han Xiao counted them, rubbed his hands, and showed a confident smile.

Let’s begin.

…

On the seventh day…

Whoosh!

With the sound of leaked cold air, the metal cooling box opened. Inside was a strong transparent cylinder box filled with a light-blue liquid. Han Xiao got rid of the liquid used to cool down the temperature and sped up the fusion process. A brand new combat suit could be seen, still giving out cold steam.

It’s finally complete. That was tiring.

Han Xiao was excited. He rubbed his cheeks strongly to ease the slight exhaustion from not sleeping during the previous nights.

The new combat suit used the same inner core concept as Viper, with PE-0 Nanotechnology Fiber and muscle in between, still providing enhanced Strength and Dexterity, and he did not miss out on any of the original weapon modules.

The outlook had the same style as Viper—dark black with flashes of blue light from the energy pipes, a complicated, precise streamlined shape—with some changes. Its size was bigger, and it had more obvious edges, like protruding scales, giving off an entirely different feeling.

If Viper felt like a hunting small venomous snake, the new combat suit felt like a black mamba stalking its prey in the dark, waiting to unleash a lethal strike.

Ferocious!

Sinister!

Han Xiao would only have needed three days to duplicate Viper, but he spent seven days this time.

The remaining four days were all spent on enhancing. The performance, armor, energy source, and modules were all improved!

Chapter 271 - New Mechanical Suit—Amphiptere!

The energy core was still the Bonfire Reaction Furnace, placed around five centimeters below the neck. His Machinery Affinity and machinery skill both improved after the class advancement, so he enhanced the Bonfire Reaction Furnace.

He made a few hidden recesses at the back of the mechanical suit that were connected to the energy core. Energy blocks could be embedded into these recesses. If the energy of the Bonfire Reaction Furnace was finished, these would be the backup energy source. There was also another function—extra power output. It could largely increase the performance of the mechanical suit, comparable to [Overload].

The energy blocks would of course be the [Low Class Energy Crystal] that he had extracted from the radiation crystals from the Shadow Stalker Viper nest. Emerald Grass was currently trying to domesticate the Shadow Stalker Vipers and make the crystals into a renewable resource. It had yet to succeed, but the hundreds of pounds of crystals Han Xiao had were enough.

The armor was made with the new alloy that he had fused from [Advanced Materials], Ellie Iron Alloy. It had a better defense than the Platinum Alloy. The control mode used the newly learned [Nerves Connection]. The helmet had a module that could read nerve signals. It was embedded on the inner side of the helmet like a metal plate, and the functions of the suit could be controlled with just a thought. The weapon modules were the ones that he spent the most effort and time on, all of which were largely enhanced.

The most important new module was a large mounted part that was almost six meters wide when extended fully!

This was a mounted mechanical wing that was embedded onto the back, shoulders, and arms. Its original model was the Sky Swallow Glider, and the surface of the wings was wide. It had a seventy-centimeter radius circular triple fold propeller on both sides and a pistonless rotary turbo engine that could turn 360 degrees!

The Electromagnetic Hover-boots to run-up, Mini Maneuvering Equipment to take off, the wings to glide, providing continuous mobility.

He gave the new combat suit the ability to fly!

Which man did not dream of soaring through the skies? Men’s romance is the stars and the seas!

_____________________

You have successfully enhanced [Light Mechanical Suit—Viper], do you want to give it a new name?

_____________________

With a flash of insight, a suitable name appeared in Han Xiao’s mind.

_____________________

Named Successfully, you received customized blueprint [Light Mechanical Suit—Amphiptere!]

_____________________

I definitely have great naming skills.

Han Xiao was very satisfied. Amphiptere is a flying serpent, so it really conveyed a clear image.

_____________________

Amphiptere

Type: Light Single-Unit Mechanical Combat Suit

Grade: Dark Green

Basic Stats:

– Armor: 8950/8950

– Defense: 164

– Power: Level 818

– Energy: 4300(+800)/4300(+800)

Height: 1.87m

Weight: 176 lb

Control Method: Low-Class Smart Chip + Nerves Connection (Extra +10 Dexterity)

Power Source: Mini Bonfire Reaction Furnace (Enhanced) – Self Charge

Recovers Energy at 35/min

Energy Conversion Rate from User: 24 to 32

Energy Storage: Low Class Energy Block x 4 (Exchangeable anytime)

Energy Storage: 800

Stationary Mode Energy Usage: 22/min

Combat Mode Energy Usage: 40/min

Core Power Capacity: 787/850

[Bone Structure Module: PE-0 Nanotechnology Fiber]

– Biological Muscle Inner Bone

– Strengthens muscle when the user moves the body

– Hardens muscle under attack

– Increases Attributes: +38 S trength, +25 Dexterity, +12 DEF

Power Output: 70

[Armor Plating Module: Ellie Iron Alloy Plate (Green)]

+2550 Armor

+48 DEF

Power Output: None

[Armor Plating Module: U9 Colloidal bulletproof Membrane (Green)]

+2400 Armor

+45 DEF

Power Output: None

[Exterior Module: Optical Camouflage]

– Reflects light to achieve invisibility to a certain extent

– Power Output: 20

[Exterior Module: SUI Anti-Radar Coating]

[Exterior Module: Electromagnetic Interference Coating]

[Reconnaissance Module: Vulture Tactical Scanner]

– Smart fire control

– Aim assist

– Includes Tactical Hologram Screen

– Power Output: 25

[Palm Module: Thermo-Electrical Incisor Gloves (Purple)]

– Produces a high amount of heat and deals continuous damage

– Energy Cost: 1.5/s

– Damage Level: 101

– Power Output: 60

[Backhand Module: Thermo-Electromagnetic Incisor Blade (Green)]

– Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades with thermal technology

– Energy Cost: 1/s

– Power Output: 80

[Wrist Module: Directional Field Repulsive Machine (Blue)]

– Releases repulsive energy in an arc of 150° and 20m.

– Cooldown: 30s

– Energy Cost: 15 per use

– Power Output: 70

[Arm Module: Sunworm Mini Flamethrower (Purple)]

– Energy Cost 1.5/s

– Damage Level: 104

– Power Output: 60

[Leg Module: Electrical Hover Boots (Purple)]

– Energy Cost: 6.2/min

– Power Output: 55

[Advancing Module: Mini Maneuvering Equipment] * 9

– Energy Cost per unit: 1.4/min

– Power Output per unit: 18

– Power Output: 162

[Survival Modules]

– Body Status Monitor

– Thermostat

– Gyroscopic Stabilizer

– Air Storage

– Filtration Device

– Total Power Output: 80

[Ejection Modules]

– Sonic Bomb * 24

– Mini Split Drill Bullet * 16

– Power Output: 60

[Chip Modules]

– Database Analysis

– Battle Trajectory Prediction

– Battle Assist

– Power Output: 30

[Chip Module: Nerves Signal Recognition]

– Power Output: 20

[Subsidiary Module: High-Speed Injection Needle]

– Equipped: Pain Killer, Stimulant, Healing Agent

– Power Output: 10

[Subsidiary Module: Mini Spider Detector] * 12

– Power Output: None

[Subsidiary Module: Electromagnetic Pulse Controller]

– Applies [Excitement]

– All Stats +5%

– Duration: 15 mins

– Energy Cost: 5 per use

– Power Output: 10

[Subsidiary Module: ‘Poison Ivy’ Body Part]

– Creates suction force, allowing the mechanical suit to hold onto objects

– Power Output: 20

[Subsidiary Module: Mini Detection Radar]

– Power Output: 30

[Mountable Module: ‘Ironfist’ Heavy Mechanical Arm (Purple)]

– Power Output: 91

[Mountable Module: “Bat Wings” Turbo Engine Flying Device]

– Power Output: 326

[Additional Ability: Strong Capability]

– During combat, distributes energy to Biological Muscle Inner Bone,

– Increases stats: +40 S trength, +20 Dexterity

[Additional Ability: Snake Devil]

– The mechanical suit uses up all energy at once, entering a special status

– Duration: 2–7 mins

– Cooldown: 7 days

Effect:

– Doubles additional attributes (+156 S trength, +110 Dexterity)

– All modules can be used without any energy cost

[Additional Ability: Absorbent Armor]

– Made with Ellie Iron Alloy, this alloy can disperse applied forces

– Damage Reduction +22%

Remark: “Surprise! I can fly!”

_____________________

With all the purple modules, Amphiptere’s attributes were at the standard of Version 2.0. Han Xiao stood with arms akimbo and appreciated his own product.

With the attributes of me and Amphiptere, no one on Planet Aquamarine poses a threat to me. This mechanical suit can be taken into the galaxy to use—it’s some early preparation.

Han Xiao thought far ahead. In the eyes of the players, this was godly equipment in the early stage. Even pigs could fly by wearing this mechanical suit—it was overkill for a novice planet.

Amphiptere was locked onto his nerve signals, so only he could control it.

The class advancement knowledge [Nerves Connection] was a foundation for controlling more complex machinery. The speed of thought was much quicker than the usual means of control, and if there was an injury involving a missing body part, [Nerves Connection] could be used on these biological body parts as well. Of course, Han Xiao hoped that day would never come.

Furthermore, [Nerves Connection] had another key use in his eyes. The players entered Galaxy with a VR-Capsule, and the core principle of the VR-Capsule was the transfer of the players’ mind.

Therefore, if the mind of a player was transferred into an NPC clone, what would happen?

Would the players be locked in ‘Galaxy’ just like him? Would they revive after they died? If they could revive, was the body the original player body or a new body? Or… would something else happen?

From his perspective, he could feel that everything there was real, but he never stopped having doubts. He always paid attention to the forums, anxiously wanting to see if his account in his previous life would appear, and it did not.

How did this happen? Is it butterfly effect, the ‘me’ once changed account? That makes some sense. I did create my account casually back then… or are there other possibilities?

Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled. In all honesty, he kind of wanted to communicate face to face with ‘his old self’. It would definitely be a fresh experience.

To figure out the truth, I still have to start from the players. A mind transferring device like the VR-Capsule can’t be created with just [Nerves Connection]. More knowledge is needed.

Han Xiao kept the doubts in his heart.

What was most important at the moment was to make himself stronger. The stronger he was, the safer it was. He did not want to be killed by someone or some disaster before he figured out the truth, so every new version update would mean danger.

Chapter 272 - Unknown Potential

“You have been losing blood very frequently, causing your body to be weak, stunted, and your organs recessed. Optimistically, you have three years left to live…”

In the medical room, Emerald Grass wore a pair of rimless glasses and checked Aurora’s body like a doctor, coming up with this pessimistic result.

Without waiting for the expressions of the people present to change, Emerald Grass then said, “Of course, that’s the case for a normal person. Although your body is weak, your cell activity level is something I have never seen before.”

As she was speaking, Emerald Grass took out a few microscope photos, then said excitedly, “Usually, the self-healing of a human body is very slow. Undamaged cells slowly split into new cells to repair damage. In comparison, superhumans have stronger self-healing abilities. Energy or other sources of energy can be used to seal-heal, I, for one, can extract life forces from plants to recover from injuries. Whether it is a normal person or superhuman, self-healing requires energy and nutrition.

“However, your cell is like a drop of extremely concentrated life energy. It could multiply one’s self-healing ability by hundreds and even thousands of times. Your hair, blood, and all your body structures are like extremely strong potions, and to give you an idea of how strong your level of cell activity is… For example, let’s say the cell of a normal person is a bowl of water, the cell of a superhuman is a flame, and your cell is the sun. It’s completely incomparable!

“There are even self-reaction signs inside your cells. Every cell is like a concentrated mature Fixed Star, increasing in activity level automatically every second, yet such a horrifying level of cell activity has no corrosive property at all, only giving life forms a positive impact. Unbelievable…”

Emerald Grass was very tempted. She looked at Aurora with sparkles in her eyes.

The passion in her eyes made Aurora shrink toward Hila.

She knew that look. All of the people wearing white coats in the Germinal Organization had looked at her this way.

“I want to acquire some of your blood as an experiment material. Is it possible that…”

“No!” Hila rejected without hesitation. She looked at Emerald Grass hostilely and seemed like she was going to act at any moment.

Aurora was her sensitive spot; she would not allow anyone to violate her.

Han Xiao crossed his arms and sat on the table to the side. He cut in the conversation and said, “I admire your attitude. Science is all about non-stop improvements and the everlasting ambition of wanting to know the core technology… However, this is a sick person, not your test subject. Also, I guess you can’t beat the redhead.”

Emerald Grass curled her lips, turned away to keep her diagnosis tools, and said casually, “She didn’t need to be diagnosed at all. Her power has just been suppressed for too long and can’t fully take effect. As long as she doesn’t die, her power will slowly recover, and so will she. It might even… Never mind. Anyway, she just needs to rest for a while, then her body will recover, and her scars will disappear.”

Han Xiao raised his eyebrows. He understood what Emerald Grass did not say, and it made him think.

Aurora became a liquid in his previous life. There had not been a chance to see the exact effect of her power, so he wondered what it would be like once it got stronger.

Since she’s the younger sister of Hila, Aurora will definitely not be much weaker. Could it be controlling life forms? Han Xiao guessed randomly.

For him to know Aurora’s status, he had to get in combat with Aurora, and the bottom line of that would be to slap this pitiful little girl. With his power, the result would not be very optimistic. Of course, Han Xiao would not do that, and Hila would definitely fight him with her life.

Hila heaved a long sigh of relieving. She stood behind Aurora, placed her hands on Aurora’s shoulder, and pinched lightly.

As long as her sister was okay.

“By the way, she was brainwashed once, and another personality was created. She will become a puppet that only follows orders once it’s triggered by the keyword. Do you have a way to solve that?” Han Xiao repeated what Cyberlos said.

“I’m a Pharmacist, not a Psychiatrist—you should find a professional,” Emerald Grass said casually without even turning around. “However, from my experience, if it was just a normal brainwash method, as long as it is not triggered and strengthened for a long time, the effect of the brainwashing will gradually fade as time passes till it disappears. Therefore, the guards in Bell of Death Island would mass brainwash the prisoners every once in a while. However, as you know, the people in that place are all very strong, so the brainwash didn’t have much effect. Instead, there were always some prisoners that killed a few guards in such occasions.”

A professional? Han Xiao contemplated while touching his chin. Suddenly, he looked at Hila. Aren’t things about the mind Hila’s strong point?

Upon noticing his sight, Hila waved her hands and frowned. “My power is too invasive. I’m scared of making mistakes, and the risk is too high.”

“Then you’d better discover and enhance your power more.” Han Xiao felt helpless. In his mind, Hila at her peak could play with the soul of a life form like playing with plasticine without hurting the fragile soul.

“Leave if there’s nothing else. I’ve asked a few Inhumans to test my drugs, don’t disturb me.”

They looked at her. Emerald Grass took out a transparent container filled with a weird and dark green liquid that was still bubbling, holding a syringe and flicking the tip of the needle.

Emerald Grass was what was known as a Pharmacist in technological civilizations.

In magical civilizations, Pharmacists were called Witches.

Han Xiao paid a silent tribute for three seconds for these players testing the drugs.

To sacrifice themselves for technological advancement, how noble.

They left the pharmacy room and walked slowly on the street. Suddenly, Hila turned to him and asked seriously, “What are your thoughts about this?”

Hila only showed interest for things that involved Aurora and did not have the cold face like she always did. She only asked for an opinion from Han Xiao because she trusted him. Han Xiao had saved Aurora from the sea of pain, and they had no friends or family in the world, so only Han Xiao was trustworthy.

Han Xiao pinched his chin and said in a low voice, “It’s best to rest more. I will build a special wheelchair for her. Also, your sister was imprisoned for so long, so it’s better to let her connect with the outside world, make some new friends. If you are worried, I can introduce a few lawfully good teenagers.”

Hila nodded solemnly. “I owe you one.”

“You already owe me.” Han Xiao picked his ears.

Hila was struck speechless. She shook her head and remembered.

Her personality was indifferent. She was a cold and proud person in her blood, so she did not like to accept friendliness; she did not like accepting pitiful help that felt like charity. However, once she owed a favor, she would never forget it. She was a doer, and she would not say too many words of appreciation. She only remembered the kindness she received when things seemed hopeless, waiting for the day when she could pay Han Xiao back.

After a period of silence, Hila asked the question she had been wanting to ask. “Why did you save my sister?”

“Foresight, of course.” Han Xiao gave the mighty reason.

“So, what did you foresee?” Hila frowned.

Han Xiao bullsh*tted and said, “I saw that your sister’s power will save my life once in the future, do you believe that?”

“That would make sense.” Hila understood.

At this time, a small hand pulled his shirt. Han Xiao looked down and saw Aurora was looking up at him with a serious face.

“Uncle Zero, I will definitely save you.”

Aurora took what he said seriously.

Han Xiao pinched her face and laughed. “Zero is in the past. Just call me Han Xiao.”

“Okay, Uncle Han.”

“You can use a younger name…”

“Understood, Uncle Han.”

Han Xiao rolled his eyes.

I still dislike kids!

…

The next day, Han Xiao built a wheelchair and gave it to Aurora.

“Real leather armrest and seat with stretch cotton inside, giving you comfort like your mother’s embrace, and the best part is…” Han Xiao flipped open the anti-dust cloth and said, “This wheelchair is powered by a foot pedal, but inside is a mini engine, and there is a gearshift beside the armrest. It can go up to 40 km per hour!”

“I just wanted a normal wheelchair…” Hila’s eye corner twitched.

She had never heard of a wheelchair powered by a foot pedal, then what is the wheelchair even for!

40 km per hour? Are you hosting a wheelchair race‽ Are you crazy‽

“What kind of Mechanic am I if I didn’t make any modifications?” Han Xiao picked his nose and glanced at Hila. Hila felt the look known as ‘despise from a professional’ from Han Xiao’s eyes.

Aurora, however, quite liked the wheelchair; it was like getting a new toy. At this time, Frenzied Sword and the other three approached. Han Xiao called them over to play with Aurora and gave the four of them a pile of missions.

He was just worried about not having suitable missions to give them. He could not have all of them dance and sing like Frenzied Sword. It was better to make them play with a little girl.

The four players felt novel for these missions. The rewards were unbelievably high. They thought that this was some sort of hidden mission and did it with joy. Aurora connected with Maple Moon the best, and not long after, Bear Cub was on Aurora’s legs with its belly facing up and rolling around, making Aurora laugh.

The scene was filled with warmth.

Hila’s eyes became gentle. She stepped back to the side and watched her sister play with her new friends.

…

For many days, Aurora smiled brighter, and her health improved at an obvious rate.

Hila and Aurora settled down. The situation of the expedition war was getting better, and the arena in the sanctuary was also completed. Han Xiao immediately focused on important matters.

He had set two focus points for the things that he was going to do. One was to make early-stage preparations for leaving the planet, getting resources continuously.

Another was to improve the ‘Players’ Main City’ plan, strengthening his impression for players and indirectly increasing his influence. The plans that he had for the pro league was a huge business opportunity in his eyes.

What these two focus points had in common was to gain benefit from the players.

“He he he…” Creepy laughter echoed in the closed room.

It has been so long!

Chapter 273 - Our Belief Is... Create Trouble!

The new battle prohibition law in the sanctuary was created. Like litter prohibition, guards and rangers patrolled around, and those who disobey would be captured and detained for an amount of time. The players’ main city had to be safe for the players to feel secure, so Han Xiao told Huang Yu to work throughout the night for a proper set of laws.

If the players wanted to PVP, they could only leave the city or go to the arena.

The arena was built near the square, very close to the reviving point of the players. Sometimes, the players could hold back during PVP; other times, they might kill the other accidentally, and the person might lose some Experience. Even then, it could not prevent the players from their thirst for blood. As it was a long journey to leave the city, the arena became the top choice.

The basic structure of the arena consisted of an enormous square, and at the heart of that square was the highest and biggest ring, surrounded by smaller rings. Further outside were spectating seats in the staircase style like a sports stadium. The players could only PVP in the square for free. The rings were all closed, and after some inquiry, they knew that the rings were only for gambling battles where the arena was the dealer, only open to those who paid the fee.

Although this function was fresh, it was a paid function, and most of the players were broke, so nobody used this function for the time being, only battling for free in the square. The arena was very lively and crowded, and it soon became the official PVP location.

Huang Yu felt this was a huge waste of resources. Nobody wanted to pay! Not only did it make them no profits, they even had to pay for the repairs. He felt that Han Xiao’s decision was very problematic; it was much better to just let the Inhumans battle outside the city.

He felt building the arena was useless, but he did not dare disobey Han Xiao, so he could only grumble in his heart.

The situation surprised Han Xiao a little, but he understood why.

The players are still exploring at the moment, and obviously, only the players who are confident in themselves will dare participate in a gamble battle. Battling in the ring would attract audiences, and with that will come exposure, so the guilds and pro players will most likely be the ones to pay for the rings.

The ring functionalities required the players to explore, so it would take some time. However, he was not someone who would just wait.

I shall start the fire to help them understand the use of having gamble battles in the ring.

Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled.

…

Every few days, Han Xiao appeared before the players to teach them his abilities and earn Experience. The abilities that he placed in the ability shop were mostly basic abilities that the players had already learned—spending experience in his shop could largely increase their ability levels, and it was much more worthwhile than spending the Experience directly on leveling up the abilities.

This was the main Experience income that he had from the players.

He did not teach any core abilities because he had to maintain the difference between himself and the players after all. However, he did selectively teach some not so important abilities that the players would learn sooner or later, like the Mechanic abilities [Electromagnetic Energy Extraction] and [Meticulous Repairs], improving the strength of Mechanic class players, acting as the Mechanic mentor, and attracting more players to choose the Mechanic class. Only Mechanic players had such a good mentor like him on Planet Aquamarine.

The players went through the [Energy Training Technique] incident, so they roughly knew they would naturally learn the strong abilities that Han Xiao taught at higher levels, but most of the players were still willing to learn high-level abilities when they were at a lower level as increasing their current strength had greater benefits in the long term.

As for the Esper and Pugilist class advancement knowledge, Han Xiao did not plan on selling them for the time being. These were like a trump card; he wanted to earn a large profit once the players had greater purchasing power.

Every time he appeared in front of the players, he would have a stable income of more than 10,000,000 Experience throughout the day, many times faster than doing missions. The tens of thousands of players in Sanctuary Three accounted for five percent of the total player in Planet Aquamarine—many new players entered the game. The market potential was very high, and the Players’ Main City plan had a bright future.

That day, Han Xiao appeared at the corner of the square as usual and was completely surrounded by the players. After he farmed some Experience, he saw a large group of guild players with a prefix on the name. They were the players of Sky Territory, and the leader of the group was called ‘Rebels Shall Rule’. He was the vice-captain of their core team one.

Here comes the opportunity.

Han Xiao raised his eyebrows. After he finished teaching the abilities, he suddenly acted like he was talking to himself and said, “Sigh, I’ve been quite unlucky recently…”

Rebels Shall Rule immediately noticed. As an experienced player, usually when an NPC talked to themself, it meant a new mission could be triggered.

“Mr. Black Phantom, what are you troubled with?” Rebels Shall Rule asked. “Maybe we can help you to solve it.”

Han Xiao looked at him and shook his head. “No, no, there need to be at least ten people to help me.”

The people of Sky Territory suddenly felt energized. It was a mission indeed, and it was a team mission!

This was a mission given by Black Phantom himself, when did he ever scam them?

Large guilds always had a lot of members. Rebels Shall Rule created a ten-man team on the spot. Seeing this, Han Xiao said slowly, “Sigh, one of my robots malfunctioned, and I can’t control it anymore. I hope you can bring its chip back to me…”

He set a mission as he was talking.

___________________

[Finding Malfunctioned Chip – 1]

Mission type: Team Chained Mission

Mission Introduction: Due to unknown reasons, a guard robot has malfunctioned and gone out of control.

First Round Requirements: Defeat Ranger X204 and bring the chip back to Black Phantom

First Round Rewards: 25,000 Experience, +1 Relationship Point with Black Phantom

___________________

“Chained mission?” Rebels Shall Rule was surprised. Just the reward for the first round was already decent, so the reward would definitely be richer in the later rounds, and it could even increase Black Phantom’s relationship points. The relationship points of Black Phantom would not increase after ten no matter how much money they gave.

As for his relationship points, all the players had the desire but were helpless. He placed quite a few strong machines in his item shop. There were ones that had blue and even purple grade. However, the relationship point requirement to buy these were all more than ten. They could only look at them—these were all Han Xiao’s ‘bait’.

Relationship points were worthless alone, but he made it worth something, and this was how the currency system was created.

Sky Territory accepted the mission and left joyfully. The surrounding players saw this and also created teams, but Han Xiao did not bother about them.

Now the players wondered, why could the Sky Territory trigger the mission but not them?

However, they were used to the random triggering mechanism for Black Phantom’s missions, so they did not hang onto it—they only were jealous of those lucky Europeans.

Suddenly, a group with familiar ID and guild name entered his sight, Han Xiao only then spoke again and repeated what he had previously said.

“Hmm? Hidden mission?”

The members of the Guild of Gods were surprised.

These were the players from the official guild of the renowned e-sports Temple of God Club, Guild of Gods.

Han Xiao was very familiar with them; they suited the target he was looking for.

After Han Xiao’s identity was exposed, the people of Guild of Gods only then knew that the Zero they were looking for was Han Xiao, and they had missed Han Xiao time after time. Of course, they had failed the mission.

The guild leader, Jupiter, was furious. He could not enjoy meals and could not sleep well; he was so frustrated that he almost had constipation.

However, it was too beneficial to stick with Han Xiao, and to not lag behind other guilds, the Guild of Gods had no choice but to come to the sanctuary no matter how frustrated they were. Every guild had teams gathered in the sanctuary.

“This is quite a good mission.” Jupiter was overjoyed. He had met a hidden mission just by walking on the street—luck was finally with him!

With a wave, the Guild of Gods created a team on the spot and accepted the mission.

…

An hour later, in the North City Side of the sanctuary, a chase was underway. The ten-man team gasped for breath as they chased behind an extremely fast ranger.

“Fas—faster, don’t let it run away!” Rebels Shall Rule gasped for breath.

They came to this construction area, following the mission requirement, and chased after this out of control ranger. The ranger had very strong firepower. Many people in their team had died, and only then could they damage the ranger till it had very little armor left. But when that happened, the ranger suddenly started running.

“Damn it, why is it so agile!”

The people of Sky Territory had bitter faces. “It’s more familiar with the environment and the terrain than us, has it developed consciousness‽”

At this time, in the high-rank room at the center of the sanctuary, Han Xiao half-lay on the sofa, holding a laptop in his hands. His fingers were moving across the screen casually, and the image was the vision of that ‘out of control’ ranger.

This ranger was actually completely under his control. He limited its strength, only letting it out after he took out a huge amount of its ammunition and weaponry yesterday. It was a downgraded version, aimed to give the people of Sky Territory a tough victory. If it was a complete Generation 2.5 Ranger attacking freely with full firepower, more than half of these players would have died in an instant. Of course, the Sky Territory players did not know this—they thought that they were cooperating very well and only through that they were able to almost destroy this ‘out of control’ robot. This was exactly what Han Xiao wanted them to think.

Out of control? Doesn’t exist.

“We’ve almost caught up!” The distance got closer, so Sky Territory forced themselves to focus and prepare for the final attack.

Han Xiao looked at the radar map. Suddenly, he smiled evilly, and he controlled this almost dying ranger to speed up suddenly, distancing itself from Sky Territory after many turns and dashed toward the Guild of Gods, which was searching for the target.

Jupiter and the rest were shocked when the ranger showed up, then they were overjoyed.

“That’s the target. Quickly, focus fire!”

After just one round of attacks, the ranger broke into pieces, and parts were scattered on the ground.

The Guild of Gods was confused. They had hardly done anything, so why did this robot explode?

Putting the doubt behind, Jupiter picked up the mission item from the pile of broken parts, [‘Out of Control’ Ranger’s Chip].

At this time, Sky Territory arrived late, and they were enraged upon seeing what had happened.

“Damn you, Guild of Gods, you dare to steal our monster!”

Rebels Shall Rule was furious.

The target that they had chased through more than a dozen streets had been stolen—anyone would have been angry.

Furthermore, the Guild of Golds and Sky Territory had always disliked each other.

…

The screen turned black.

Han Xiao threw the laptop to the side, lighted a cigarette, blew out a smoke ring, and started laughing.

The players did not have a demand for gamble battle, so he created a demand for them. This has always been Han Xiao’s business belief.

I’m a professional in creating trouble!

Chapter 274 - The Battle

“Turns out you guys accepted this mission, too.” Jupiter finally understood why the robot had been like paper—they had stolen the kill.

Rather than apologizing, Jupiter gloated. The Guild of Gods would never step back when facing other guilds. Furthermore, it was their old rival, Sky Territory.

“So what if we stole the kill? Suck it up.”

The argument turned into a conflict very soon. After a group fight, Sky Territory, which was in a sorry shape, was annihilated.

“Jupiter, I fu*k !^&#@&*@&… just you wait!” Rebels Shall Rule private messaged Jupiter.

Jupiter closed the chat window straight away.

Are you kidding me? Why even play the game if you don’t steal kills?

They had the mission item, so the people of Guild of Gods returned to complete the mission immediately, and as long as they completed the mission, Sky Territory could only suck it up no matter how unhappy they were.

However, Jupiter and the people came to the high-rank area but were stopped.

“We have completed what Mr. Han Xiao told us to. Why aren’t we allowed to enter?”

“We are ordered to not allow any outsiders in.”

No matter what they said, the guards did not back off a single step. The people of Guild of Gods had no choice but to leave helplessly.

They could only wait for Han Xiao to reappear in order to complete the mission.

The team left, and after walking for a while, their sight was suddenly blocked. A group of rough men surrounded them, led by Jade Green Sky. They had brought the people of Sky Territory to demand an explanation.

“That’s pretty immoral of you, Jupiter. Our men got the mission first, and the target was also damaged to the last health by us, but you stole the kill out of nowhere. You’ve got to give an explanation,” Jade Green Sky said with a long face.

“You’re overreacting. If anything, you should blame yourselves for being unlucky.” Jupiter had no fear. The sanctuary was a safe zone; no one could attack, and they were unafraid of being surrounded.

The eyes of the two clashed midair.

The guild leaders of the large guilds in China knew each other privately. Jade Green Sky and Jupiter never got along, and there was a reason for this. Their conflict started in the pro scene. Li Ge was the pillar of the Temple of God Club, Hao Tian was the representative of Sky Territory, and Hao Tian lost to Li Ge more than he won. He lost to Li Ge many times during crucial battles.

Therefore, the contradiction was very strong—they disliked each other.

This stolen mission became the fuse. Although it was just a small conflict, it might become bigger, more so that they were already rivals.

The surrounding players saw this and gathered to spectate. It was livelier than the market, and the middle of the road was completely obstructed.

They argued with each other for some time before Jupiter said impatiently, “Jade, what do you want?”

“Give the mission item back to us.”

“Keep dreaming.” Jupiter rejected it immediately.

Why did they have to give it back when they stole the kill? Furthermore, he represented the name of the guild; if he backed off, would others not say that he was scared of Sky Territory?

Of course, Jade Green Sky would not suck it up either. Both sides not wanting to back off meant the conflict could not be settled; therefore, they had to talk with their strength. However, he did not want to have a large-scale public fight. The results of both of them losing would mean to be exceeded by other guilds.

Jade Green Sky pondered, and suddenly, he remembered the gamble battle function of the arena. Was that not the most suitable place to settle their conflict?

“Okay, since you’re not willing to return it, we shall go to the arena and have a gamble battle.”

“What, why do I have to fight you? There’s no benefit in winning, and I have to give up my thing if I lose. If you lose, you can only give up on what I already have.”

“Humph, we shall make a bet, too, money, equipment, item, anything at all,” Jade Green Sky said provokingly. “I’m officially inviting you to a battle—accept it if you have the guts.”

He really wanted this chain mission as Black Phantom’s mission rewards were always rich, and it could increase Black Phantom’s relationship points. It was a good deal.

However, Jupiter was not provoked at all. He pushed the people of Sky Territory aside and left.

Anyway, he had the item, and as soon as he completed the mission, he would be the one getting all the benefits—there was no point in taking the risk and fighting a gamble battle.

The people of Sky Territory were furious. Rebels Shall Rule furiously demanded, “Leader, are we just letting them go like this?”

“Provocation! Force them to accept the challenge,” Jade Green Sky said angrily. “I’m not going to tolerate this. Ask the members to all publish posts in the forums, provoke them as much as you can!”

…

As the Sky Territory started their attack of words, scandalous posts about the Guild of Gods appeared rapidly, painting an image that Guild of Gods was unreasonable and immoral, that they were scared to accept the challenge, that they picked on the weak and feared the strong. As only those with a VR-Capsule could post or comment on the forums, there were few sh*t stirrers, but this time, Sky Territory had evidence and reasons—they made all the members publish posts and started the trend.

The rumors were very condescending, but Guild of Gods did not panic at all.

The way Jupiter saw it, he just had to wait for Han Xiao to appear and complete the mission. By then, Sky Territory would not be able to do anything no matter how much noise they made.

However, many days passed, and Han Xiao had yet to appear.

Jupiter started to get anxious. He asked the guards time after time but could not get any information on Han Xiao’s whereabouts.

Han Xiao could see the forums, too. He did not appear on purpose, and it was like putting Guild of Gods in a fire. As long as the Guild of Gods did not complete the mission, the mission item would only bring them trouble.

Before the start of the mission, he had already prepared the plan to force two guilds to have a gamble battle in the arena, attract public attention, and make more players know what the use of gamble battling in the arena was.

As long as someone did it first and showed the players the purpose of the gamble battle, people with potential demand would realize their need.

Guild of Gods and Sky Territory took it as an accident or coincidence; it was impossible for them to guess it was the ‘NPC’ Han Xiao who gave out the mission that was causing all this. It was completely outside their expectations.

Seeing that the rumors were becoming worse to Guild of Gods, Jupiter started to get stressed.

Finally, after another day of Han Xiao being ‘missing’, Jupiter could not take it anymore. He officially accepted the gamble battle in the forums on behalf of the Guild of Gods.

“On behalf of Guild of Gods, I accept the gamble battle with Sky Territory. Our chip is the mission item [Out of Control Ranger’s Chip], and Sky Territory shall provide an item of the same value. The location will be the in the Arena, Best of Five, winner stays, loser leaves. Win or lose, both parties shall accept the result with dignity and no longer find trouble with the other party.”

Jade Green Sky replied very shortly after.

“Sure!”

The battle between two large guilds had all the players in the sanctuary excited.

…

The fairness of the gamble battle service in the arena was guaranteed by the sanctuary officials. The betting chips were collected before the battle and were guaranteed to be given to the winner. To enjoy this fairness guarantee, one had to rent a ring.

Renting a ring incurred fees, contributing to the arena’s turnover.

The two large guilds were rich. As they wanted the other players to judge the fairness of the battle, they rented the largest ring in the center; it was very high profile.

On the day of the battle, players in the sanctuary gathered in the arena, and it soon became crowded.

“Who do you think will win?”

“Guild of Gods definitely. Sky Territory is no match for them.”

“Guild of Gods actually has the moral low ground this time.”

“Are you kidding? What’s wrong about stealing kills in a game? Don’t exaggerate the issue.”

“There’s a dealer opening a bet over there. I’m going there to bet on Guild of Gods.”

“There’s betting‽ Let’s go together!”

The scene was very noisy, almost like a live concert. The audience waited for quite some time until the competitors of both sides showed up late to the scene. When the audience saw the IDs of both sides clearly, they were all stunned.

The competitors were not just guild members—they were all pro players of both of the clubs!

Many players cheered in excitement; their passion was going through the roof.

Originally, most of the audience was just there to check it out, but when the pro players appeared, all the audiences became interested right away.

The Pro League had not started yet, so normal players had yet to see how strong pro players were. Thus, they were very thrilled.

“Temple of God really does have a strong foundation. Everyone that came is a top tier player or not far behind. Sadly, Li Ge is not here, heard he went to take part in the expedition.”

“Exactly, in comparison, Long Sky is a little bit behind. Most of them are second tier players. First tier players Sleepy Winter and Twinkle Fried Rice went to the war too… Wait a minute, is that… Am I hallucinating? God Hao Tian‽”

Hao Tian stood in the Long Sky team expressionless. The audience looked at him in disbelief and admiration.

Everywhere he passed by, the audience lowered their voices. It was like he had an unshakeable aura.

As a pillar of Long Sky, Hao Tian had been requested to attend by Jade Green Sky. His name and skills were much higher than the first-tier players, so he was the pro player that received the most attention in the scene. The contestants felt the pressure when they saw him.

The clubs that both large guilds belonged to requested their pro players to attend the battle without any agreement.

Seeing the members of the other party, Jade Green Sky and Jupiter were both covered in cold sweat. They thought at the same time, Luckily, I got the pro players here. Damn, almost got deceived by that fraud sh*t.

The hexagonal center ring was very wide and spacious. The square in the middle was the battleground, and the triangles on the sides were the waiting areas. The people of both Sky Territory and Guild of Gods waited in the waiting areas in the ring.

The audience chatted among themselves and waited with anticipation.

Some of the players were thinking of something different.

Having a gamble battle in the ring seems to be able to increase exposure… some spectating guilds thought.

If I do a Challenge, there will be chances to spar with players of all sorts of styles, and at the same time, I can profit from betting, some PVP passionate players thought.

The spectating pro players nodded too. Not only will Challenge gives exposure, one can hone one’s skills too. It’s quite a good function.

Seeing the impact and popularity of the gamble battle of the arena, many players saw its benefits and entertainment value. The reason Han Xiao had triggered the battle between the two large guilds was indeed to make the other players realize what this function could bring, then use the players’ own creativity to improve and expand on this function, fulfilling various demands.

The renting fee earned was not the most important—what was more important in Han Xiao’s eyes was to raise the players’ demand and usage for the arena. That way, the impression of a ‘main city’ would be stronger.

Chapter 275 - Society

As the star player of Long Sky, Hao Tian was a god player much stronger than the first-tier players. His PVP skills were amazing, and his level was much higher than average. With these advantages, he was the first to step into the ring. His attacks were ruthless and strong like a storm, defeating three Guild of Gods contestants in a row.

The combat ability of the Pugilist class was shown perfectly. The audience had originally expected a tight battle that would go back and forth, but it turned out to be a one-sided annihilation. The entire battle had lasted for more than five minutes!

The people were astonished.

After they stunned for a few seconds, deafening cheers and yells erupted all around.

“Impressive!” cheered the ordinary spectators.

“God Hao Tian! God Hao Tian!” yelled the passionate audience members.

“I love you, Hao Tian!” shrieked Hao Tian’s fans.

Hao Tian’s performance refreshed the audience’s knowledge of the upper limit of a player’s strength at the current stage, and he immediately gained a lot of new fans.

Although this was a private gamble battle, the excitement and passion from the audience almost felt like it was a pro competition.

“I won.” Hao Tian’s expression changed slightly—he had not expected to win so easily.

It was like walking down a path for a long time, and only when he turned around did he realize how much ahead he was of the people behind him. It turned out that, without noticing, he was so much stronger than normal pro players.

In the beginning, Hao Tian had just taken Han Xiao’s ‘hidden storyline’ as a lucky opportunity, and when he made it, he did not really treasure it, only taking it as a short-term opportunity. Hao Tian’s pro instinct habit made him always look far ahead to plan for his growth. Black Phantom was a Mechanic, and he was a Pugilist, so he felt he would not follow Han Xiao all the way. He had to look for a new mentor somewhere else just for his abilities.

However, at this moment, it finally occurred to him how much he benefited from this, and he began to take Han Xiao more seriously.

Black Phantom’s Experience reward would still be plenty even at max level.

Black Phantom’s mission reward really were very rich. It was not a big deal to tolerate weird missions for it. As a pro player, having strong will power, endurance, and a good pair of lungs was fundamental.

Seems like I can walk on this Black Phantom path for much longer than I thought.

The match was Best of Five, Hao Tian won three matches in a row and ended the battle, so other Long Sky contestants did not do anything except stare at Hao Tian like fans. In the Long Sky Club, Hao Tian, who had battled in the pro scene for many years, was everyone’s idol. A man of few words, always honing his skills, earning Long Sky one champion after another, he was Long Sky’s hero, and his name was tied tightly together with the words ‘Long Sky’.

Guild of Gods was obliterated, and the pro players whom they had invited were all in shock.

We are all pro players. Aren’t you showing off too much? At least leave us some face!

The contestants knew how strong Hao Tian was long ago. Not to mention his skills, the biggest problem was how ahead he was in terms of level, attributes, and abilities. They immediately thought of the fact that Hao Tian had triggered Black Phantom’s hidden storyline and were jealous.

“I wonder what kind of missions he has been getting from Black Phantom that made him level up this fast.”

The Temple of Gods contestants were jealous and envied. They wanted such treatment too, but Black Phantom did not care about them at all.

“Everyone’s level is relatively low, so the difference seems huge. When the pro league starts, everyone’s level will be much higher, and he won’t be able to beat us this easily by then. The difference will shrink sooner or later.” A Temple of Gods contestant attempted to lift his team’s spirits.

The pro players were just there to help—winning or losing was not important to them—but Jupiter was filled with rage. He almost wanted to smash Jade Green Sky’s arrogant face.

With the official guarantee, the mission item was given to Sky Territory.

The audience left the scene and continued to discuss Hao Tian’s amazing performance.

Conflicts between guilds were always a more popular topic, and Guild of Gods would only lose face temporarily for losing the gamble battle—their position was still one of the top.

Many people in the guild complained.

“If our boss Li Ge was here, Hao Tian would have thrashed.”

“Long Sky just got lucky. What are they even happy about?”

When things were settled, Han Xiao appeared the next day. Sky Territory completed the mission immediately, and seeing this, Jupiter was filled with regret.

If he had known that Han Xiao would appear that day… if he had just endured for one more day, none of this would have happened.

Of course, that was just what Jupiter thought.

As long as the conflict did not become a gamble battle, Han Xiao would not have appeared in front of them. He was very patient—he had once hidden and endured for half a year before he caught the opportunity to escape that secret Germinal base.

Han Xiao had actually prepared even dirtier backup plans. If the two large guilds had end up making an agreement privately, resulting in them not having a conflict… Han Xiao’s belief was to repeat things till he succeed. At most, he would get even more guilds involved and make the situation even more chaotic.

If even that did not work, he would simply distribute a mission that required the guilds to rent the rings. However, that was too obvious, and the Great Mechanic Han preferred to be discreet.

“What a horrible loss.” Jupiter wanted to cry.

At this time, he heard the sound of private message notification. He looked at it, and it was shockingly a call from Li Ge, so he hastily answered it.

“Boss Li Ge?”

“Hmm, I saw what happened recently. Do you have the recording of Hao Tian’s battle?”

“It was all recorded.”

“Send it to me.”

“Sure, of course.”

Upon receiving the recording, Li Ge said with satisfaction, “With the recording, I can analyze his battle style to prepare for the league. Good job.”

Hearing that, Jupiter felt much more energetic.

It did not matter how much they were at a loss—as long as the pro players benefited from it, it was one of their responsibilities.

…

The battle between the guilds showed people the effect of the ring. Many people were tempted, and guilds and players started to rent rings for Challenges or events. The functionalities of the ring started to show. Not only could the players in the arena PVP for free, but they also could join a Challenge or some events, so it became more boisterous.

Galaxy had more than game functions—it also had socializing functions, and the boisterous arena was obviously a very great place to socialize. Some player even spent all their time in the arena.

As a place with a lot of exposure, people who wanted to make a name for themselves had a demand for the ring—guilds hosted events, pro players took up Challenges to interact with normal players, and many others. Like some sports stadiums being rented out for a competition or concert, they were all getting what they needed.

According to Han Xiao’s experience, not only guilds, even some companies would rent rings to host some small events, like ‘Random Company Name Cup’ and other competitions that were not officially accepted by the E-sports Association, giving prizes to the winners to advertise for themselves. Even some pro players took part in such small competitions for the prizes.

How did he know about all that? Don’t ask. Anyway, there was a time in Han Xiao’s previous life when he was very rich, and he could even splurge on buying instant noodles in cups.

Also, the events that companies hosted might not be just PVP competitions. It could also be an art exhibition, sports event, or something else.

Mini-games always had their popularity in games. Since Galaxy was extremely realistic, other than not being able to excrete, the players could be as creative as they wanted and play other sports with their superhuman bodies, such as superhuman basketball, Pugilist soccer, Mechanic rally. These things mentioned were all real in Han Xiao’s previous life, and these casual and fun events were very popular among casual players.

Because of that, Galaxy started to have a virtual, vibrant society on its own.

The players now had only just started Galaxy, so they were still following things more or less strictly and did not have any weird events, and Han Xiao gave them a platform to do so. He guided the players to explore the entertainment possibilities of the game themselves, and there would always be someone who rented the ring that would think of something new to attract attention.

The ring was an event and show, attracting players to watch. Normal players could watch the events when they were not participating in free PVP, which would build a habit and culture.

Think of it like this, you take a stroll outside every day, and the park that you pass by always hosts all sorts of events. After a while, even if you do not take part, you will eventually be curious and guess what the event will be next time you take a stroll.

Therefore, when the arena became a common facility, it would increase the sense of belonging that the players had toward the sanctuary, as interest could be developed and cultivated.

Chapter 276 - Black Phantom's Machinery Box (1)

The benefit that Han Xiao really wanted was to have the players spread the word of how attractive the arena was as a part of a main city, leading to more people coming to the sanctuary for it, bringing in a large number of immigrants and, more importantly, customers.

The Great Mechanic Han had quite a few more ideas, such as opening official bets and creating a PVP ranking system, both of which would attract more players. However, he thought about it and decided not to do that as neither of those were easy to operate and would only be official if they were made by the game developers. If an NPC like him did it, he felt that there might be some risks and negative impacts.

Most importantly, if he could give these rewards ‘officially’, he could make these studios and actors lose all their business. Han Xiao would never do that since one of his businesses in his previous life included that.

Although he was benefiting from the players, the players benefitted from him as well, so it was a win-win. Therefore, the safest and most comfortable position for Han Xiao was to be neutral, only providing the venue and justice, letting the players explore the rest. It could also be considered ‘guiding the Inhumans to use their extra energy’.

Once the position of the main city was firm and had a high population, in Han Xiao’s plan, the next step would be the sinister real estate!

As the overseer in charge, other than the places to protect refugees, the rest of the areas in the sanctuary would all be for him to make a profit!

Suckers… ahem… large customers would, of course, be those large guilds.

“Sigh, business…”

Seeing the moving people in the square, Han Xiao stroked his chin and sighed.

…

Huang Yu was totally convinced.

He used to think the arena was a total waste of resources, but after more than ten days of observation, he gradually realized the potential benefits. Huang Yu could not understand what Han Xiao’s long-term plan was, nor did he know the concept of ‘players’, but when he was drawing the accounting reports, he noticed the fees that they charged for the Inhumans largely exceeded what they incurred for repairs. In the long term, the cost would be earned back sooner or later, and whatever else they received would be pure profit, and this was only one of the benefits.

The Inhumans were the main manpower for the construction of the sanctuary, but they were weird and difficult to manage. Huang Yu did not want the Inhumans to have too much contact with the refugees, so he drew out areas for the Inhumans to use, yet the Inhumans still looked for refugees very often. Although their motive was to help, it did result in Huang Yu’s management measures failing. After the arena was built, Inhumans actively used the arena as the center of their activities. The square and the arena naturally became ‘Inhuman Communities’, which saved him a lot of management effort, and the entire sanctuary became more organized.

This time, Huang Yu was adulating Han Xiao in the office, complimenting on how farsighted Han Xiao was, how he was wise, and any other cringeworthy compliment that he could think of. These words came out from Huang Yu’s mouth non-stop and jumped into Han Xiao’s ears, making Han Xiao feel so disgusted he had goosebumps.

After he finally chased Huang Yu away, Han Xiao started to think of the next step for the Players’ Main City plan. Most of the benefits that the arena could bring would only happen in the future, but he was not satisfied with that.

To make the sanctuary more attractive as the main city, the arena is just one factor. There is another way, to have some recurring events. Other than the festival events from the official game developers, if I want to attract the players to participate in the events, I have to show them actual real benefits…

Han Xiao knocked on the table with his fingers and pondered. Suddenly, he had a flash of inspiration, and an idea came to his mind.

The morning in Karst wasteland was full of sand and fog, giving a feeling of damp and dry at the same time—it was very uncomfortable. However, the areas near the sanctuary were clean and refreshing, so the haze was blocked. The sanctuary already had a rough foundation, and it was equipped with enormous air filtration devices. The sanctuary placed importance in preventing radiation, pollution, and deterioration of the air quality.

The players were taking part in building the sanctuary. On the rebar of the protective wall, a group of players was welding. This job was tedious and dangerous, and the players stepped on the rebars wobbly.

“Be careful, don’t fall down.”

Just as this person said that, another person beside him slipped. The people looked at him as he fell while the sorry scream that person made descended further and further.

The protective wall was very tall. It was the most dangerous mission in all of the construction missions, and players died accidentally very often.

“Told you to be careful.”

On the other rebar, a player with the ID ‘Half A Cigarette When Lonely’ said resentfully, “Sh*t, those safer and easier missions with rich reward are all controlled by the large guilds. Us normal players can only do these worse missions.”

Whenever there were people, there would be conflict. There were many types of sanctuary construction missions, and the easy missions with rich reward were all divided between the large guilds. Most of the solo players could only take the leftovers. The majority of players were just playing casually and were not bothered, but there were also players who did.

Filled with contempt, Half A Cigarette When Lonely complained, “These large guilds possess the resources, so we’ve already lost on the starting line. How can we even fight them in the future?”

Someone beside laughed and said, “It’s just a game. Why so serious?”

“Playing a game means being the strongest is the best. If not, what’s the point of playing?” Half A Cigarette When Lonely rebutted. “That’s why all of you are so weak—you don’t have any dreams.”

“If you’re so jealous, why don’t you just join a guild?”

“Humph, only the weak stay in groups; the strong play solo,” Half A Cigarette When Lonely said. Of course, he was not going to tell them the miserable experience of him getting rejected after applying to join a certain guild.

They looked down from above, and suddenly, they realized that on the sanctuary square, players that looked like the size of ants to them were gathered. This was the signature sign of Han Xiao appearing. Suddenly, announcements from other players appeared in the area channel. It seemed like Black Phantom had introduced a new function. The people who were building the protective wall put down what they were doing and went down the wall hastily. Some impatient ones even jumped down directly, died, then revived in the square, saving themselves the time it took to climb down.

Half A Cigarette When Lonely ran to the square, but it was already full of people. Han Xiao stood in a corner of the square, behind him was a large truck. Like other players, Half A Cigarette When Lonely also extended his neck and looked over curiously.

Looking at the crowd, Han Xiao coughed and said loudly, “Recently, there has been a lot of backlog that I need to get rid of. All of it is packed into boxes. If anyone wants to buy a box, I can sell it for a low price.”

The players in the square exchanged looks.

Packed into boxes, what does that mean?

Since it’s backlog, is it worth buying?

“Give me ten,” Jade Green Sky said immediately.

With the thought of ‘Black Phantom only sells high-quality products’ in mind, he was willing to be the first one to try. No matter what new function this was, they would know once they use it.

“3,000 Aquamarine Dollars for one box.”

“So expensive‽” Jade Green Sky was astounded. He braced himself and bought it, spending all the money he had. Although he was the guild leader, it did not mean that he could just bring the guild funds everywhere with him—this was all his own money.

After Han Xiao took the money, he took out ten boxes from the truck. Jade Green Sky opened nine consecutively, and his face instantly turned black. The boxes were all filled with broken parts and cheap materials. The players on the side shook their heads as they saw this.

“What backlog? This is all just trash. I wouldn’t want any even for free.”

“Only morons would buy such a thing.”

Jade Green Sky turned around and gave a vicious stare, then opened the last box without any expectations. However, as soon as he opened the box, Jade Green Sky’s eyes froze, and he stared into the thing in the box.

A retractable knife was lying in the box.

In his vision, the name of the knife was shockingly purple!

This is a piece of purple equipment!

The crowd saw his expression and were curious as well. They stood on tiptoes to look into the box, and all inhaled deeply after they saw what was in it.

The exclamation of shock expanded outward like a wave.

Up till this moment, the players had yet to see any purple equipment. This was the first one to appear before the players’ eyes!

Jade Green Sky’s chin almost hit the floor. He looked at the ten boxes before him and suddenly felt a sense of familiarity… then it occurred to him.

“Wait a minute! This function… isn’t this opening loot boxes‽”

Chapter 277 - : Black Phantom's Machinery Box (2)

“Isn’t this a loot box?”

This idea was contagious like a virus, and the players became interested straight away. Some gambling passionate players were already trembling in excitement and could not wait to do a ‘Ten Draws of Faith’—buying ten loot boxes at once and opening them consecutively.

Loot boxes, also known as the Sinister Path of Cashing In or Ultimate Hand Chopping Method, are a classic move for the game developers to earn money. Han Xiao, of course, was very familiar with this. Not only could it awaken the players’ inner gambler and suck them into an inescapable hole, but he could also make a profit from it.

And he had just the right resources and demand to do it; he could make it into one of the recurring events to attract players.

Every planet had their own currency, and after the three largest Universal Civilizations created regulations, to improve convenience for the communication between civilizations, they invented the general culture, general currency, and general language. The Galactic Civilizations’ unique currencies could be exchanged into the general currency. However, a planet civilization like Planet Aquamarine of course did not receive such treatment—the Aquamarine Dollars had almost zero purchasing power and could not be used in the galaxy at all. In fact, it was even too rough to use as toilet papers.

Therefore, if he wanted to go into the galaxy, he first had to turn this money into resources and make those resources into machinery. Resources had different values in different civilizations, and it could be considered a currency in the galaxy. Even in the worst case, it definitely had a much higher value than Aquamarine Dollars. In Version 2.0 [Mutation Disaster], the novice planets would come into contact with the galactic civilizations in different ways. The local currencies would then be able to be exchanged into other currencies, and the players would not have to worry about this problem. However, Han Xiao wanted to leave the novice planet in Version 1.0, so he had to consider the difference in currency, language, culture, and many other things.

All of his assets were in Aquamarine Dollars, which was as good as scrap paper outside Planet Aquamarine, so he spent all of it to buy materials and build machinery, and building machinery gave him Experience as well, which also aided in his growth.

Because of that, he had piled up a lot of useless machinery; using them as prizes for loot boxes would be a great way of waste utilization. The rarity chance of the loot boxes was completely under his control. Most of them were filled with waste parts and trash; only a few had very good items. It was impossible to incur a higher cost than profit, which meant it would definitely be profitable.

He claimed that he was getting rid of backlog and that there was no guarantee they had good things in them, but although the players knew that there was a chance their money would go to waste, they would still spend the money and bet on their future. Everyone felt lucky before they saw a pile of trash.

Even the players who did not have much money would clench their teeth and buy one to try their luck. If they did not get lucky, after some time, they would convince themselves that they would definitely get lucky the next time, and the cycle would repeat itself.

Most of the players like this kind of lucky draw event. There is a small chance of gaining huge profit with a very small cost, similar to the lottery. At the moment, there’s no lucky draw anywhere else. There are two types of lucky draws—one is the official game store, and the lucky draw in the game store has yet to happen. This type of lucky draw consists mostly of special VR items, like Dungeon Crystals, Genetic Healing Agents, health and mana potions, Experience potions, cosmetic items, and others. There is no equipment—it is a supplementary type of lucky draw.

The other type of lucky draw is between the organizations and characters. This then is the right path to gain benefits directly. For example, some organizations and groups have a contribution points system that can be used to lucky draw strong items or equipment. Some mysterious sellers have gambling games, and some organizations make the players buy off their old inventory. When the organizations and civilizations understand the players more and use them as mercenaries, only then will some characters have lucky draws. This could be considered the organizations trying new ways to motivate ‘Inhuman mercenaries’, with profit.

The players’ impression of me is most likely around the lines of ‘planet main character’, ‘Mechanic Mentor and businessman’, ‘handsome’, and ‘important legendary NPC’. The players will be more accepting if I’m the one doing the lucky draw event. Furthermore, the first lucky draw event should be able to attract the most attention.

3,000 for one box was not cheap, but the players had some spare cash at their current level. Thus, it should not be a big issue to buy one or two. Furthermore, if they got purple equipment, they would become extremely rich. There was no purple equipment on the market at all, which meant that the seller would be able to set the price. What’s scarce is precious, so it would definitely have an outrageous price.

All the eyes were focused on the truck full of boxes. The players’ eyes were flashing with all sorts of different meanings, and when they saw Han Xiao standing to the side, all of their tiny malicious thoughts extinguished.

It was better to be honest and pay the price. No point looking for a horrible death.

In the ten boxes, nine were trash, and only one had a piece of purple equipment. It was unclear whether Jade Green Sky was lucky or the ratio was this high.

The players started to buy the loot boxes. The boxes were opened one after another; some were content, and some were upset. Other than trash, there were also other things, such as some useful materials and some green or blue equipment. Overall, the response was quite positive; however, there was not a second piece of second purple equipment.

“Could it be that the purple equipment only appears with ten consecutive draws‽” a player said, all fired up and unable to control himself.

“Not likely. I feel that the rarity chance is a little weird and cannot be looked at with common sense. Firstly, we have to understand one thing, which is whether this action of Black Phantom introducing loot boxes is part of the storyline. ‘Galaxy’ is extremely realistic, and every character seems to have an individual mind, almost like the real world. A character’s actions definitely have its unique reason or motivation. So, is this lucky draw an official function from the game developers, or is he really cleaning his warehouse?” A guy at the side pushed his glasses, and a glint of wisdom flashed in his eyes. “If he really is cleaning his warehouse, why didn’t he just throw away the backlog but sold it to us instead?”

“Yo, you’re quite familiar with this brother.” The people’s attention was attracted by this guy’s speech, and they looked at him. Then, they saw this guy’s ID—King Of Single Draw.

The surrounding players’ mouths twitched.

No wonder he made so much sense; he clearly was experienced, given that ID.

“That makes some sense, so how can we know?” someone asked.

The inventory in the heavy truck became lesser and lesser. King Of Single Draw’s eyes sparkled. He shouted across the crowd and asked, “How many more boxes are inside?”

Han Xiao waved his hand and said, “There is a total of 786 boxes, 530 left now.”

The players were stunned and surprised. They had thought that the boxes were unlimited, but that was not the case. Now, some spectating players could not wait anymore. They held onto their money and joined the queue.

King Of Single Draw changed his style. With one arm around his chest and one arm holding his chin, like a contemplating detective. “That’s right. Since it’s limited, it’s impossible for it to be an official function. Black Phantom really is clearing his backlog. However, he chose to pack it into boxes and sell them instead of just throwing them away. Hmm… also, there was even an undamaged rare purple equipment in the backlogs. This wouldn’t make sense for it to be waste utilization. Therefore, the only explanation for this would be that this isn’t really backlog clearing! Black Phantom is actually giving out benefits by doing this. That’s right, we ‘Inhumans’ helped him to build the sanctuary, so he wanted to reward us!”

King Of Single Draw concluded his thoughts quite loudly, and the players in the square heard and understood instantly.

It sounded logical and was quite believable.

“If it is an official loot box function, the chances would be announced for sure, but if it’s part of the storyline, then us players will have to experience it ourselves and conclude the hidden rarity chance…”

King Of Single Draw’s eyes kept sparkling.

“The game developer will make sure you never win anything too strong from a lucky draw for balance purposes, but Black Phantom’s rewarding lucky draw is a different case. There might really be something good, which means these machinery boxes might really have some god equipment that will make the entire world tremble!”

The crowd turned wild upon hearing that—they were extremely excited.

Han Xiao was stunned as he listened from the side, and he was very confused.

I don’t remember hiring an actor. Where did this guy come from?

Chapter 278 - Black Phantom's Machinery Box (3)

Some people drew once, some people drew ten consecutive times, but there was no difference. Han Xiao only controlled the overall cost of the boxes and did not bother when selling them off. It all depended on the players’ luck. There was no manipulation behind the scenes—he wanted the players to feel the warmth of being home.

If there was a guaranteed prize every ten consecutive draws, it indeed would attract more people to make consecutive draws, but he was using the limited selling mode. There were only so many boxes every time he sold them, so they would definitely be sold out. Not only would guaranteeing a prize every ten consecutive draws not give him a higher profit, but it would also increase his costs.

If there was a guaranteed prize every ten consecutive draws in combination with the limited purchases, there might be some rich guilds that would bulk purchase, suppressing the normal players with their resources, and that would not be good.

There was only one purple equipment in the first batch of boxes, the one Jade Green Sky got, and only this one had been given out purposely by Han Xiao to grab the players’ interest. The rest of the boxes had a few blue pieces of equipment, about a dozen green pieces of equipment, and some useful parts and materials.

This rarity chance was acceptable to the players for the most part.

The first batch had more than seven hundred boxes, but only a small group of the players out of tens of thousands of player bought one. The rest were watching on the sides.

“This batch of backlog is finished. There will be scheduled backlog cleaning in the future,” Han Xiao said.

“Ah, that’s it?”

Players had not gotten enough yet—they were still tempted for more.

However, they could not do anything about it no matter how much they wanted more; the players could only watch as Han Xiao drove away.

The players who benefitted from it were content. Half A Cigarette When Lonely was jealous, and he touched his wallet. 3,000 for one box, so expensive. I definitely can’t get anything good with my luck, should I buy it?

…

3,000 per box. I sold more than 700 boxes this time, so it’s roughly… a lot of money.Han Xiao calculated as he drove.

After deduction of cost, the net profit was tens of thousands. His funds formed a cycle, supporting his expenses in buying materials to build machinery with ease. It was even more stable than selling items and more profitable. He placed suitable high-quality items in the boxes that suited the player levels, not giving anything that was too strong.

The players in the sanctuary discussed a lot about the first loot box event; their interest was sparked. Han Xiao grabbed the opportunity and started the next loot box event a few days later.

After four times, finally, all the players in the sanctuary got used to this recurring event. At fixed intervals, the players would wait for Han Xiao in the square in advance, rubbing their hands in anticipation.

Every batch had hundreds of boxes. It took twenty minutes to be sold out at the start, and by the fourth time, it only took six minutes. This clearly reflected the player’s acceptance and passion for this event.

Han Xiao’s initial goal of hosting this event was achieved.

The message spread out from the Planet Aquamarine panel in the forums. The players had almost never seen a purple equipment before, and they did not know where to get them. At this time, Han Xiao’s loot box event appeared out of nowhere, being the only way to acquire purple equipment at the moment. It received well-deserved attention, and the influence was growing.

Han Xiao saw how rowdy the forums were. The few players who had won the purple equipment made posts to show off, with a lot of envious and jealous comments below.

“Here to see the purple equipment boss.”

“Suck…”

“Another round of ten draws! Don’t hold me back. I didn’t lose my mind! I will definitely see purple this time! My intuition is never wrong!”

“I thought this game is different from the other lustful sluts, but you betrayed me!”

“The content has made me uncomfortable, reported!”

“Music lyrics: we are different, different—”

“No guarantee in ten consecutive draws, a miracle in a single draw—I’ve learned something new.”

“Guild of Gods buying purple equipment, negotiable price, private message if interested.”

“Sky Territory buying purple equipment, a higher price than Guild of Gods, private message if interested.”

“Got trash for all nine draws, watching post owner show off.”

“Passing by with trash in all thirteen draws.”

“Trash in all eighteen draws. Damn, I’m going to rob Black Phantom’s warehouse tomorrow!”

“You have my admiration. I will take care of your wife and daughter. Rest in peace. Salute!”

“Salute +1! keep the formation.”

“Salute +2!”

“Salute +2333!”

All sorts of comments came from the players. They gave Han Xiao’s loot boxes a name.

Black Phantom’s Machinery Box!

Always leading the trends, never to be surpassed.

…

A large amount of funds had come into his pocket, so Han Xiao bulk purchased materials and parts without caring about the price at all. He spent most of the time in the workshop and built machinery continuously, turning Aquamarine Dollars into valuable materials and machinery, at the same time acquiring quite a lot of Experience. Also, he built low-level purple equipment as prizes for the loot boxes. He was way ahead of the players, and the machinery that he did not need was rare equipment to the players. Finally, all the time that he had spent growing himself now was paying off.

The sanctuary was on the right path. Huang Yu took care of the cumbersome and small issues, and Han Xiao just had to sign the documents.

Hila was accompanying Aurora for her recovery exercises. Frenzied Sword, Maple Moon, Bun-hit-dog, and Hao Tian all received missions to play with Aurora with rather generous rewards. Han Xiao was currently giving them space to grow themselves.

At the same time, Han Xiao did not forget to look at the war’s situation. The Six Nations had the complete upper hand. The Germinal Organization was basically at the breaking point, and he estimated that the Germinal Organization would soon be defeated, ending the war completely and liberating the entire Planet Aquamarine from the shadows of war.

The last time that he had browsed intelligence on the Dark Net, the number of wanderers had reduced by thirty percent compared to before the war—they had joined organizations for protection. Han Xiao felt weird about this; it was like people gave up their freedom due to fear in exchange for safety.

The situation was getting better as time passed, but Han Xiao believed in Murphy’s Law. He did not want to pay too much attention to the battlefield before things were settled. In case, there might be an accident.

However, he had done whatever he needed to do. He had given the Six Nations all the intelligence and killed a few Germinal Organization’s Executive Officers. The Six Nations had the upper hand in military power, intelligence, and almost everything. If they could not even win, they might as well eat sh*t.

Thus, Han Xiao was temporarily focused on the players’ main city plan.

This day, Han Xiao drove another truck of boxes, and the players swarmed in.

Every [Black Phantom’s Machinery Box], King Of Single Draw didn’t buy anything. He was patient, and he observed like a hunter, recording the results of other players, calculating the rarity chance. Some players were influenced by him. They sat beside him and tried to do the same thing.

At this time, a voice full of confidence appeared within the crowd.

“Give me a hundred boxes!”

The people were shocked. They followed the voice and looked over as a player with the ID ‘So Poor I Only Have Money Left’ walked out swaggering.

‘So Poor I Only Have Money Left, is this a true rich person‽”

“A hundred boxes, that’s 300,000 Aquamarine Dollars. Good god!”

“He really is a truly rich person! Can we be friends?”

“Indeed, only the large guilds have done consecutive draws before, and the highest was only fifteen boxes at once. A hundred is way too much, I have never seen anything like this before!”

Han Xiao raised his eyebrows. Such a boastful ID… it was like a pile of large leeks walking in front of him.

Chapter 279 - Luck Is the Ultimate Path

One hundred boxes were stacked neatly like a hill. It was a rare scene, and the players paused from buying and watched curiously.

So Poor I Only Have Money Left took a deep breath and opened the boxes quickly. The surrounding spectators extended their necks, and their expression changed from anticipation to shock and finally to mockery.

All one hundred boxes had been opened, but the best was only a blue assault rifle. The waste parts stacked like a hill. So Poor I Only Have Money Left’s face turned green.

“One hundred boxes and got blue equipment, nice.”

“You have my admiration, chief.”

“Money can’t change your fate, bro.”

“New documentary: Galaxy—Fall of a Rich Man”.

“Why do I feel so… good?”

So Poor I Only Have Money Left grabbed his hair in frustration. As his ID suggested, he was rich indeed, and he was used to spending a lot of money, which brought him profit most of the time. He was rich, so he could do anything he wanted.

Lucky draw events were his favorite. He did not care about whether he profited or lost money—he just liked the moment of pleasure when he won something. However, he did not win with Han Xiao.

[Black Phantom’s Machinery Box] did not guarantee anything no matter how many one bought at once. Like the lottery, it was completely about luck and probability. So Poor I Only Have Money Left bought one hundred boxes because he thought there was a higher chance of winning something, but he had been very unlucky this time.

Although it was good to have a rich customer, Han Xiao did not give him any special treatment. No guarantee meant no guarantee, and he did not want to break the rules because of rich people. His target customers were all the players. He wanted to turn this into a main city specialty and have more people take part in the event, not turn it into an event just for the rich. The number of boxes was limited after all, and not having any guarantee for consecutive purchases was to avoid a single person buying too many boxes.

If there was a guarantee for consecutive purchases, the other rich people would also do the same. Every batch of limited boxes would be snatched away by a few rich people, and the chances for the other players to take part would be much lower. It would make the event less attractive—long term growth was more important.

Anyone would be somewhat affected by the majority, and as soon as this evolved into a mass hobby, demand, and habit, its influence on the entire player base would be different.

So Poor I Only Have Money Left wanted to buy again, but the other players were now unhappy about it. They took the previous one hundred boxes opening as a form of entertainment, but the number of boxes was limited; it would have crossed the line if he bought even more.

Seeing that the crowd was unhappy, So Poor I Only Have Money Left could only scratch his head awkwardly and step aside.

On the side, King Of Single Draw was full of disdain. He told the people around him, “See? Throwing money has no technicality at all. The best method is to calculate the rarity chance through a lot of observation and research.”

As he was speaking, he smiled confidentially, and light reflected off from both his teeth and glasses. “Now, watch my performance!”

Bringing a group of people, King Of Single Draw walked toward Han Xiao, he paid close attention and calculated in his heart, after a few players finished buying, he suddenly yelled very loudly and shocked the crowd, then squeezed into the front line of the queue and bought the next box.

“Hehehe, according to my experience, there’s definitely something good in this box.”

King Of Single Draw was full of confidence. He opened the box with looks of anticipation from the crowd.

_____________________

Congratulations, you have received [Waste Part] * 18

_____________________

The crowd suddenly turned silent and looked at him weirdly.

The atmosphere was very awkward. King Of Single Draw’s mouth twitched. He coughed and said, “You guys should know that this is a matter of probability. If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again. There’ll definitely be something good!”

However, his next single purchases were all trash. His followers looked at him with more and more doubts.

“Can you even do it?”

“Bullsh*t! Next time, purple will definitely appear next time!” King Of Single Draw’s eyes were red. Like a gambling addict, he bought one more box. He closed his eyes and mumbled, “God, please give me luck this time.”

After he repeated that more than a dozen times, he felt his palms heating up, like an unknown force had just descended into him.

Famous words of many people flashed through his mind.

“This time, surely!” King Of Single Draw opened his eyes suddenly. With a gush of confidence, he yelled and flipped open the box!

A pile of trash.

King Of Single Draw froze in place, lost.

“Why… why is this happening? Are all the trends I’ve been researching fake? The loot boxes are fake; the world is fake; everything is fake!”

In the crowd, Half A Cigarette When Lonely touched his wallet. It was finally his turn. He hesitated and said, “I’ll have one.”

This was his first time buying [Black Phantom’s Machinery Box]. He had been spectating hesitantly until then. Although 3,000 Aquamarine Dollars was not really a lot, he was just a normal player, and his money had all been made through hard work of doing missions here and there, so he treasured his money a lot. However, seeing that many players had won good equipment in this event, he was a bit tempted.

Then, he finally decided to just buy one box.

Half A Cigarette When Lonely had very low expectations. He would be satisfied with just green equipment, and he did not even dare to think about blue or purple equipment.

After running to the side, Half A Cigarette When Lonely held his breath and opened the box.

Purple light surged into his eyes!

“P—Pur—Purple equipment‽”

Half A Cigarette When Lonely was stunned, trembling in excitement.

The players beside looked over with jealous.

“Another lucky one.”

“Tsk, I want purple equipment, too.”

There was someone who won a purple equipment every time. Although it was rare, the players had seen it happen a few times and were used to it. They stopped paying attention after being jealous for a while.

Half A Cigarette When Lonely took out the purple high caliber Berserk Eagle, played with it in his hands, and suddenly felt an impulse.

How about… buy another one to try my luck?

Half A Cigarette When Lonely clenched his teeth, bought another box, and opened it casually.

Purple light again!

Half A Cigarette When Lonely mouth fell open, and his heart was hit with immeasurable surprise.

The surround players looked over again, very surprised.

“He got another purple piece of equipment? That’s really lucky.”

“Quick, breath in the air of luck.”

“Two draws, two wins—might as well go buy a lottery ticket.”

“So what if he’s lucky? I will be as well one day.”

“Brother, you are allowed to show off, but don’t cross the line.”

Some were jealous; some were amazed; some were sour.

So Poor I Only Have Money Left was speechless. He had bought one hundred boxes at once and could not even compare with someone else casually buying two boxes.

What kind of world is this? What happened to the rich’s privileges‽

King Of Single Draw clenched and ground his teeth. He was on the edge of losing it, screaming in his heart, The purple equipment should’ve been mine!

“How about… another one?” Half A Cigarette When Lonely touched his wallet. He had just a bit more than 3,000 left. On impulse, he decided and bought one more, like a gambler tasting the sweetness of winning, falling into the abyss of cashing in.

“Will I win this time?” Half A Cigarette When Lonely suddenly regretted it a little. To win two times in a row was already extremely lucky; three in a role had way too low a probability. Furthermore, there were, at most, only three pieces of purple equipment in every batch of [Black Phantom’s Machinery Box]. If he won again, did that not mean he had won every purple equipment of this batch?

He anxiously opened the third box, and the familiar purple light surged again!

Half A Cigarette When Lonely was completely stunned.

All the surrounding players were completely stunned.

Three single draw wins in a row! What kind of luck is this!

No, this can’t be called luck anymore, this is a damn blessing!

The people looked at Half A Cigarette When Lonely with shock.

Chapter 280 - Galaxy Times: Other Possibilities of the Main Storyline

“Miracle three single draws in a row, my knees hurt…”

“Baby, come out and look at God.”

Han Xiao was shocked, too. He had only placed three purple items in this batch, and they had all been bought by the same person—his luck was unbelievably good. Han Xiao almost wanted to skin Half A Cigarette When Lonely and see if he was Bennett in disguise.

Manipulation behind the scenes? Non-existent.

Half A Cigarette When Lonely was completely stunned. This time, So Poor I Only Have Money Left walked over to him with admiration on his face.

“Do you have any technique or something? Please teach me. I can pay you.” So Poor I Only Have Money Left’s eyes sparkled.

“What technique? I’m just lucky.” Half A Cigarette When Lonely waved his hand hastily.

King Of Single Draw’s vision turned black.

Everything was bullsh*t in front of luck.

After he finished selling the boxes, Han Xiao left. Half A Cigarette When Lonely immediately got surrounded, the players all looking at him. Some believed that he had a special technique to opening loot boxes, whereas others had malicious motives. However, the main city was a safe zone, so they did not dare do anything.

“Friend, are you selling the purple equipment? The price can be negotiated.”

“Not for sale,” Half A Cigarette When Lonely answered subconsciously. He turned around, and the person who had spoken to him was a male player. Half A Cigarette When Lonely looked at his ID and took a deep inhale.

[Ancient Dynasty] Guild Leader—Morning Snow Twilight Frost!

The three biggest names in China’s e-sports were Temple of God, Dynasty, and Fried Eggplants with Fish. Ancient Dynasty was the official guild of the Dynasty E-sports Club. Li Ge from Temple of God was ranked second in the China Pro Player Official Leaderboard, and the player that ranked first was the best player in Dynasty. Ancient Dynasty was different from other guilds—they kept a very low profile—but their position was still superior, and no one could ignore them.

“I see…” Morning Snow Twilight Frost scratched his chin and said casually, “Then, do you want to join our guild?”

Half A Cigarette When Lonely was surprised and agreed immediately. Morning Snow Twilight Frost sent him the invitation on the spot, and after Half A Cigarette When Lonely agreed, the guild prefix appeared on his interface. Just like that, Half A Cigarette When Lonely joined the renowned guild, feeling it was all a dream.

He claimed to dislike guilds because the guilds that he had requested to join all rejected him, and these small guilds were nothing compared to the Ancient Dynasty. The guild leader himself had invited him to join, so Half A Cigarette When Lonely felt refreshed and jubilant immediately.

The guilds hold onto the resources, but this kind of lucky draw is the chances for us normal players to rise. This is the only way we can only get high-level equipment with little cost. Black Phantom’s Machinery Box is really a blessing.

Half A Cigarette When Lonely was content.

…

[Black Phantom’s Machinery Box]’s popularity continued to grow. Players published all kinds of posts in the forums. Some posts that calculated the rarity chance for the box mentioned King Of Single Draw and So Poor I Only Have Money Left as negative examples, adding salt to their injury, especially So Poor I Only Have Money Left’s incident of getting just blue equipment after buying a hundred boxes at once.

Half A Cigarette When Lonely’s miracle draws were also mentioned. When he opened a few more boxes later on, his lucked remained, and he got two more purple equipment, causing more surprise and jealousy. With so many pieces of purple equipment in hand, his strength would definitely not be weak. The people also noticed that he had joined Ancient Dynasty guild, and the other guilds regretted how they did not grab the opportunity.

Han Xiao was quite tempted to bring Half A Cigarette When Lonely into his team, but he gave the idea up after some considerations. Luck was not something one could depend on. Half A Cigarette When Lonely’s skills were not up to his recruitment standard, and compared to luck, Han Xiao trusted more in true skills.

On the forums, some people compiled lists of all the useful items people received from the boxes, including machinery, useful materials, and parts. The large amount of good loot attracted more players, and the other players across the continents were all jealous of the loot box event in Sanctuary Three.

More Southern Continent players came after they heard about this. Even the players that went on the expedition wanted to return right now. They had thought that there would be a lot of missions and opportunities during the war, but who knew the situation would change so fast? After Han Xiao stole the secrets of the Germinal Organization, they could barely even struggle, so the players ended up only watching.

The Western Continent and Northern Continent players wished they had been born in the Southern Continent, that they could just grow a pair of wings and fly to Sanctuary Three. Unfortunately, due to the war, inter-continent flights were closed temporarily. The Andrea players were the unluckiest bunch—they felt like they had not experienced anything good since creating their characters.

The loot box event was a huge success. Han Xiao started one more new event to further strengthen his position. The event this time was publishing a type of prize pool mission as another recurring mission in the main city. The feedback was quite positive as well. The players saw more benefits, at the same time increasing the variety of events in the main city.

Han Xiao gave some material to Bun-hit-dog for the next episode of his show. With a more detailed introduction of Han Xiao’s past and experience, more detailed than the post in the forums, it once again strengthened the players’ impression of him, at the same time promoting Sanctuary Three.

The players’ reaction was very important to Han Xiao, who spent most of his time to look through the forums, which looked like he was staring into the black to Hila and the rest.

“Galaxy Times published a new episode, the subtitle is Planet Aquamarine War? The Galaxy Times really used a single planet as their title, yet they are focusing on Planet Aquamarine this time. I don’t remember this episode from my previous life…”

Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled, and he clicked into the video.

“Hello players,” the male host, Spring, greeted. “This is Galaxy Times, dedicated to sharing first-hand game information. Your gaming career is our top priority.”

“Spring, I have been learning an instrument recently.”

“Really? What instrument did you learn, Autumn?”

“I’ll perform for you, and you have to guess.”

The female host took out a guitar and played a familiar rhythm. After she finished, she asked, “Spring, can you guess what did I play?”

“You’re playing the guitar.”

“…”

The opening joke was as awkward as always.

After enduring that part, they finally started talking about serious matters. The hosts first started talking about the things happening in the pro scene, the problems that the players met, then changed the topic to their theme for this episode.

“… Recently, many things have happened in Planet Aquamarine. The war between Six Nations and the Germinal Organization broke out, and it affected the entire planet. Players were experiencing this event. Without a doubt, this is definitely one of the main storylines of the planet, and compared to other planets, the main storyline in Planet Aquamarine broke out the earliest. Therefore, it is of significance. In today’s episode, we will be analyzing the main storyline war on Planet Aquamarine, concluding the characteristics of main storyline events, and predicting its influence in the future.”

After hearing this, Han Xiao finally understood why this episode appeared. Under his influence, the war main storyline between the Six Nations and the Germinal Organization had broken out a year in advance, and the players were still in the early stages at the moment. Most of the main storyline on the novice planets were still brewing; therefore, the global war on Planet Aquamarine attracted the most attention. It was a very good material for an episode.

The two hosts first introduced the planet background of Planet Aquamarine, then started to analyze the situation.

“The war has lasted close to two months and has now entered its final stage. The Germinal Organization is at the edge of defeat. The war also made a very obvious impact on the planet’s structure. A big organization for the players, [Germinal Organization] is now facing their end. The players belonging to the Germinal Organization are in a very bad situation, not knowing where to go after the war. There will most likely be a few possibilities, becoming the remnants of the Germinal Organization, joining the Six Nations, or maybe becoming wanderers.”

“From this event, it can be concluded that one of the characteristics of the main storyline is that it will have a huge impact, pose a drastic change, have a large scale, and so on.”

“However, although the Planet Aquamarine players participated in the war main storyline, they did not make much of an impact. They were just normal soldiers and had limited effects on the big picture. Of course, we also saw many possibilities from this. The players now have a rather low average level, and it should be different once their level is higher. Therefore, players from other planets, look forward to your own main storyline events.”

“As the participation level of the players was not high, we can conclude that the Planet Aquamarine main storyline might very well be rushed. It’s more like a cutscene plotline in the players’ perspective. With this thought in mind, our teams arranged the data from the players in the forums and noticed something very interesting. Please look below. These are the two possible scenarios of the Planet Aquamarine main storyline that our channel deduced.”

This time, two tables appeared on the screen with different content, describing a revolutionary event before the start of the expedition war.

Han Xiao raised his eyebrows. One of the tables included the things that he had done, such as escaping from the Germinal Organization, exposing intelligence that caused the destruction of Germinal Organization bases, and so on. That was all the current storyline—he exposed his identity, and this data was given to the players through different sources as well. His deeds in the table were all marked red.

Another table took away the things he had done, and the derived result was completely different. It was assumed that the conflict between the Six Nations and the Germinal Organization would start from the bases in various continents, which all the players would be able to take part in. The players would then grow through these opportunities, the war would only happen when the level of the players was much higher, and it would last many times longer than now.

This caught Han Xiao’s attention, and he continued to watch. Interesting, this is very similar to the storyline of my previous life. Their logic and observations must be really detailed to be able to notice this. There are hidden talents in the players after all.

“… As everyone can see,” the male host continued, “the derived result of these two tables are completely different. One of them is the current storyline, and another is a derived storyline. However, the derived storyline seems to have more characteristics of how the main storyline should be, so what led to the difference in the results?”

“That’s right, these events marked in red are indeed the key turning points behind the war breaking out in advance, and the key to this is someone that the Planet Aquamarine players are all very familiar with—Black Phantom, Zero, Han Xiao!”

Chapter 281 - The Limitations of Being a Main Character

The two hosts carefully analyzed the main storyline for the audience and followed it with the episode’s main topic—Han Xiao. As the main character on Planet Aquamarine, Han Xiao’s character was frequently talked about on the forums, and other planets’ players were also able to get to know him from the show.

Han Xiao raised his eyebrow at this. It was not the first time that his name had appeared on Galaxy Times. It was a given, considering how much he had worked to raise his popularity among the players.

With Han Xiao revealing his own identity and many more plot points behind the scene, Galaxy Times was able to come up with their version of Planet Aquamarine’s main storyline. The players mainly agreed with what they said as well, as their explanation was pretty logical.

From the players’ perspective, Han Xiao had an essential role in the [Six Nations and Germinal] storyline. Now that the story had already been set in stone, his recent achievements emphasized his importance in the main storyline, allowing more players to become interested in him.

“I am very famous on Planet Aquamarine, but my popularity is limited with the players from other planets. Getting reported on by Galaxy Times due to my recent actions could be counted as a kind of advertisement,” Han Xiao muttered.

The female host continued the segment. “According to the above, Black Phantom played a main role in the [Six Nations and Germinal] storyline. Based on the information gathered by the players, we can make bold assumptions that every single main storyline will have a key character like Han Xiao, otherwise known as the planet’s main character. We could even say that each planet’s main storyline was started by someone like Han Xiao…”

Han Xiao shook his head a few times when he heard that.

In truth, the main character of the [Six Nations and Germinal] storyline was the Germinal leader… But, ahem, that was not important.

The male host picked up when the female host stopped. “Logically, all NPCs are capable of starting events on their own, and the stronger and more experienced NPCs will be able to add diverse storylines into a planet’s story.

“So, this also means that main storyline characters are limited by the map they’re based in. In Black Phantom’s case, he is currently a hot topic in Planet Aquamarine’s main story, but does this mean that he will remain an important NPC in the future? Most likely not. His area of activity is limited to the beginner planet that he’s on, and once space travel is unlocked in future versions, once important NPCs such as him will just become fodder.

“On the other hand, those NPCs that have ties with galactic organizations or entities will have the highest potential to affect future plot development. Another beginner planet, Ice Winter Planet, was under the control of the Hell Demons, a powerful galactic entity, and is more likely to have NPCs who will develop into the later stages of Galaxy. Planets such as Planet Aquamarine and Planet Longtune with underdeveloped civilizations have less of a prospect…”

The show covered all sorts of topics, and some of the audience agreed while others argued against it. Once the hosts were done analyzing the situation on Planet Aquamarine, they moved onto interviewing the pro players. Han Xiao was not interested in this and stopped watching.

He had thought that the show was going to keep on praising him, but it turned out that they only turned around to backstab him in the end. However, the hosts did have a point. It was like how LV 1 players would get bullied by the bosses in the novice villages, but once the players leveled up, those bosses would become nothing but small fries. Han Xiao was also well aware the fact that Planet Aquamarine was not an impressive beginner planet.

But that did not mean that he was going to just do nothing.

Once he thought about his plan, he smirked and said, “We’ll see about that…”

…

Bang!

The alchemy room’s door was first twisted before being blown off its hinges and smashing into all the tools and equipment on the table. Emerald Grass, who had her back to the door, was shocked and turned around to see what had happened. All she saw was a figure by the door with blazing red hair who was walking toward her with enmity.

“What do you want?” Emerald Grass was alarmed and pointed at the intruder. Vines started to grow out of the surrounding crates and danced in the air like venomous snakes.

Hila was surrounded by a dark red energy, and with eyes also blazing with a crimson light, she said in a cold voice, “Give it.”

Emerald grass frowned and walked to the side as she revealed a row of test tubes on a table, each filled with some sort of bright red liquid. She shook her head and asked, “Do you mean these potions? These are all developed from your sister’s DNA. Do you want to try? They have pretty amazing effects.”

Hila, without even hesitating, raised her hand and shot out her red energy toward the test tubes. Emerald Grass cursed silently and hurriedly moved her plants to block Hila’s attack to protect the potions.

Bang!

The dark red energy waves cut through the vines like hot knife through butter, and the clean cuts sprayed green juice all over the place. Emerald Grass barely dodged the attacks, and the walls around her were all blasted right through.

“Lunatic!” Emerald Grass gritted her teeth and tried her best to block Hila’s attacks. The red energy waves clashed with the plants again and again, causing explosions to reverberate throughout the room and debris to fly all over the place.

The guards outside were frightened, and they did not know who to help.

“Quick, inform Lord Black Phantom about this!” The guard captain immediately made a decision and turned around. But before he could get very far, a black shadow had appeared at the end of the road and sped over. It was Han Xiao.

Han Xiao was always monitoring the alchemy room, and the moment he saw the fight begin, he rushed over. “Stop!”

Emerald Grass’s forehead was covered in sweat. Her powers were not as strong as Hila’s when it came to direct confrontations, and she was afraid that she would sustain injuries the moment she stopped using her powers. “I will stop if she stops.”

Hila’s expression remained unchanged as she had already steeled herself to kill Emerald Grass.

Han Xiao frowned, and faint blue light started to gather under his feet. He lightly stepped, causing this energy to spread through the floor, causing a mini earthquake that split open the ground.

Buzz!

Eight metal gun barrels popped out of the ground, and one could hear sounds of gears locking into place. They quickly turned into mini turrets and were pointed straight at the two combatants.

Trap-type Mini Mobile Turret. A new creation. They were placed in all the important areas in the shelter and could only be activated by Han Xiao.

“I think you may be forgetting who owns this place,” Han Xiao said in a low voice.

Hila gritted her teeth but backed off in the end, albeit with a murderous expression still on her face. Emerald Grass finally relaxed and let out a breath as she massaged her temple. She had just been attacked in the mind by Hila’s shockwaves and was suffering from some painful headaches.

“You didn’t keep up your promise of protecting my sister.” Hila turned her head and stared right into Han Xiao’s eyes.

Han Xiao sighed helplessly. “You’re overreacting.”

Emerald Grass held up one of the test tubes. “Humph. I made these using the DNA I got from Aurora’s hair strands. I was just recycling. I didn’t even hurt your sisters. What’re you so mad about‽”

“You can’t!” Hila said in a cold voice. To her, Emerald Grass’s actions were too similar to Germinal’s, and it made her remember some painful memories from the past.

Neither wanted to back off, and Han Xiao’s head was starting to hurt. Conflict with allies was not easy to resolve.

At this moment, Aurora strolled over in her wheelchair, with the bear cub swinging back and forth on her legs.

Aurora looked much better than she had done a month ago. Her once shriveled hair had become soft and smooth; her once bony body had started to take on some weight, and she was emitting a positive and shiny aura. Her power that had been suppressed for so long was finally released, and it allowed her to look like a normal person again within a month.

“Sis, why are you fighting with the doctor?” Aurora asked in a worried tone.

Emerald Grass stared at Hila and then gave a thorough explanation of what had happened.

Aurora was shocked. She blinked a few times, then said, “It’s just some hair. I don’t really mind if it can help Uncle Han.”

Before, there was only her sister who treated her well. But now, with Han Xiao caring for her too, she was happy to contribute in any way she could. This way, she would feel better as she was somewhat paying back Han Xiao’s favor.

Han Xiao did not really have an opinion about this. He knew that Emerald Grass was conducting experiments, but since she only used some hair, he had just turned a blind eye to it. Hila had definitely overreacted a bit this time.

Aurora gave of a bright smile and said, “Sis, you don’t have to worry. I’m not that fragile.”

Hila remained silent for a while before she turned around and started to walk away. “Okay.”

After this whole fiasco, Han Xiao let the guards take care of the cleanup. Emerald Grass walked up to him and had an odd smile on her face. “I didn’t know there were this many turrets near the alchemy room. You’re keeping a watch over me, aren’t you?”

Han Xiao gave her a glance.

“Hehe. Don’t worry. I’m not a fool. After all, I’m a tool that you obtained. Tools aren’t supposed to have a say in anything.” Emerald Grass twirled around with her hair as she said that with a faint smile.

“Oh.” Han Xiao turned and left after only saying a word.

Emerald Grass’s expression froze. That’s it?

What kind of reaction was that? He was not angry, nor was he trying to give himself an excuse. He did not even try to threaten her or anything.

Am I that unimportant?

…

The curtains of the night were drawing to a close.

After a whole day of manufacturing tools, Han Xiao moved the materials into his secret base. On the way back, he saw a figure standing on the balcony of the building next door. The gentle moonlight shone on the right-side of Hila’s body, and he could see her staring blankly into the night sky. It seemed like she had been standing there for a while.

After thinking for a moment, Han Xiao lightly leapt onto the balcony.

Hila heard the movement and asked emotionlessly without turning her head, “What’re you doing up here?”

“Just looking around. Why are still up this late in the night?”

“Humph!” Hila did not reply.

Han Xiao then took a seat to the side and shook his head. “You were a bit too extreme today. I don’t think you were that hotheaded in the past.”

Hila frowned. “What’s that got to do with you?”

“What’s it got to do with me?” Han Xiao touched his chin and muttered, “I don’t think you said that back when I saved you and your sister, did you?”

Hila’s face froze. After remaining silent for a while longer, she finally let out a sigh and said slowly, “I’m just a bit lost.”

Chapter 282 - The Fall of the Germinal Organization

“Feeling lost?” Han Xiao put a cigarette in his mouth and took out his lighter. “Well that’s easy to solve. Just take your sister back to the Germinal Organization, and I guarantee that you’ll never feel bored again.”

Hila glared at him and stayed quiet for a second. She then said to herself, “I wasn’t able to protect my sister, and I made her endure so much suffering. It’s all my fault. To protect her, I kept on training myself. Even though the battle carved a bloody past in my history, I will never regret what I did. The more lives I killed with my own hand, the safer I felt. It is the only way I could prove to myself that I was protecting my sister and wash away the remorse I have.

“Back in the Germinal Organization, we rarely saw each other. I knew that she wanted to go to the outside world, which is why I always prepared stories for her and shared my experience from the world outside. Now that she has a new life, is making many new friends, and has even started to take care of a pet, she won’t need my stories anymore.”

Han Xiao could not light the cigarette in his mouth, so he brought out his gun and shot a few bullets up into the sky and used the hot gun barrel to light the cigarette. He inhaled before replying, “That bear was supposed to be my pet…”

“Saving her from the misery had always been my wish. Now that I have fulfilled it…” Hila ignored Han Xiao’s comment and continued. “She doesn’t need me to protect her anymore.”

Hila opened up her palm, and a dark red aura flowed through her fingers. Hila stared at her hands and said, “Back in the days, all I wanted to do was spend every minute training my power to crush the Germinal Organization by myself. Now, my sister and I are safe, so strength and power don’t matter to me anymore. I can spend all the time in the world with my sister, and this is my ultimate mate wish.”

Hila then closed her hands and formed a fist, crushing the red light in her hand. She closed her eyes. “But the life I always craved only brings emptiness in my heart. I’m so lost and don’t know what to do. I hate this feeling.”

“After living a dangerous life for years, letting your guard down may be uncomfortable; this is the classic symptom that soldiers face as they leave the battlefield,” Han Xiao answered. “Of course I believe that there’s another reason. I think that violence is in your blood, and every single cell in your body craves the taste of blood. Living a peaceful life may be a drug that slowly chips away your motivation for living.”

Hila had a weird expression and said, “Are you trying to get me to do bad things?”

“What else? Do you want me to comfort you?” Han Xiao shook his head. “I don’t need to tell you those cheesy and fluffy lines, and you are not a kind of person that needs consolation. Your sister is your sister, and you are you. You don’t need to give up your true personality for your sister, and she also does not want you to change yourself. Stop finding excuses. I can see that battles and violence are what you truly desire, and the hunger for power is what drives you to move forward. The world is much larger than you think. Even though I can beat ten of you, in the eyes of the universe, there are people that are still stronger than me.”

“What makes you say that you can beat ten of me?” Hila disagreed.

Han Xiao suddenly released a murderous intent in his eyes. Hila stepped back and unknowingly used her power. She was cautious as the dark red light drifted around her body.

“Maybe one day, I will take away your sister, just like what the Germinal Organization did. At that point, if you are still not strong enough to fight me… Haha. That’s why you need to get stronger, or else you will regret it.”

Han Xiao withdrew his murderous intent with a straight face, but Hila still could not calm down.

For a moment, her instincts told her that Han Xiao was not kidding. He was dead serious!

As if she saw the wolf’s teeth behind the sheep mask, a chill travelled through her spine.

“I can create some robots to help you train if you want, or you can learn from Emerald Glass and practice with some other Espers. Well, if there’s nothing else, I’m going back to sleep. I’m leaving my cigarette here.”

Han Xiao jumped down from the rooftop and headed back to his place.

After Han Xiao’s shadow faded away, Hila finally relaxed and let out a long sigh. Staring at the slowly burning cigarette, she picked it up and inhaled.

She closed her eyes and released the smoke from her mouth, enjoying the taste from the tobacco.

A long time passed before she opened her eyes. Her worries and anxiety suddenly disappeared, and all that was left was a cold, lonely feeling.

“He really is a monster…” Hila said to herself and laughed. “But so am I.”

…

Han Xiao spend all his time creating machines and training Frenzied Sword and the other three. He harvested the players’ experience, and the experience on the interface rose steadily. Every day was exciting and fulfilling, and time quickly passed by.

On 7th December 688 in the Galaxy calendar, the frontline finally sent back important news on the war.

The Germinal Organization had lost all control except the area around the headquarters. The other bases had all been destroyed.

Han Xiao received the notice, and Bennett invited him to meet up in Sanctuary One.

“The war against the Germinal Organization is finally coming to an end. The cards are reshuffled, and the Dark Net also needs to start looking at the new era,” Bennett said over a phone call.

After waiting for quite some time, the end of the war was finally in sight. The Six Nations were steady, and without any difficulty, they pushed the Germinal Organization to the brink of destruction. Han Xiao arranged all the work in Sanctuary Three and headed to Sanctuary One.

After a while, a helicopter landed on the roof of Sanctuary One. Bennett, who was waiting on the roof, laughed. “This is the first time you’ve arrived before anyone else. This isn’t like you.”

Han Xiao turned back to the chopper and said, “Take off now. Waste all the fuel in this thing before we come back.”

Bennett was dumbfounded and quickly grabbed Han Xiao off the plane. He then said, “The board meeting will take place after the war has officially ended. It will probably happen in the next few days.”

“How many days?”

“I’m still uncertain. The situation now is a bit complicated.” Bennett lowered his voice. “It’s hard for the situation to move forward.”

Han Xiao’s eyes flickered.

After they headed to the meeting room, Han Xiao asked, “So, what’s wrong?”

Bennett took out the intel and explained, “In summary, we already cut off all the routes from the headquarters to the outside world. The Six Nations have completely trapped the Germinal Organization. However, the troops of the Six Nations are still far away from the area around the headquarters, and they have no intention of attacking.”

“Well since they already destroyed all the other bases, isn’t it simple to just bombard the headquarters and end the war?” Han Xiao replied.

“Well, it is possible. After losing all the side bases, the Germinal Organization should not have enough anti-missile supplies and equipment to hold off the Six Nations. Even if their headquarters are hidden underground, it would still collapse under the explosion. But the reason the Six Nations didn’t do so was because of another complicated issue.”

Bennett took out another document.

“Because of your intel, most of the nuclear warheads have been disabled, and the rest of the nuclear warheads have been carried back to the headquarters. Because of the limited supplies, they could not wipe out the entire army of the Six Nations. However, there are quite a number of nuclear warheads, and there would be devastating consequences to the climate of this planet if they went off. From research conducted by various meteorologists, if the nuclear warheads exploded at the same time, in the next five to fifteen years, the radiation will drastically worsen the climate of the world, and Andrea will be the highest radioactive place on the entire planet. It will turn into a wasteland where no living beings can survive. Under moral considerations, the Six Nations must migrate the entire population of Andrea to another land…”

“Second, during Germinal organization’s retreat, they caught a lot of wanderers as hostage to prevent the Six Nations from bombarding the headquarters…” Bennett sighed. “That’s why there’s division among the Six Nations.

“Raylen and Theseus suggested ignoring the consequences and the lives of the hostages and directly attacking the headquarters. Then they can finally get rid of their mortal enemy once and for all. Stardragon has yet to respond. Maple wanted to force the Germinal Organization to surrender, and Hesla suggested attacking the headquarters with ground troops and trying to save the hostages. As for Ordina… they used various excuses to oppose all kinds of attacks toward the Germinal Organization.”

Han Xiao was surprised. “I understand all the concerns of the other nations, but what is Ordina trying to do? They want to back off after all the fighting?”

Bennett knocked on the table and replied, “It is the last year of the term for Ordina’s leader. Their political sphere has a lot of parties, so there are a lot of competitors for his position. If they can drag the war until the next year’s election, they can use the reason of national security and war to automatically get elected for the next term.”

Han Xiao did not know what to say. “That’s a ballsy move… So, which side is the Six Nations leaning toward?”

“They want to try to make the enemy surrender. The Six Nations have their anti-missile defense system all the time, and that if the headquarters fires even one missile, they will attack and bombard the base. However, this is the worst outcome they can have. So, the Six Nations have sent a last message to the base, hoping that they will surrender and release the hostages. Then they will spare the lives of the Germinal Organization.”

Bennett then shook his head. “But until now, the Germinal Organization still hasn’t responded.”

Chapter 283 - Disagreement

The headquarters were as dense as a black mountain range covered in dead silence. The ground was full of equipment left by the soldiers, and the pungent smell of gas and smoke filled the city. In the buildings were the hiding soldiers. The atmosphere was dead and lifeless, and all of the soldiers stared out the windows with eyes that looked lost.

Even though they could not see the army of the Six Nations on the horizon, everyone knew that countless missiles were aiming right at them. The headquarters could turn into the sea of fire at any given second.

No one knew where their fate would lead them.

Everything would depend on the final judgement based on the Germinal Organization. Maybe there was a slim chance of surrendering.

In the end, not everyone embraced the idea of sacrificing for their country.

In the underground command room of the headquarters, the screen displayed the situation right now. The single blue dot represented the lonely headquarters, while the red field, which represented the Six Nations, covered the entire continent. There was nowhere for them to run.

The leader, who wore a mask, stood right in front of the screen with his hands behind his back. The senior officials quietly exchanged eye contact, but no one spoke. The room was dead silent.

“What do you plan to do?” a senior official asked after a while.

The leader shut his eyes. While everyone was worrying about the next step, the leader replied with a hoarse voice, “Launch all the nuclear missiles.”

Everyone was stunned by the words. A bald senior official who had a considerable amount of power shouted, “The Six Nations have already lock us down, and there’s no way we can bring them down by launching the rocks. This is suicide!”

“So what? Do you want to beg for mercy in front of the Six Nations?” The leader’s expression did not change. “Don’t forgot the vision of the Germinal Organization. There can be no defeat. Death is the only way.”

All the senior officials had great hatred toward the Six Nations. However, in the face of death, not everyone could stand their ground in their belief. Moreover, from the situation, being suicidal would not achieve anything. There was a chance that the Six Nations would break their promise and kill them after they surrendered, but there was still a slim of hope that they could survive.

“I disagree,” the bald senior official yelled as he stepped forward.

The leader turned around and glared at him and the officials behind. “Is there anyone who agrees with him?”

Some officials look right back at the leader, and some lowered their heads, but all of them replied with silence.

Facing the line of life and death, the leader and the officials had a disagreement, as if there was a huge cliff that separated them.

“What if I insist?” the leader said calmly.

“Launching the nuclear weapons requires two keys, the system authorization, and your fingerprint and iris,” the bald man replied. “You have the authorization, but you only have a key, while the vice leader has the other key, and he is on our side.”

The leader looked around and asked: “So, where is he?”

“Of course he is not here. We won’t give you any chance.”

The leader shook his head. “Looks like you made your decisions long ago.”

“Don’t be reckless. We still have the chance to bring the uprising again as a nation, so we should not simply sacrifice our lives…” The bald official tried to persuade the leader, but he suddenly stopped with his eyes wide open. As he was talking, the leader had taken out two keys that were needed to launch the rocket, and one of them was supposed to be with the vice leader.

“How… how did you…”

“Oh my god! Put it down now!”

“Why is the key with you‽”

“Where’s the vice leader?”

No one could believe what had just happened, and the room turned into chaos.

The leader held onto the keys without saying anything.

“Return the key right now. We won’t let you do whatever you want.” The bald man tried to suppress the fear on his face. His voice shook slightly as he made a hand sign behind his back.

The leader shook his head and looked at the crowd. “Meggal, you secretly had conversation with Maple. Dorios, you made some compromise with the Oridina. Newt, Raylen promised to provide protection…”

The leader mentioned most of the people in the room, and seeing everyone’s shocked expression, he slowly said, “The consequences of surrendering for you, of course, will be different from the normal soldiers. So, don’t act like you are full of righteousness. Do whatever you want.”

The officials’ expressions changed, and they felt the fear of the leader rise in their bones.

Even though the leader had always been intimidating, at least, the officials could still guess what the leader was thinking. However, ever since they started losing the war, it had become harder to grasp what the leader was thinking. To be exact, it was right after Zero escaped the encirclement that the leader changed.

As if he was a lake without any bottom, suffering loses after loses, the leader had remained calm like a still pond. Nothing could make him rage anymore.

The door opened, and a dozen executive officers surrounded the senior officials.

These executive officers were all part of their army. After the war started, there were countless injuries and casualties for the executive officers, but the officials had all had the brains to protect their own interest and power. The main ideal of the Germinal Organization that gathered the people was hatred, not loyalty toward a certain person.

The officials did not say anything. The bald official gave the signal, and the executive officers moved forward and prepared their attacks toward the leader

Covered in colorful beams, the leader sighed.

“Guess I’ll send you all to see the vice leader.”

…

In a land far away from the headquarters was the base of the Six Nations. Thousands of armored troops awaited their command, and jets were hovering above the ground. The sound of engines cut through the sky, and the shockwave vibrated the tents and equipment on the ground.

The missile vehicles were on standby, and multiple satellites and radars closely observed any sign of the missiles in the headquarters and movements in the sky. As soon as they saw anything that was flying into the sky, they could instantly take it down. Then they would resort to violence and use everything they had to turn the headquarters into a wasteland.

In the battle command center, all the representing military officials were antsy.

“There’s only seven hours, thirty-two minutes, and eleven seconds before the time limit, and they still haven’t responded,” the representative of Ordina said. “I think that we should extend the time for the Germinal Organization to think carefully and not do something stupid.”

No one replied.

Raylen officer said with a cold expression, “We have already contacted four of the senior officials in the Germinal Organization. They were still trying to convince the leader.”

The other representatives nodded with agreement. They all did something similar. When they are pushed back against the wall, quite a number of the Germinal Organization’s senior officers were willing to surrender in exchange for safety.

The obvious bargain that the Six Nations wanted was to make the Germinal Organization surrender and save the hostages from danger.

“It’s already been more than an hour and twenty minutes since the last contact. They haven’t reported back to us since then.”

“Don’t worry. We still have time.”

The officials from different nations were chitchatting with each other while they waited for the response. Giving a choice for the Germinal Organization meant that they would have to wait for the result.

An officer from Hesla suddenly asked, “So in the end, who is the leader of Germinal Organization? According to the intelligence from Dark Net, the leader came from the Gollum, the country that had fallen. The former identity of the Germinal Organization was Mimok, but we searched through all the files and still couldn’t find the exact identity of the leader.”

Bennett had given the information that Hannes found to the Six Nations, thinking that they could find more details given their power. However, the search was still met with a dead end. The leader was like a ghost without a past, and the files that stacked as high as mountain did not include his name. The only information that they had was what Hannes had found.

“Didn’t Raylen conquer Gollum? Do you have any intel?” Stardragon’s official asked.

Raylen’s official shook his head. “We even searched for files on the list of civilians in Gollum back when it still existed, and none of them matched with the leader. We also sent some people to visit Gollum’s original territory, and they didn’t find anything. I wonder if the intel from the Dark Net is true…”

Chapter 284 - The Finale (1)

“Huuu…”

Heavy breath filled the room like a broken bellow, and the stickiness of blood and spit crawled in his throat.

The mask covered in blood fell to the floor. Leaning on the side of a table, the leader barely opened his eyes and saw the destroyed room after the fight while the floor was full of corpses. The leader was the only one left standing in the room while all the executive officers had all fallen under his fists. The senior officials’ frightened expression remained on their face as if they had stopped breathing.

The leader spat out bloody mucus and took a deep breath. The dense smell of stinky blood irritated his nose, and he could not help but cough his lungs out for another two minutes.

The intense battle had provoked his hidden injury from the ambush, when he was heavily injured by Han Xiao. He had not had time to recover, and soon, he became unable to quickly resolve it.

Every time that he felt the subtle pain, he was reminded of Han Xiao. Until now, the leader could only feel hatred in his heart. At times when the anger faded away, he could feel nothing but emptiness.

The leader stood in front of the central control panel and selected the option to launch the nuclear bomb. He took off his gloves, scanned his fingerprints and eyes, and authorized the launch. After the two keys were in the keyhole, both of them turned just needed to be turned, then the nuclear bomb will be launched. On the last step, the hands full of scars held on the keys, but they could not turn them.

The leader leaned on the chair and looked up at the ceiling. His eyes were not focused on anything as if he was daydreaming. No one had any idea what he was thinking.

Dududu!

The window popped out on the corner of the screen, and surprisingly, it was a call from Han Xiao.

The leader pressed the ‘accept’ button without any hesitation. The screen then showed Han Xiao’s face.

Seeing the corpses on the floor, Han Xiao raised his eyebrow. He wanted to call to see the situation on the side of the Germinal Organization. He also wanted to see the leader one last time, but he already understood the situation after witnessing the scene. He shook his head and said, “Looks like you have made your decision.”

The leader’s eyes leaked his disappointment.

“I still can’t believe that I lost to you, you… insignificant bug. Mistakes after mistakes, my life’s work has been ruined by you… Now what do you want? To again gloat about what you have done? I’m here—enjoy yourself. My life, the end of Germinal Organization, will all be an important part of your history. You are the winner, so you have the power to look down on the loser you defeated.”

“I told you, the galaxy is unfathomable. This planet is just a small speck of dust, and no one will spare a thought on what’s happened here.” Han Xiao shook his head. Even though he was watching the fall of his enemy, Han Xiao was calm and collected. In the end, he was still a gentleman. He slowly said, “I just think that, after doing so much in your life, you still haven’t had a chance to express your feelings.”

“Do you want to me confess to you, my mortal enemy?” The leader’s face looked even uglier. He leaned on the chair and relaxed his body. “That seems interesting.”

Han Xiao shrugged and directly cut to what he wanted. “What’s with Destiny’s Child?”

The leader laughed out loud and stopped after a while, shaking his head. “Destiny’s Child is nothing but a pity man. He can see the future, change the fate of people, yet he cannot decide his own life and death. He was destined to be used by others. You also have the ability to predict the future, so maybe the fate of Destiny’s Child will be yours.”

Han Xiao did not correct that statement. “Talk about yourself. It seems that you are from Gollum, am I correct?”

The leader’s expression changed and replied, “Looks like you have already found out… That’s correct. I was once a citizen of Gollum. Back then, I was a young man with passion and rage. After the event of Mimok, I joined the rebel organization. I rioted, protested, demonstrated—all I wanted was to save my country from the rotten government.

“But suddenly, the war started. Raylen invaded the country, and my country shattered into pieces under internal parasites and external attacks…”

The leader’s tone suddenly got angry. “Did you hear that? People called us parasites! What did I do wrong? Was protesting a mistake? No! All we wanted was to take back the rights that we once had and make our country a better place!

“We were so close to victory, and the path of light was right in front of us. Yet, the war destroyed everything. After the fall of Gollum, all my friends were executed. All of us were viewed as a defect in the society and eliminating us was the best way. The remaining citizens of Gollum were enslaved and tortured. Only a few were able to escape, and I was one of them.

“I was no legend. I’m just a normal kid who was lost until I saw the border of Gollum, which was locked by Rayland. Seeing the burning flag of Gollum and the rise of Raylen’s flag, I was awoken, and I realized my mission I have to carry out.

“Gollum was not perfect. There was darkness and weakness, but… it was still my country. The only thing I could do was…

“Take revenge for my nation!”

The leader exhaled, and his eyes drift off the screen. His memories slowly showed up in his mind.

“But in the wave of time, a normal young man was nobody, and his life was as fragile as a bug. To travel through the battlefield, I dragged my exhausted body and transferred from one refugee camp to another. I was treated like a dog, and I lived a life without any respect.

“However, my blood was boiling, and I kept telling myself that no matter what danger I faced, I must live on. It was hatred that kept my heart pumping, that made my legs move forward… In the end, after I succeed in passing through the battlefield, I did not stop to look for shelter but turned to the wilderness.

“I knew that without power, I could not seek revenge. That’s why I lived in the wilderness and battled with the beasts. I turned myself into unbreakable steel.”

At this point, the leader pointed to the scars on his face and hand. “A hundred and seventy-six scars was the price I paid for my power.”

Han Xiao raised his eyebrows. “So, you really are just a normal human?”

“Why can’t I be a normal man?” the leader asked back.

After some thought, Han Xiao nodded and hinted that the leader could continue his story.

The leader then said, “In the wilderness, I kept on thinking, and when I headed back to the battlefield, I heard that the Mimok Organization still existed. How ironic, the tool that was created to bring terror upon the world was the only thing that represented the purest of Gollum. Then a plan formed in my mind as I assassinated the leader of Mimok and changed the name to Germinal Organization. I hid and slowly developed the organization, and it was since then I wore the mask.

“The war created a lot of opportunities. Countless people lost their home and had nowhere to stay. Then I decided on the vision of the Germinal Organization and gave them the hope that we could create a new world. Vision thrives in people who supports an ideology. It wasn’t me who used the refugees with no countries to go back to, but it was they who voluntarily gave their lives to me. This is hate, and they did not care as long as they could achieve their goal after they sacrificed their lives.

“Since my desire matched the public’s desire, I got a lot of helpful hands. And the Germinal Organization that fed on the aftermath of battle quickly grew from a seed into a towering tree.”

The voice of the leader was filled with hate. After the dream that the leader had nurtured was destroyed by another man, other than angry, his feelings were confused.

“Then… you showed up.

“You… cut down the tree.”

Chapter 285 - The Finale (2)

“Compared to the pollution you caused in the past… and will cause in the future, I’d feel it’s more environmentally friendly to cut down this tree of yours,” Han Xiao said mockingly.

In his previous life, no player could dig out the origin of the leader—it was truly hard to find the true identity of an ordinary missing person in this age of war. After Han Xiao heard the leader’s description, he had a clearer understanding of him.

The leader was a firm patriot, one of the few Gollum citizens that escaped Raylen’s invasion. He hid in the dark, purposely fighting at the edge of death to look for breakthroughs and the power to revenge, one of the superhumans that started ordinary and reached the peak of the planet, ambitious and extreme.

Now that he had met a dead end, he decided that he would rather die than compromise; it was clear that the hatred was already deeply buried in his bones.

The experience of a planet main character is indeed really interesting and legendary. Every main character has a history that can be dug out, Han Xiao thought with mixed feelings.

When he was still very weak, the leader had been like a mountain, and he had needed to act with caution and become stronger. Finally, he had gained the power to face him head-on and defeated the Germinal Organization.

The Germinal Organization was the main antagonist of Planet Aquamarine in Version 1.0. Han Xiao had also participated in this storyline during his previous life as a player. Now that he had a different identity, his impact was much higher, and it was a totally different experience. Although Han Xiao looked very calm, it did not mean that he did not enjoy the victory—there was still a sense of accomplishment in his heart.

The leader shook his head and said, “I never thought that an escaped test subject would become my greatest enemy. When you stole the secrets and broke through my ambush, I already knew that the Germinal Organization would undoubtedly lose. I never give up, but there was nothing I could do; it was barely even a struggle before death.”

Because he had predicted this long ago, no matter how bad the situation was for them, he was not surprised. Seeing the organization that he had built slowly slide into the abyss, he was actually still calm.

“To me, defeat means death. The Six Nations want to see me surrender so that they can take all the knowledge that the Germinal Organization has gained throughout the years. I won’t let them get anything.”

Han Xiao raised his brows. “About that, I heard you captured quite a few hostages. If you activate the explosion, all of them will definitely die, and the nuclear blast will affect the climate, worsening the environment of the entire planet, endangering the everyone’s future in this planet. Are you sure you want to do this?”

The leader kept silent. The sound of breathing was the only thing coming out from the speakers. Han Xiao was not in a hurry; he watched the screen calmly.

After a while, the leader spoke in a low voice.

“You’re going to persuade me to surrender?”

Han Xiao shrugged and said, “I’m not planning to, because you don’t seem like someone that can be persuaded, but the guys opposite me want me to…”

He was in a meeting room of Sanctuary One at the moment, holding his laptop and sitting on the sofa. Bennett sat opposite him and listened to the entire conversation. He kept using hand signs to tell Han Xiao to persuade the leader. Both sides suffering was the last thing Bennett wanted to see.

Han Xiao felt that Bennett was daydreaming. To have him, the very person that caused their defeat, do the persuasion, was that not completely adding fuel to the fire? Even if the leader had planned to surrender originally, he might change his mind instantly after seeing Han Xiao’s face. Luckily, the leader had always been very firm, or he would have been quite worried… Wait a minute, that logic felt somewhat weird.

Bennett kept giving him signs. Han Xiao had no choice but to give it a try, or Bennett would nag him like a mother again.

“I’d rather bring everyone with me,” the leader said maliciously. “This world shall know pain!”

Han Xiao’s mouth opened wide, a classic reference stuck in his throat.

Pain, is that you‽ [1. Pain is a character in a Japanese manga/anime series, one of his signature lines is “This world shall know pain.”]

The leader sneered. “I hate this world—why should I care for it? Even if the Six Nations won, don’t even dream of not paying anything! The Six Nations are killers, too, only reaching their position today after destroying countless nations. They stood on the ruins and praised their actions. The winner is always on the side of justice, and these blood debts will all be buried in history. No one will know, no one will find out, and no one will fight for justice of the old era. These governments that have luckily survived have enjoyed themselves for too long, and it’s time for them to pay a little interest!”

The leader did not care about what the world would become after he died; he would rather betray others than to be betrayed. Even a normal person might feel this way, not to mention the malicious, ambitious leader.

Han Xiao did not comment. The results of a nuclear attack would have a minimal effect on him, as he would sooner or later leave Planet Aquamarine. Furthermore. The next version was Mutation Disaster. A larger disaster was coming, and in comparison, this climate disaster would be nothing.

The Germinal Organization had survived in his previous life, and there had been a potential risk of them coming back again. Now the Germinal Organization had been annihilated at once, but it brought a last lasting negative impact. As for which one was better, Han Xiao did not really know, but the latter would definitely clear his [Fall of the Germinal] mission.

To other people of Planet Aquamarine that did not know this, the result of the latter was horrifying. The climate was deeply connected to their lives, and no one would wish for an environment deterioration.

Sitting opposite, Bennett was anxious. He wished he could just fly to the Germinal Organization headquarters and kill the leader before he could press the button.

Han Xiao looked at the clock and said slowly, “There’s still quite some time till the deadline that the Six Nations gave. Aren’t you going to wait any longer?”

“I prefer to decide my time of death myself.” The leader’s eyes became firm. He reached out his hand, held onto the nuclear launch keys, and started turning slowly.

A suffocating pressure came out of the screen, and the leader’s movement seemed to be lasting forever. Bennett hands clawed at the sofa’s armrests and tore the leather open.

Every degree he turned, one second was taken away from the countdown clock of countless lives.

The second hand gradually pointed toward the final result.

Han Xiao looked at the leader’s face calmly and suddenly asked, “I never got your name.”

“My name?” The leader lifted the corner of his lips and gave a ferocious smile. “Not important.”

“You’re right, so… goodbye then.” Han Xiao sighed and waved his hand.

The keys turned one hundred and eighty degrees.

The sound of a quake came out of the screen—that was the sound of missiles rising into the sky.

The leader retracted his hands and sat on the chair like a statue. At that moment, his tone did not have any hatred, regret, or sadness of almost facing his death; there was not any intense emotion. Like old neighbors passing each other, he nodded at Han Xiao.

“Goodbye.”

…

“Warning! Warning! Fast-moving objects are rising from the Germinal Organization headquarters!”

All of the waiting military officers in the Six Nations combat conference stood up in shock; this was the worst-case scenario. Although the people present were mentally prepared, when this moment arrived, they still found it hard to accept.

A nuclear blast killing hostages, resulting in pollution, burning the Germinal Organization headquarters to the ground, countless classified technology lost forever… It could not be considered a win for any party.

“Activate anti navigation?” the assistant said shivering.

All the officers had no choice. Without hesitation, their responses were the same. “Activate immediately!”

In the Germinal Organization headquarters, the ground and the buildings were trembling slightly. The hiding Germinal Organization soldiers looked up to the sky through the windows and saw the missiles rise one after another.

An atmosphere of silence and death spread among the people. Everyone knew the leader’s decision and what was going to happen next.

Tears, despair, madness, twitching, trembling, screaming, growling, indifference…

The countless emotions and responses right before death.

In the sky far away, a dense number of black objects approached rapidly—some clashed with the rising missiles, and some landed in the headquarters.

Hum—

The first sound was a high-pitch explosion undetectable to the human ear. Most of the people in the Six Nations camp faraway covered their ears, but blood was still flowing out.

A fire pillar, tens of kilometers in diameter, shot up the sky. The group of bases disintegrated in an instant. Black dust was spat out from the blinding firelight, gradually rising and turning into a condensed black mushroom.

In the Six Nation camp far away, the people who looked out could only see white. The light had temporarily blinded most of the people, and even the superhumans had to close their eyes. No one could stay natural in the face of this kind of power; everyone felt small and insignificant, like they had become sand that was going to be blown away by the next wind. Unable to control their own fate, they started to shiver uncontrollably.

Even in further areas, the fire could be seen to soar through the clouds above the Germinal Organization on the horizon, and the clouds formed a circle in the sky.

Right after, the firelight shone a second time, emitting a yellow spherical shockwave mixed with dust and ash. Everywhere it passed, the ground cracked, and the buildings shattered into pieces. Countless bent pieces of metal easily flew for miles like feathers, falling onto the wilderness like rain.

The shockwave finally arrived at the camp. Like the breath of the god of wind, tents were blown away, spinning like dandelion seeds; heavy vehicles rolled like balls; for the people there, a few broken bones was just a light injury. The onlooking players were shocked and excited—they recorded the moment and did not want to miss out anything.

With the expanding shockwave came the second explosion, and the frequency could be caught by human ear this time, almost breaking people’s eardrums.

Boom!

The sound was like the sky was falling apart!

Deafening!

The camps behind started to stand their ground and commanded the troops to retreat quickly.

The continuous firelight was the only thing left on the wilderness. The image was like a punishment from the gods, and the tumbling mushroom cloud kept changing its shape like the smile of a devil.

The leader, with his unfulfilled belief and the organization that he had created, turned into a bright firework that lit up the entire sky.

The Germinal Organization had ended.

The nuclear explosion that burned the headquarters to the ground marked the end of the Planet Aquamarine war.

…

The highest ranked officials of the Six Nations hosted an emergency meeting. The enemy had been defeated, but the upcoming impact was not optimistic.

“In accordance to the scale of the explosion, the climate bureau created a calculus model. The first batch of radiation dust will enter the atmospheric cycle in the next three to six hours. Within the next month, the land of Andrea will enter a nuclear winter that will last for at least half a year. During that time, the land will not be suitable for any lifeform. Flora and fauna will die in droves, and the land will become a complete death zone. The radiation will reach the sea area near Andrea, which might cause the marine food chain to collapse. Some sea creatures might also go through unknown mutations.

“High-density radiation and pollution will enter the sea cycle, then spread to the entire world through the form of rain. This process will take about 300 to 500 days to complete. By then, the entire planet’s climate will start to deteriorate. As the affected area is much larger, the deterioration is not as severe as it will be in Andrea, but it still will heavily damage the atmosphere and have a negative impact in every way. This impact might last as long as more than ten years. In this time, the entire planet’s technology is estimated to be unable to advance and might even recede.”

The high ranked officials of the Six Nation all had serious expressions. This was not just about a nation—it was about the entire world, the entire race.

An anti-war official slammed the table and said wrathfully, “Look! Look what you did! Our troops suffered huge losses. Not only do we not get any benefits after winning, it even led to this result. We never should have started the expedition and the war in the first place! We should have let the Germinal Organization hide in Andrea and stopped after we destroyed their sub bases!”

Back then, when the expedition was decided, some politicians had been anti-war, because once the war started, the resources and authority would heavily slant to the military. Of course, some high ranked officials would not be happy about it. However, majority ruled, and their voice was ignored. Now that they had justified excuses, they decided to stand up for themselves after what had already happened.

“We are already at this point; don’t say any more useless things.”

The bitter fruit of war had to be borne by the entire world; it affected a lot of innocents. In order to get rid of this enemy, they had paid such a big price. Some high ranked officials started to ask themselves if this was all worth it.

The answer was yes.

At least in the eyes of the high ranked officials, such a strong enemy posed more of a threat than what they called a planet-scale climate disaster. After they got rid of that, only then could they feel safe and have the condition to grow steadily. The high ranked officials of the nations all thought that. Everyone had to face the climate disaster threat, everyone had to deal with it, so they were still on the same starting line, and it was fair for everyone.

At least the result could still be saved.

“Should we lock down the news and not share it with the civilians?”

“Too many people already know about it. There’s no a need for that. Announce it officially.”

“The people will definitely protest and blame us for causing this.”

“Not important, the war has ended. What we need to face now is the disaster that will come after that. Let everyone know we’re on the same boat, and they should let go of the past and not dwell on what was wrong or who was right. We have to work together to get through this.”

“Then, what about…”

The high ranked officials of the nations discussed one suggestion after another.

…

With a furious expression, Bennett walked back and forth in the room, mumbling to himself. Han Xiao sat on the sofa with his legs crossed. He looked up the blue sky outside the window and shook his head.

The leader had turned to ash with the headquarters.

The Germinal Organization could be considered as the first big BOSS that he had faced, and this big main storyline on Planet Aquamarine had been destroyed by him. He started to like this feeling a little.

No matter how legendary the leader’s past was, he had been Han Xiao’s enemy. Han Xiao very rarely showed mercy to his enemies. Victory meant victory, and there was no need for the winner to fake regret and remorse.

With a deep breath, Han Xiao got excited. He opened the interface and browsed the notifications that had shown up.

_____________________

You have received Planet Legendary Points—[Germinal Organization Slayer]!

Grade A Main Storyline Mission [Fall of the Germinal] Completed!

Grade: Unbelievable

You have received mission reward for [Unbelievable] grade

Calculating reward…

Calculating reward…

Please wait patiently…

Chapter 286 - Dungeon Creation

Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled. In the past, the highest mission grading that he had received was [Excellent], and [Unbelievable] was better than [Excellent].

For normal players, the normal mission process should be like this—Infiltrate one sub base after another to uncover the location of the other bases through the stolen information. As the Germinal Organization became more cautious, the player would face stronger enemies, and the mission would become increasingly cumbersome. Every time the player got the intelligence about the next base, they would face the choice of destroying the base themself or borrowing power from the Six Nations. The former would reward higher process.

Han Xiao had skipped the most cumbersome part of collecting intelligence and instantly given out all the Germinal Organization bases’ locations. The difference in efficiency was like the difference between using a sickle and a tractor.

[Fall of the Germinal] was a grade A main storyline mission, and even Han Xiao had spent more than one year to complete it with his prior knowledge. Han Xiao was satisfied with the result that he had almost completed the final target of the entire large main storyline by himself. He was anticipating the reward.

_____________________

[Planet Legendary Points (Planet Aquamarine): Germinal Organization Slayer]

The Germinal Organization, planet-sized large organization, the enemy of the Six Nations for many years, its power is like a majestic mountain. You are just a tiny traitor, but you gradually uprooted the Germinal Organization and buried it. The Germinal Organization became your stepping stone, and your actions will be passed on and admired by countless people. Your name will be written in the books of history on this planet.

_____________________

New legendary points. This was a reward that he had expected. His single mission Experience reward quota increased by another five percent, and his daily quota increased by a hundred percent.

Very soon, the other reward showed on the interface.

_____________________

[Fall of the Germinal]

Personal Destruction Percentage: 48.72%

Grade: [Unbelievable]

You have received:

4,870,000 Experience

+2 Potential Points

+4 Free Attribute Points

+800 Relationship Points with all Six Nations

_____________________

His personal destruction percentage was close to half, which meant that in the operation of destroying the Germinal Organization, Han Xiao almost did as much as the entire military forces of the Six Nations. After all, Six Nations’ many operations had been carried out with the support of the intelligence he provided. One could say that his intelligence had controlled the entire war.

Using the hostility of the Six Nations toward Germinal Organization, he just had to give the Six Nations a knife, and they would attack. Even if the Six Nations knew that Han Xiao intended to use them, they were willing to be used. The end result was that both Han Xiao and the Six Nations achieved their own goal.

_____________________

You have received reward for [Unbelievable] grade:

Bonus 120% Experience (5,830,000)

Random Reward * 1

Special Item * 5

_____________________

In accordance with my mission evaluation, the hidden percentage for receiving something good as the random reward should be quite high.

The random reward could be an item, ability, or something else; it only had a chance of appearing when the mission grade evaluation was very high.

Leaving the random reward aside, he first looked at what were the five special items.

_____________________

You have received [Character Summon Card: Germinal Organization Leader]!

You have received [Character Summon Card: Destiny’s Child]!

You have received [Character Summon Card: Aurora]!

You have received [Character Summon Card: Hila]!

You have received [Medal of Honor—Germinal Organization Slayer (A)]!

_____________________

Han Xiao was stunned. This was the first time that he had received this many character summon cards at once. The use of the character summon card was to give the user the ability of the character summoned temporarily. It was a consumption item, and if used well, it could change the situation in an instant. He had only received two before.

The leader, Destiny’s Child, Aurora, and Hila—all of the abilities of these four people are quite good, and all of them can be used more than four times, very durable.

_____________________

[Character Summon Card: Germinal Organization Leader—Armor Penetrating Consecutive Attacks]

For 8 seconds, all attack will be considered armor penetrating critical hits, reducing the defense of targets hit by 24%.

Duration: 5 minutes

Usages: 0/12

[Character Summon Card: Destiny’s Child—Foresight]

Predict an ‘opportunity’ in the future. Can indicate to be a mission, an item, action of a certain person… etc.

Usages: 0/5

[Character Summon Card: Aurora—Life Return]

Restore back to full status instantly.

Usages: 0/6

[Character Summon Card: Hila—Whisper of the Dead]

Deals psychic damage three times to the enemy. The damage is based on the user’s Intelligence or Mystery (can be indicated). Decrease all statuses of the target by 15%.

Duration: 3 hours

Usages: 0/8

_____________________

Only the effect of Destiny’s Child was not very clear. The rest were all simple, straight forward, and practical.

Predict an ‘opportunity’… this is quite ambiguous. Could it be predicting opportunities of completing a mission or getting a certain item?

Han Xiao had a flash of insight, he was thinking of leaving Planet Aquamarine, but all the methods that he could think of were not very reliable. He could just nice try the effect of the Destiny’s Child card.

Without any further hesitation, Han Xiao used it, with thoughts of going into the galaxy in his mind.

His vision suddenly blurred, and like fog, it was all white. Unaware of how much time had passed, a tint of black appeared in the middle of his vision, then it became an eerie image. The background seemed to be a wasteland, and a flame fell from the sky, creating a circular crater, giving out black smoke and electrical sparkle.

Some unknown information flashed in his mind.

“The location is… The time is…”

The image suddenly stopped, as if everything was just an illusion.

Han Xiao regained his focus. The information was in his mind, and his expression changed a little. It really did predict an opportunity to head out into the galaxy. This opportunity was originally already one method I had thought of bud didn’t know when it would happen. This card broke through the fog of fate and predicted a location and time estimate.

The effect of this card was very surprising, and he now had more confidence in leaving Planet Aquamarine.

He looked at the last item, [Medal of Honor—Germinal Organization Slayer (A)]. When completing a high difficulty main storyline mission with a high evaluation grade, one would receive this type of medal. Its effect provided a three-percent boost to all attributes, and after collecting three, it could be exchanged into a special achievement medal, providing a twelve-percent boost to all attributes. He had farmed it in his previous life before. Knowing its effect was very good, he equipped it on the spot.

After he arranged the special items, he started to select random the reward.

_____________________

Randomizing…

Your reward time this time is… an Item.

Please select one from the three items below:

Race Change Card: Change into a random race

Mission Completion Card * 3: Consider one mission to be completed and receive the reward based on the lowest grade

Esper Ability Potential Enhancing Fluid: Increase the potential of Esper ability.

_____________________

This is good! Han Xiao’s eyes glimmered. [Esper Ability Potential Enhancing Fluid] was extremely rare. Espers were willing to use everything they had to buy this thing because there were only two ways to increase one’s Esper ability potential. One was through rare experiments and drugs in game, and the other was Esper Ability Potential Enhancing Fluid. The other two items were not suitable for Han Xiao, so he chose the Esper Ability Potential Enhancing Fluid and left in on the interface without collecting it.

Esper Ability Potential Enhancing Fluid, it has a very huge potential value regardless of whether I sell it to players or others. I need to keep stock up on the good items like this; it will definitely be of great use in the future.

The reward this time was colossal. He had earned 10,000,000 Experience in one shot, and although it did not look a lot, that was because Han Xiao’s standard was too high. If a player received 10,000,000 Experience in one shot, it would be an outrageous amount in Version 1.0.

There were also Potential Points, Free Attribute Points, and rather useful items—Han Xiao was quite satisfied. The most valuable ones were those items.

However, Han Xiao kept feeling like there should be more rewards. Thus, thinking that, he opened the NPC panel. Suddenly, he noticed a new option under the quota.

_____________________

Dungeon Creation: [Six Nations and Germinal Organization]

_____________________

“What’s this?” Han Xiao was confused. This new function did not even have any notification. He tried to use this function, and the notification showed up.

_____________________

Please select a part of the main storyline to create a Dungeon Crystal.

_____________________

Create a Dungeon Crystal! Han Xiao’s expression changed into surprise.

After some testing, he became familiar with the use of this function. To put it simply, it could turn parts of his experience in the Germinal Organization main storyline into a dungeon. Then he could create the dungeon crystal and use that as a reward for the missions that he gave out. It increased the variety of rewards for his missions.

Han Xiao guessed that the reason this new function appeared should be because he had completed a high difficulty large main storyline with a very high grade, which meant that he had done something legendary. Due to that, he could turn the things that he had done into dungeons.

Some missions from some NPCs might reward Dungeon Crystals, such as Dion, whom he had met before. Now he could do so as well, and because of the interface, he could control the creation of Dungeon Crystals! He realized that the Dungeon Crystals could only be rewarded as part of a mission reward. It could not be turned into an item and sold in his shop, which fitted the method of players acquiring Dungeon Crystals.

Compared to other rewards, this function was the biggest reward, strengthening his functions as an ‘NPC’ and becoming more attractive to the players!

Han Xiao was astonished.

Dungeons can only be created from legendary experiences, such as largely changing the main storyline of a planet or even larger areas. There might be many more functions to the NPC panel—I just have to acquire them.

With the NPC panel, it meant that there were more benefits to taking part in the main storyline.

If he could possess the Dungeon Creation Right to many huge events, the players would be unbelievably interested in him.

This was the biggest pleasant surprise!

Chapter 287 - Stable Period in Planet Aquamarine

After Han Xiao finished arranging the rewards, Bennett, who was walking back of forth, sat down, too. “A war of this scale will not happen again any time soon, but when the Six Nations recover, they might start to clear out other organizations to strengthen their dominance. Now that the Germinal Organization has been defeated, Dark Net is one of the biggest organizations left, so they will come for us sooner or later.”

Han Xiao put away his excitement and put on a pondering face. “Before having authority, anyone would think themselves a good person. The Six Nations still need to deal with the upcoming disasters brought by the nuclear blast, and they won’t have time for other things for a short period. Talking about the disaster, your sanctuary plan can now be put to use.”

“I’d rather it never be…” Bennett sighed. “After the war, more wanderers will look for protection, so I plan to speed the plan up, build sanctuaries in Western Continent and Northern Continent as well. The refugees of Andrea need to be migrated, so I will send people to fetch them. The Six Nations are very willing to throw this matter to us.”

There were two large main storylines on Planet Aquamarine—one of them was the Germinal Organization, which he already destroyed, and this was the main storyline of conflict. The other was the construction of sanctuaries. Compared to the Germinal Organization war, the sanctuary main storyline would not be so intense. The whole of Planet Aquamarine would become stable period next. There would most likely not be any more large conflicts in Version 1.0. Han Xiao’s strength was at the peak of the planet, and he was responsible for the end of the Germinal Organization. Therefore, he basically did not have any enemies and could steadily grow.

The Germinal Organization main storyline was supposed to be a large event that would happen throughout the Version 1.0, but now, it had ended in the early stages. Players that preferred the chaos, of course, would not like this peace, but this was a good thing for Han Xiao since he had just received the dungeon creation right for the Germinal Organization main storyline. He could divide the war into dungeons and fulfill the players’ everlasting desire for battle. More players would be attracted to him, and his position would continue to grow.

The Germinal Organization is dead, and I have no enemies in Planet Aquamarine anymore. I can now prepare for the galaxy peacefully. The opportunity to leave Planet Aquamarine is around the pro league, in about one year. This period will be very peaceful, so I need to get more Experience while I can as there will not be many players in the galaxy for me to interact with.

The enemy was gone, and Han Xiao suddenly felt like he was finally relieved.

Version 1.0 would last for about three and a half years. He could totally wait for more than a year. The Six Nations were enjoying the victory at the moment, not knowing that a disaster would soon arrive. The nuclear blast might strengthen the power of the Mutation Disaster, and if so, Han Xiao could only mourn for them.

In the next few days, Han Xiao joined the Dark Net high-rank meetings to discuss the future.

Most of the time, he was just watching and hardly gave any suggestions, but everyone in the meeting took him very seriously. As the strongest person in the Dark Net, the mastermind behind the fall of Germinal Organization, Han Xiao’s name and position were above all others. With his achievements, Han Xiao would receive the same treatment anywhere he went.

In the player forums, the ending of this large main storyline attracted a lot of attention. It was the first time for the players to take part in something of such a large scale, so they were very excited. There were some players who saw the nuclear explosion with their own eyes and uploaded the recording. And the cause of all this, Han Xiao, had his share of the attention, too. The players made guesses on Han Xiao’s experiences and increased Han Xiao’s fame once again.

With the end of the war, Germinal Organization players lost their organization and had a chance to choose again. They left Andrea together with the refugees and could choose which continent to go to. Without any prior agreement, almost seventy percent of the ex-Germinal Organization players chose to go to the Southern Continent.

“Black Phantom, we are coming!”

The ex-Germinal Organization player almost cried tears of joy, after having a tough time for so long, they finally saw the light. Who could understand how bitter they felt when they saw the other players show off the benefits from Han Xiao?

Why not all ex-Germinal Organization players?

Of the other thirty percent, most of them had participated in the Germinal Organization headquarters mission, so their relationship points with Han Xiao were less than -10.

Piece of sh*t Germinal Organization, give me back my future!

…

The plane landed in Sanctuary Three. Just as Han Xiao alighted from the plane, Huang Yu approached him like he had something to say.

“What is it?” Han Xiao noticed Huang Yu’s hesitation.

Huang Yu cleared his throat and said, “Your excellency, your family member is here to visit you.”

My family? Han Xiao was stunned for a while, then he realized it was the Alumera family.

With some thinking, after the war ended, he was someone outside Alumera but a member of Alumera, and he was also the person with the highest position in the entire planet. Of course, Alumera would be curious of his standpoint, and they wanted to rely on him by using this relationship that they had.

Han Xiao raised his eyebrows and said, “Tell him to come and see me.”

Ten minutes later, Xiao Quan followed Huang Yu into the guest hall. He was the messenger sent by Alumera to visit Han Xiao and one of Xiao Jin’s foster children. Technically, he was Han Xiao’s body’s brother—they were so-called ‘family’.

Xiao Quan was excellent compared to the other foster kids, and he had been chosen as the messenger this time because he knew how to read the situation. When Han Xiao’s true identity was exposed, many brothers and sisters in the family could not believe it. Some had even been furious upon realizing that Han Xiao became their elder. However, Xiao Quan did not dare to have that kind of emotion—he was very aware of the current situation. They could not look at ‘Han Xiao’ the way they used to, and seeing how furious his siblings were, Xiao Quan only felt they did not know what death was.

Black Phantom alone was far superior to the entire Alumera, and he did not dare show any disrespect.

Xiao Quan used his eloquence to chat with Huang Yu, wanting to get hints from Huang Yu about Han Xiao’s standpoint but was completely unable to. As Huang Yu did not care much about him, Xiao Quan became even more nervous.

“We’re here, go in.”

The door of the guest hall opened, and Xiao Quan saw Han Xiao sitting on the sofa with crossed logs right away, staring at him faintly. Xiao Quan could not help but hold his breath.

“Xia—Han Xiao, it’s been a long time.” Xiao Quan braced himself and greeted him, wanting to ease the atmosphere.

“Call me Han Xiao,” Han Xiao said coldly.

That was not a good sign, Xiao Quan was terrified but had to follow.

“Only you?” Han Xiao raised his brows and said, “What does Alumera want me for?”

Xiao Quan found the words carefully and said, “Han Xiao, Father has always been thinking of you. He has been wanting to see you and hopes you can return. As for all the unhappiness before, he can explain.”

Han Xiao kept silent and stared at Xiao Quan unwaveringly. Xiao Quan felt the pressure from Han Xiao’s eyes and looked down, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead.

“He wants me to go over there?” Han Xiao stood up and walked up to Xiao Quan with wide strides as if he was going to strike. Xiao Quan was completely suppressed by the aura. Thinking of the things that Han Xiao had done, a sense of horror filled his heart. He stepped back and bumped into the chair, lost his balance, and fell to the ground. He hastily wanted to stand up, but a shadow suddenly shrouded him. Han Xiao looked down on him with his hands in his pocket. Han Xiao’s eyes were like needles that made Xiao Quan tremble. He half kneeled on the ground, looked up horrified, and did not dare to move.

“You guys can’t seem to understand the situation. If Xiao Jin wants to see me, he’d better get over here himself,” Han Xiao said coldly as he suddenly reached out his hands toward Xiao Quan.

I’m done for… he wants to kill me! Xiao Quan’s face was completely terrified, his brain went blank.

Suddenly, he felt a force on his shoulder from a hand, pulling him up.

Xiao Quan was pulled up, and Han Xiao patted his shoulder lightly like he was brushing off dust for him. “Tell them what I said the exact way I said it.”

Huang Yu, who waited by the side, opened the door, pointed with his arms, and said expressionlessly, “This way please.”

Xiao Quan regained his focus. He did not dare stay any longer and left like he was running away.

Han Xiao sat back on the sofa and pondered. Alumera visited because they want my help using the ‘family’ relationship, but I just have the right thing I need them to do. If I can get Alumera to move to Sanctuary Three, the NPC resources here will be even greater…

…

On the other side, after Xiao Quan left, he reported the situation to Xiao Jin while shivering.

“H—he wants you to come here yourself.”

Xiao Jin’s expression kept changing, and he let out a long sigh. “Prepare to pay the price…”

Back then Han Xiao wore a mask, they did not know his real identity. There had still been space to negotiate. Now that his real identity was exposed, it meant that every problem between them was placed on the table and had to be solved, and Alumera was the weaker one, so they had to keep stepping back.

Xiao Jin looked at Xiao Hai, who was beside him, and said in a low voice, “Prepare to apologize and make up yourself!”

Xiao Jin then slammed the door on the way out, leaving Xiao Hai alone in the room with a terrified face.

Chapter 288 - The New Round of Business (1)

After getting rid of the Alumera messenger, Han Xiao went to look for Frenzied Sword and the others. He was going to test the dungeon creation function.

Han Xiao went to the building next door, and none of them were home. Han Xiao scratched his head. He took out his laptop, ran a program and searched through the images of all the hidden surveillance cameras in the sanctuary to find a match for these four faces. Not long after, the locations of these four were found. Maple Moon was learning new fusion recipes with Emerald Grass. Green smoke was billowing out of the drugs. A few honest players stood to the side, probably there to test the drug.

Hao Tian was in the arena doing a Challenge. As a pro player, he had very high expectations for himself, and he never stopped honing his skills.

Frenzied Sword was getting beaten rapidly by Hila like a sandbag. Hila had taken Han Xiao’s advance and found an Inhuman to train and develop her power. Aurora sat in her wheelchair and watched while hugging Bear Cub, and Bun-hit-dog was recording excitedly. Bun-hit-dog was closer to Frenzied Sword. He felt very happy, seeing that Frenzied Sword was getting beaten brutally… true friendship.

Han Xiao headed to Hila’s house and called the others on the way.

Just as he entered the yard, a black shadow flew away above his head. It was Frenzied Sword, and without thinking, Han Xiao pulled him down from the sky.

Hila stopped her training, her floating red hair dropping down and going back to curly hair that extended to her waist, and the red light in her eyes faded away. Han Xiao looked at Frenzied Sword, who looked miserable, then nodded in his heart. The Hila now resembled who she was in his previous life much more.

Bear Cub struggled to stand on Aurora’s lap, fell onto the ground, and then ran to Han Xiao. The cub climbed up his leg, hugging on Han Xiao’s neck and swung like a backpack. Bear Cub was very well taken care of, and its weight had almost doubled.

Han Xiao raised his hand and slapped Bear Cub away, then looked at the combat information on the interface. Bear Cub was LV 18, four levels higher than when he had brought it back.

Sharp Claw Ice Bear species, rather good growth potential.

Hila felt complicated. She was full of hatred toward Germinal Organization, but she had never thought that such a big organization would ever be destroyed completely. Her hatred and grudges disappeared with that ground shaking explosion. She remembered when she had first met Han Xiao—who knew that weak, pale-faced test subject would have such legendary achievements after just one year?

Seeing her expression was abnormal, Han Xiao took out his laptop, opened a few photos, and passed it to Hila. The photos were the ruins of the Germinal Organization headquarters after the nuclear explosion, captured by Six Nations’ drones. It was black and scorched earth.

“After an explosion like this, they’re most likely all dead. Even if there is anyone left, it will only be those of insignificance, so don’t have to worry about Germinal Organization coming back unless they are tired of being alive.” Han Xiao paused before saying. “You were once a member of the Germinal Organization, so you are on Six Nations’ wanted list too, but you are on my side now, so Six Nations won’t be against you anymore.”

Hila frowned. “I never agreed to be your subordinate.”

Aurora raised her hand and said, “I want to be.”

Hila reached out her hands bitterly and messed Aurora’s hair. Aurora’s golden hair had grown longer, reaching her ears.

They chatted for a while till Hao Tian and Maple Moon arrived. Usually, Han Xiao would only summon them if something good was going to happen, so they were looking forward to it.

Han Xiao used the dungeon creation function. After some contemplation, he selected the Dark Crow Valley operation. To create dungeon crystals, this was suitable for the standard of the players at the moment.

_____________________

LV30 Dungeon Crystal—[Dark Crow Valley Operation]

Introduction: Dark Crow Valley is one of the Germinal Organization’s bases in the Southern Continent, destroyed by Stardragon and Hesla. This will be your test.

Dungeon Type: Backward Time Travel Dungeon

Player Completion Count: 0

Highest Dungeon Completion Rate: None

Record Holders: None

_____________________

“Dungeon Crystal?” The four of them exchanged looks.

The average level of the player at the moment was 30, so they were starting to come into contact with dungeons. There had already been 11 fixed dungeons found on Planet Aquamarine, which meant that these dungeon crystals could be earned multiple times from a character by repeating the mission. They mostly came from the various organizations, and they were all small five-man dungeon.

New dungeons meant new opportunities—the four of them completed the mission and received the reward. A white rhombus crystal appeared in their hands, and they could enter the dungeon by shattering it.

“This is a five men dungeon, so we need one more person,” Frenzied Sword immediately said. “Let’s see if we can at least complete it with ‘Normal’ grade.

Because of Han Xiao, they always stuck together, so they were very familiar with each other.

Hao Tian nodded. “Okay, I’ll ask Rebels Shall Rule from Team one of Sky Territory.”

Nobody had any objections. The four of them came to the square, and after waiting for a while, Rebels Shall Rule ran there full of joy. God Hao Tian was his idol, so he was very happy that he could just be with his idol.

The five of them formed a team.

“Let’s enter the dungeon and take a look.”

Frenzied Sword shattered the crystal. Fog gushed out, covered the five of them, and disappeared from the crowded square.

…

Their vision blurred, and when it recovered, the surroundings had become a forest. It was night, and it was difficult to even see their own hands.

Backward Time Travel Dungeon let the players participate in an event that had happened before by duplicating that event.

The notification showed on their interfaces

_____________________

You are soldiers of the Dark Crow Valley Base. Hesla and Stardragon troops are going to invade. Your mission is to protect the Dark Crow Valley Base as best you can.

Dungeon Start Countdown: 10 minutes

Dungeon Goal: Survive until the end of the event. Reward: 15,000 Experience

Optional Mission I: Kill five Stardragon or Hesla agents. Reward: 30,000 Experience

Optional Mission II: Protect the real intel in the base from leaking. Reward: 45,000 Experience

Optional Mission III: Pan Kuang and Ji Jie survive. Reward: 70,000 Experience

Optional Mission IV: Defeat Stardragon and Hesla alliance. Reward: 110,000 Experience

Dungeon Failure Conditions: Annihilation.

_____________________

“Such high rewards!” Rebels Shall Rule was shocked. As a very important member of the guild, he had seen a lot and knew a lot. The LV30 dungeons that the players had seen at the moment usually only had two to three missions, and the total reward was 70,000 to 80,000 Experience. Yet, there were five missions in this dungeon with so many rewards!

Rebels Shall Rule then thought about it, and his face turned serious. “However, the higher the reward, the more difficult it will be.”

The other four exchanged looks in confusion.

Is that so?

Never felt any part of the missions from Black Phantom were difficult…

“We are different,” Bun-hit-dog said with a heavy heart. He did not have the heart to correct Rebels Shall Rule.

Frenzied Sword looked at the notification and said with surprise, “The dungeon will only start in ten minutes, but we can already move freely. What does this mean?”

This the first time that they had met a dungeon with a countdown, so they were a little lost.

Actually, the countdown would only appear in more difficult dungeons. The players would enter the event sometime before it happened so that they could do some preparation. The time for the start of the mission was the night when Hesla agents were going to steal the intelligence, so the players had the opportunity to prevent that. If they successfully did and changed the beginning of the story, the difficulty of the entire dungeon would drop from ‘Hell’ to ‘Difficult’. However, the interface did not notify them about this; the players had to explore this themselves.

In the future, when Han Xiao opened this dungeon, after the players in the sanctuary got tortured by it a few hundred times, only then would they find the correct way to start the dungeon.

Of course, at the moment, the five of them were unaware of the importance of those ten minutes; they started the dungeon as usual. However, this was their first time in this dungeon. This type of dungeon was different from those that were just about killing monsters; it was more realistic and more difficult. The five of them had fun in agony, going around and around like headless chickens. They could only follow the job given by the base and patrol.

One day passed this way. During their patrol on the second night, Bun-hit-dog suddenly received a headshot.

_____________________

Your teammate [Bun-hit-dog] has died.

_____________________

“What‽” The rest four of them were horrified. They looked in all directions immediately, but the forest was dense. The night was dark, and they had no idea where the enemy was.

Bang!

This time, it was Hao Tian who took a headshot. The rest of the three felt like the enemy was everywhere, and they were understandably anxious.

Hao Tian’s voice appeared in the team channel. He said very seriously, “The interface said I received a lethal attack. The person that killed me was Black Phantom!”

They were dazed. It turned out this was a dungeon with Han Xiao in it! And as the enemy!

They were very discouraged.

Han Xiao’s dungeon creation function was to cut out an event that would be generated into a mission. The characters in the dungeon were all mirror images, replaying events exactly as they had happened. It had nothing to do with the original person, and they had a certain amount of dungeon enhancement.

After three consecutive shots, all three of them died. Their visions blurred again, and they were back in the square. They had spent one day in the dungeon, but only ten minutes had passed in the outside world; the flow of time in the dungeon was different.

_____________________

Dungeon [Dark Crow Valley Operation] Failed.

Dungeon Cooldown: 3 hours

_____________________

The five of them all smiled bitterly.

This was way too difficult. They did not even know how they died.

…

On the other side, Han Xiao saw the return of the five of them from his surveillance image, confirmed the dungeon crystal to be effective, and started pondering.

“Dungeon crystals can only be distributed through mission rewards and can’t be sold for money. Its use to me is to gather more players and give them more benefit, so the players will be more willing to do things for me. Also, the players will know about my experience through the dungeon, which will in turn increase my position. These are all rather indirect benefits… I can’t sell the dungeon crystals, so there’s no direct benefit.”

Han Xiao suddenly paused. He slapped his head and laughed. “I’m thinking about this the wrong way. There’s no need to sell them…”

Chapter 289 - The New Round of Business (2)

The next day, Han Xiao officially started to distribute dungeon missions. The players in the sanctuary were pleasantly surprised.

“Never thought Black Phantom would have dungeon missions as well. Why didn’t they appear before?”

“The Germinal Organization main storyline only ended recently. Maybe it’s to let those of us who didn’t participate in it take part through the form of a dungeon, and Han Xiao is the one to give access to those dungeons.”

“That’s pretty good if that’s the case.”

The players in the sanctuary had not taken part in the war main storyline. There were definitely some regrets. Now that Han Xiao had released a dungeon that was related to the completed main storyline, it was undoubtedly a chance to make fulfill those regrets.

The players swarmed in, but Han Xiao did not give it out for free this time.

He set a mission with one dungeon crystal as the reward. It required something called ‘Contribution Points’. After accepting this mission, purchasing anything from Han Xiao would increase the contribution points.

Since dungeon crystals could not be sold or generate direct benefits, he just had to change his method. He could randomly set the mission requirement, so he made the dungeon crystal into something like a bonus reward to encourage the players to buy things from him, which would, in turn, increase his sales.

The players that were already planning to spend would be even more willing to spend after seeing they could complete the dungeon mission on the way. The players who wanted to complete the dungeon mission would come and buy from him, then realize that the things he sold were all bargains, and they would fall into the trap, forming a cycle.

This was a promotion method!

The effect was very clear. The first time Han Xiao tried it, his sales for that day increased by thirty percent! The results were very great.

The most obvious impact was that Han Xiao’s surrounding area became more crowded than subways, such that he could hardly move.

After getting the dungeon crystal, the players called their friends and created teams to enter the dungeon. Their experience of the process was basically—enter joyfully, die, then come out stunned and confused.

The winning goal was to survive till the end. At the start, everyone died before they could reach the end. Two days later, someone finally completed the dungeon, but the completion rate was pathetic. They completed zero optional missions and completed the dungeon with the lowest completion rate.

The four optional missions were the ones with the highest rewards. They spent money at Han Xiao’s to receive the dungeon crystal, but they only got the lowest dungeon reward. It was a loss, and the players were frustrated.

The difference in difficulty between the optional missions and the completion goal was huge.

“Is this dungeon even playable?”

“Black Phantom killed me for the eighth time. My heart is exhausted…”

The players could not help but complain, share the dungeon’s intelligence and recording, and hope someone could come up with something.

“After dying so many times, I can conclude… if you listen to the base’s order, you’ll die.”

“How do we even complete the optional missions? Is this really an LV30 dungeon?”

A high skill player arranged the intelligence and analyzed the dungeon storyline from the five optional missions.

“The outline of the path should be like this. First night into the dungeon, Hesla agents cause the leak of the base’s fake intelligence. The second night, Black Phantom starts to act by sniping patrols, infiltrates the base with unknown methods, then steals the real intelligence. This night is the key to completing mission two. Then the base enters alert, discovering Black Phantom’s location. The pursuit then starts, resulting in failure. Right after that, a large number of Hesla troops arrive, and the head-on battle starts. There’s a chance to complete mission one here. Then, everyone gets surrounded and defends the base, and in the end, the base explodes. Staying alive till this point will be considered completing the dungeon.”

Tables and recordings were listed there, showing the things to take note of in every step of the dungeon storyline, then it went on to the next topic.

“Obviously, in this case, there is no chance to complete the rest of the two optional missions. From my daring guess, there might be two paths to this dungeon, one of them is the one we experienced, and the other is the hidden storyline that will relate to the last two optional missions and has yet to be triggered by anyone.

“In order to defeat the enemy and make them retreat, I feel it has to be approached from the intelligence. After investigating, I noticed a new opportunity—there are ten minutes to prepare before the dungeon officially starts. This is actually the time before the Hesla agents start to act. If this can be prevented and the intelligence doesn’t leak, the dungeon storyline might be different. However, this is a very tough battle—no one had succeeded yet.

“Lastly, a reminder to all players, do not have any contact with Black Phantom! Once you meet him, it’s most likely death.”

The players were very passionate about dungeons. There were all sorts of analysis posts in the forums. Han Xiao did not know what the dungeon was actually like. Although he had chosen the event, the mission had been generated automatically, but he just had to see the shared videos on the forums to know what the players experienced.

The players are actually on Dark Crow Valley Base’s side. Is it because the dungeon will be too easy if they are on my side?

Han Xiao was speechless. Suddenly, he had a flash of insight.

That’s a good thing, too. High difficulty dungeons have richer reward, and only then will the players be passionate about it for a longer time. It’s based on me, so no one knows about the key points to this part of the storyline more than me. I could use this advantage and make some very specifically targeted machinery and sell to the players to help them complete the mission.

The more the players benefitted from the dungeon, the more he would benefit. His intention was not to have the dungeon discourage all the players. Also, he would make money once again from selling targeted machinery to help the players.

This is a business opportunity!

Han Xiao was a doer. He produced a large batch of targeted machinery the next day. There were a specially-made helmet that protected against ranged sniping and a device that increased the movement speed in the forest. As soon as these were released, the tortured players immediately liked them, and the products were sold out instantly.

When there is demand, there will be market potential.

Han Xiao was very clear about that principle. He grabbed onto all business opportunities and created a new business chain. Han Xiao was too lazy to even count the money he earned—he only knew it was a lot of money.

As Aquamarine Dollars was not a general currency in the galaxy, he kept splurging and converting his money into machinery, material, and rare resources, yet not only did he not have less money because of that, his money continuously increased.

When Han Xiao had still been a player, he had spent every cent with caution. Now, he had more money than he could spend. Even the Fabian Company’s warehouses were bought out by him and needed to be restocked.

It so troubling to have so much money… Han Xiao was troubled for real. He was not planning to bring a ton of Aquamarine Dollars into the galaxy and use it as toilet paper.

…

With new machinery, it was finally easier for the players to complete the dungeon. The new machinery that he built became standard equipment for the dungeon in the mind of the players. Compared to the rich reward in the dungeon, the cost was acceptable, so the players felt it was worth it.

At least one person had to have the equipment in a five men team—it was almost a necessity.

The money stacked up, and Han Xiao earned another bucket of gold. The difficulty level of the dungeon also decreased from NetEase to Tencent 1 . Although Tencent always received a lot of complaints, they were still quite kind compared to NetEase.

The difference between the two could be illustrated by:

Tencent: “You can’t enjoy the game if you have no money.”

NetEase: “You can’t enjoy the game.”

The long-term benefits of becoming an NPC in charge of a dungeon are great. I will not have to worry about attracting players as long as I’m present. This is a Version 1.0 main storyline, so dungeons below LV60 can last me for a very long time. I will temporarily only create Dark Crow Valley dungeon, and once the average level increases, I will make new dungeons. This way, the players’ needs can always be satisfied, and it can last for a long term.

Also, with more dungeons being distributed, the players will know more about my experience, which is very helpful in making a deeper impression in the hearts of the players. I have to let the players know that other than being handsome, I have countless more strengths.

Han Xiao took the players very seriously as it was unavoidable to interact with players if he wanted to grow quickly, and the players were a group of lawless people. Thus, he did not want to stand against them. Although he was very far ahead of the players, once the players grew stronger, they would still be able to cause some trouble when they appeared in groups. The Great Mechanic Han had to admit this; he was never too full of himself.

[Dark Crow Valley Operation] dungeon created a wave in the sanctuary. The sanctuary’s functions were already getting richer with time, and the appearance of the dungeon caused it to improve drastically. In the hearts of the players, the position of the main city was already having its fundamentals.

Chapter 290 - Sucker

Hundreds of resource boxes were stacked neatly in the warehouse. Inside were the countless parts and materials that Han Xiao had hoarded.

This was his secret base below Sanctuary Three. During the construction of the sanctuary, Han Xiao had secretly expanded the base. It was now his hidden stronghold, and every route had authorization identification equipped with guarding machine guns. There were also surveillance cameras in every entrance and countless spider detectors lurking in the dark. The security was very tight.

Han Xiao had a total of three warehouses—one for materials and parts, another for machinery backlog that he built for Experience and to sell to players, and the last was the important warehouse, storing the equipment he was using, including the new mechanical suit, Amphiptere.

All the items in his warehouses were part of his preparation for his interstellar travel.

The recent dungeon function had earned him a lot of profit once again. Money was pouring in, but he had no idea how much he would have when he left the planet. However, the very positive situation did not make him too excited. He saw some problems too.

The money that he earned came from players, and where did the players get their money?

Of course, their money came from other NPCs by doing missions.

Technically, what the players were doing was gathering the fortune of the NPCs everywhere and giving it all to Han Xiao as a form of expenditure, forming a torrent of money. The money was moving and formed an assembly line. He could be considered the destination of this assembly line. Therefore, if the players wanted to earn money, they had to work for other NPCs, and to increase the average spending and purchasing power of the players, he had to increase the number of NPCs in the sanctuary.

There was also another problem. The players would not stay in the main city forever—they would definitely go to other places to do missions and experience the storyline. To have these players return in the future, other than to have the various events, the main city had to be made more accessible.

Han Xiao planned to lay out a new transportation network in the sanctuary, building railway tracks and scheduling regular flights. This required a very high budget, and the Dark Net could not fund it temporarily. Bennett was currently developing new sanctuaries, and they did not have extra money.

These two problems had the same solution.

Find a sucker who was willing to pay the money and provide manpower.

The phone rang. Huang Yu’s voice appeared after it was picked up. “The visiting group of the Alumera family has arrived at the sanctuary entrance. Shall we let them in?”

A meaningful smile appeared on Han Xiao’s face as he played with the bullet shells.

“Yes, of course, we need to let them in.”

…

A convoy parked outside the sanctuary entrance. Xiao Jin had personally brought people to visit. The people who came were mostly members of the Xiao Faction. With Xiao Jin as the leader, there were a few nephews and children. Other than the Xiao Faction, the Home Faction and Red Island Faction also sent their messengers along, mostly to express their standpoint.

They waited at the entrance for quite some time, but Xiao Jin did not show any sign of impatience. He knew very clearly that he was the weak party, and he was here to plead.

After a very long time, they were finally let in. He looked around on the way and observed the facilities in the sanctuary, nodding. Following Huang Yu to the guest hall, he raised his head and immediately saw Han Xiao sitting on the master seat, sizing them up with a mocking expression.

Without the mask, this face in the eyes of these Xiao Faction people was the missing Han Xiao, but they could not see through Han Xiao at all. It was like he was totally a different person. His eyes were as if he was looking at a group of strangers. Xiao Jin did not dare to call him son; he cleared his throat and said in a low voice, “Black Phantom.”

Han Xiao looked at them without any expression and did not reply. He simply sat with his back against the chair, played with the bullet in his hand, and stared at them.

Xiao Jin understood his intention. He looked at Xiao Hai and the rest of the youngsters behind him and gave them a sign by tilting his head. These Xiao Faction youngsters caused a commotion, but after a few seconds of hesitation and procrastination, they unwillingly greeted him.

“Stepfather.”

“Oh, you’re here,” Han Xiao said coldly. Han Xiao knew that Xiao Jin definitely expected this awkward relationship issue to happen before they came, and these youngsters were definitely mentally prepared. All this hesitation were acted just for him. Xiao Jin wanted him to go back to being ‘Xiao Jin’s son’ and strengthen their relationship. However, this was completely useless to him, since he was not the real ‘Han Xiao’.

Han Xiao was not moved. “What are you visiting me for?”

Seeing the situation, Xiao Jin coughed and said, “I can explain what happened in the past. Your elder brother wants to apologize to you personally.”

Xiao Hai took a deep breath, put on a very apologetic expression, and quickly revised the script in his heart one more time. He had already come up with his apology on the way there.

He would cry and grovel, and he would show his regret and self-hatred for what he had done. Then, there would be a high chance to get Han Xiao’s forgiveness.

As long as their relationship was restored, Alumera would be able to rely on this strong force. No matter how unwilling Xiao Hai was, he had to brace himself and put on the act.

Xiao Hai was about to take a step forward and start to speak.

Bang!

Everyone was shocked. They followed the sound and looked over. A bullet crater still giving out smoke appeared under Xiao Hai’s foot. If he had taken that step forward, the bullet would have hit the back of his foot.

Xiao Hai could not take the step and froze in place.

The empty bullet shell fell to the floor. A dark blue electromagnetic force covered his finger, and black smoke came out of the tip of his fingernail. The flick of his hand had acted as a firing pin, detonating the base and shooting out a bullet with his bare hands. Even Han Xiao himself felt it was cool and awesome.

Its power was limited, but it was enough to scare people.

“I don’t need an apology, get down to business,” Han Xiao said coldly.

Xiao Jin’s expression changed slightly. It was clear that Han Xiao did not want to talk about emotions and only wanted to talk about their deal, which disrupted his plan. Without a choice, he could only ask Xiao Hai to step back.

Xiao Hai clenched his teeth tightly. He had already planned to apologize, but he was not even given a chance to read his script; Han Xiao did not even look at him.

Xiao Jin focused his mind and said in a low voice, “The Germinal Organization is gone, and the Six Nations will be the only large organization from now on. Due to climate deterioration, many wanderers will choose to leave their colonies and join the Six Nations. Once the Six Nations finish resting and recovering, sooner or later, they will clear out us scattered warlords, even if we were once Six Nations’ partners…”

“Unless you can find someone to protect you.” Han Xiao rubbed his chins.

Xiao Jin nodded. He wanted to plan for the future, to rely on Han Xiao and the Dark Net.

Han Xiao changed the topic and said, “It’s time to pay back what you owe. Don’t you have any idea how you got to where you are today?”

Xiao Jin was speechless, he wanted to play the emotion card, but Han Xiao just wanted to talk business, just like back then when he was only known as Black Phantom.

“… What do you want to see?”

“Money, manpower, and to move your people into the sanctuary. It’s not easy to chase the debt if you’re so far away.”

The expressions of the visitors shifted slightly.

This would mean they had to give up what they had built. They looked at Xiao Jin and waited for his decision.

Xiao Jin kept silent for a while and decided to compromise. “Okay.”

His eyes were looking at the future. The war had brought chaos, but it had also brought order. There would be fewer and fewer wanderers. Once the Six Nations had the time, the idea of warlords and colonies would disappear. Compared to waiting, it was better to look for a way out and change the business model of the family.

Dark Net’s sanctuary was considered a colony as well, but different from them warlords, the Six Nations allowed the existence of sanctuaries. Xiao Jin pondered and felt this might be an opportunity, so he agreed.

After getting the others to leave, Han Xiao and Xiao Jin were the only ones left. They discussed the details of the deal, and Xiao Jin kept compromising. The end result was Alumera would be funding the building of transportation network and slowly migrate their people from all their strongholds into the sanctuary, including the refugees and wanderer under their rule, to increase the population of the sanctuary.

Alumera was the sucker that Han Xiao was looking for. Han Xiao had absolutely no intention of inheriting the thoughts of the original owner of his body, but this could be a chip to use Alumera; these people were not noble themselves anyway.

“Heard your Southern Continent division is still troubling Lu Cheng… he’s my friend.”

Xiao Jin sighed. “I know what to do.”

Other than Alumera, Han Xiao also planned to pull in Lu Cheng. He was not going to let Alumera be the only one to grow. The Dark Net would support his operations.

Thinking about that, he remembered that there were still some blueprints that he had yet to receive from Old Man Lu.

Chapter 291 - Four Blueprints

Ever since what happened in Green Valley Ville, Lu Cheng and Alumera had been in a bad relationship with each other. Lu Cheng’s Black Pine Colony received numerous attacks and suffered quite some damage. Since Alumera had joined Han Xiao, Han Xiao wanted to settle this problem for Lu Cheng, so he called.

“It’s you.” Lu Cheng was cautious on the call. He had also received the intelligence that Han Xiao came from Alumera, so this raised his alertness and made him doubt Han Xiao’s motive in contacting him before.

“Don’t worry, Alumera won’t look for your trouble anymore.” Han Xiao was straight forward and expressed his standpoint.

Lu Cheng did not understand. “What do you mean?”

“I’m not on Alumera’s side, at least I was not. Now, they have joined me, and I have settled your conflict with them.” Han Xiao laughed. “Friends should help each other.”

“… Okay.” Lu Cheng’s tone softened a little. Thinking of their relationship before, he felt Han Xiao would not lie to him, and he did not need to. He was just a small warlord, and Han Xiao was now a legend.

“After the war, the Six Nations will be the only large organization, and there will be fewer wanderers. Warlords will definitely be cleared out in the future…” Han Xiao repeated Xiao Jin’s words. Basically, what he meant was— The business you’re doing now has no future, my brother. You will definitely lose everything in the future, but my business has potential. Don’t say I didn’t remind you. Now there’s an opportunity, and I want you. Don’t let my kindness go to waste.

Lu Cheng was a little tempted. “Let me consider.”

After they finished talking about business matters, Han Xiao asked if Le Zhenyu was still in Black Pine Colony, and to that, Lu Cheng’s answer was he had already left. Han Xiao had some thoughts.

Lei Zhenyu was the mechanic that built PE-0 Nanotechnology Muscle Fiber, and Old Man Lu had entrusted him to help Lu Cheng. Once Lei Zhenyu left, it would be the chance to get the four blueprints that Old Man Lu had left behind. Old Man Lu would try to pass the message to Lu Cheng, who would then send someone back to the repair shop back in Stardragon to retrieve the blueprints.

Although their father and son relationship was very rigid, Old Man Lu’s still had a lot of love as a father. Han Xiao shook his head discreetly. This reminded him of his dad… oh, he was not talking about Xiao Jin.

Old Man Lu’s four blueprints were very rare items. They had very unique styles and could be considered a set of godly equipment in the early stages of a mechanic. The chance to get those through knowledge fusion was extremely low, so Han Xiao was tempted. He now had three fighting styles—ranged kiting style with the Ghost sniper rifle and Electromagnetic Hover-boots, all-round style with his Amphiptere mechanical suit, and Mechanical Pugilist style with Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades and Thermo-Electrical Incisor Gloves. These three styles made up his current combat style.

The other machinery was not counted as part of his usual tactics—such as the ‘Rush’ style with Gen 2.5 Rangers and batteries or the pure machinery style with a large number of firearms—as these were rarely used. Ever since the creation of the snake series mechanical suits, Han Xiao had rarely gambled for new blueprints. He knew the knowledge fusion combination needed for the blueprints. Other than trying his luck occasionally, he only spent Experience to fuse specific blueprints when he needed them.

Old Man Lu’s four blueprints belonged to a new standalone tactical combat style. It was equal to being free. Of course, Han Xiao would not miss it.

…

The sun slowly moved closer to the horizon, dyeing Stardragon Western Capital in a dusk glow. The people on the streets were in a hurry as if the night was a monster and they wanted to be back home before it came.

Han Xiao walked on the streets slowly. It had been close to a year since he left, and now that he had returned, the feeling that the city gave him was slightly different. For one, there were more people. The remains of the paint from the anti-war protests could still be seen on the corners of the walls, and the large screen on the building far away played the news about their victory in the war and the upcoming climate deterioration. The city was covered in a heavy-hearted air, and the residents were worried and lost about their fate in the future.

Han Xiao was wearing the Facial Simulator and had a different appearance, wearing a wool coat. It was already winter, and these clothes were very low profile and ordinary.

Back at the repair shop that he had left long ago, it still had the same structure. Even his workshop remained beside the shop. Han Xiao walked into the shop, and a buzzing sound came from the workstation. Lu Qian was focusing on assembling machinery. She was alone—Old Man Lu, who usually sat at the door, was missing.

Lu Qian turned around. Seeing that a customer was there, she hastily put down her work and approached him with a smile. “Hello, what do you need?”

Lu Qian still had the familiar look, gentle and dedicated, like a spring breeze. Han Xiao sized her up and said without changing his expression, “I would like to customize something small.”

“Customize what?” Lu Qian blinked.

Han Xiao took out a blueprint and passed it to Lu Qian—it was a mini metal statue drawing, not very technical, just needed welding and grinding. Any machinery assembly shop could complete it. Lu Qian looked at it for a while and said while nodding, “No problem, come to take tomorrow.”

Han Xiao shook his head. “I’m leaving the city tomorrow; I need it tonight.”

With a troubled expression, Lu Qian said, “It takes about two hours to build this statue, and I’ll close the shop when it gets dark.”

“Then I can only go to another shop.” Han Xiao acted upset and mumbled, “Which repair shop take 30,000 dollars jobs around here?”

Lu Qian’s eyes sparkled instantly, and she changed her response immediately. “Today’s closing time is delayed; you can wait in the shop and receive the product as soon as it’s finished.”

Han Xiao laughed discreetly. He knew Lu Qian too well—this method worked every time.

There was only a chance to find Old Man Lu’s box if he stayed in the shop. Of course, he could not ask Lu Qian directly as it would raise caution.

At this time, a new customer entered, it was a short hair man, he said, “I want to buy some household machinery. Do you have any?”

“Yes.” Lu Qian pointed toward the metal shelf on the side and said, “Everything on that is for sale. Sorry, I currently am doing something, so you can look at the products yourself.”

Han Xiao casually pulled a chair and sat down. Suddenly, he sensed something and looked to the side. He saw that the man who walked in was sizing up the items on the shelf while discreetly sizing him up and observing him. Old Man Lu’s identity was special, so he had entrusted Division 13 to take care of Lu Qian before leaving. There was always someone that monitored the place nearby, preventing anyone from harming Lu Qian. This new customer was one of the regular field agents, and he had come to observe Han Xiao.

“Division 13’s man?” Han Xiao’s senses at LV 70 were very sharp, so he noticed this man’s footsteps showed unique signs of having trained in the military. He could guess it easily with just a little bit of thinking. His expression did not change, and he watched quietly. He was not afraid of getting recognized as he had changed his face for the time being.

It got dark, and Lu Qian was focused. Han Xiao sat on the other side, and that man was still looking at the shelf and monitoring him.

Han Xiao’s brows rose. He could not move freely when under surveillance. He shook his leg, and a mini spider detector crawled out his pocket, moving stealthily following the shadows. Han Xiao took out his laptop while blocking the vision of the other man with his body. He looked down and opened the controlling panel for the spider detector, then switched it to manual control.

The visual image of the mini spider detector showed on the bottom right of the screen, moving close to the ground. The detector was equipped with a metal detection device, and the pipes hidden under the walls and the ground were all reflected. He remembered Old Man Lu’s safe was metal, so he used metal detection.

Half an hour later, the spider detector found the target in Lu Qian’s room on the second floor. A suitcase-style safe was under the bed. Han Xiao’s eyes spun. He stood up immediately and asked, “Is there a toilet here?”

Lu Qian looked up and wiped her sweat. “It’s upstairs. I can bring you.”

“No need to, you do your stuff. I can go myself.” Han Xiao rejected her and walked upstairs. After a few steps, he suddenly heard that field agent following him up with the excuse of wanting to go to the toilet as well.

Han Xiao felt a little troubled. It was not easy to act when he was being monitored by someone. Suddenly, he had an evil idea. Coming to the toilet on the second floor, he suddenly turned around and punched the field agent in his face. The field agent had no time to react at all and could only feel his vision getting blurry and his nose being in extreme pain. Then, he fainted.

Han Xiao held onto him and laid him down on the ground slowly. He walked into Lu Qian’s room, pulled out the safe from under the bed, and keyed in the password he remembered.

Ka-cha

The cover opened. Han Xiao gave it a scan, and the interface notified him that he had received four rare blueprints, so it was confirmed. He was delighted, rolled the blueprints up, and placed them into his bag. Then he took out the substitutes from his back and placed them into the box, restoring it back to its place.

The substitutes were also machinery blueprints, but they were just normal blueprints. There would be players in the future who would go through countless hardships to complete this mission. Thus, by putting something inside, the player who completed the mission would at least get something. Han Xiao felt that he had such a kind heart, almost so touching it could move the whole of ‘Galaxy’.

He carried the field agent down. Lu Qian was shocked and asked, “What happened to him?”

Han Xiao purposely put on a face of disgust and said, “This guy wanted to use the toilet together with me. It was a disgusting idea, so I knocked him out.”

Lu Qian’s expression became weird. Her eyes looked around on the field agent’s body then mumbled, “So exciting…”

Han Xiao sat down peacefully. He did not panic after knocking a person from Division 13 out. This was because of his strength. Plus, Lu Qian and he knew each other quite some time ago, so he did not want to disappear for nothing and make Lu Qian scared.

He chatted with Lu Qian to fill the silence.

…

“C156 please respond… C156 please respond!”

In a large room of a building a few hundred meters away, a team of field agents to protect Lu Qian was on standby. The captain kept repeating the same line into the walkie talkie, trying to reach the field agent in the repair shop.

After not getting a response at all, their faces started to get serious.

“Sh*t, he’s lost contact. There must be an accident in the shop. Let’s move now!”

The captain stood up immediately, changed into a bulletproof vest, brought along an ammunition belt, and burst through the door with the team in tow.

Chapter 292 - Sonic Sphere

The cool night wind blew in from the window, and the buzzing sound of the work station filled their ears. It was a little noisy, but Han Xiao was chatting casually with Lu Qian.

“Your shop has been here for quite a number of years, how’s business?”

Lu Qian’s hair was tied back, and she wore a safety mask. While looking down and welding the metal, she replied, “With such a bad location, of course, the business isn’t good.”

“You seemed busy when I came in.”

Lu Qian shook her head. “I’m the only one here. With the orders stacking up, of course, there is always something to do.”

“Aren’t you going to hire a helper?”

Lu Qian paused and sighed. “Hired one before, left.”

“Probably because the salary was too low.” Han Xiao shook his head in disapproval.

“Was that the reason?” Lu Qian doubted.

She was just an ordinary person and did not know about these large issues. Han Xiao had left without saying goodbye back then and had been uncontactable since, so Lu Qian still held a grudge.

The apprentice worker whom they had finally been able to hire had disappeared just like that.

Although they did not spend a very long time together, Han Xiao had left a very deep impression on Lu Qian. Old Man Lu and she had been the only ones in the shop before, and with one more person joining in, it had felt much livelier. She had felt happy during the time they spent together. However, even after a very long wait, Han Xiao still had not returned, greatly upsetting Lu Qian.

“Since business is not good, have you ever thought of moving elsewhere?”

Lu Qian shook her head. “This is my home.”

Rapid and dense footsteps approached. A group of field agents arrived in the dark.

At this time, the unconscious field agent slowly woke up. His expression changed, and he immediately wanted to get up with a roll. However, a fist enlarged in front of his eyes.

Bang!

Han Xiao knocked him out once again right before the eyes of the field agent team.

“Freeze, raise your hands!” The field agent team raised their guns and aimed at Han Xiao as the captain yelled, “We are Stardragon Strategic Defense Division. We need to verify your identity. You have to come with us.”

Swoosh!

With a few flashes of light, the muzzles of the field agent team’s handguns were sliced open smoothly.

The captain’s expression changed immediately. “Requesting back—”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

In a blink of an eye, Han Xiao, who had been sitting on the chair just a second ago, was in the middle of the people. The field agent team who had entered ferociously were now all on the floor. With his attributes, knocking down these LV 10 normal field agents in an instant was a piece of cake.

Security is too weak. I hope this will make Division 13 strengthen their guards. Hmm, it would be best if they don’t even let the players in.

Han Xiao shook his head, took out stacks of cash, placed it on the table, and left.

Lu Qian regained focus. She stared at Han Xiao’s back and suddenly asked, “Have we met before?”

Without turning back, Han Xiao smiled faintly and said, “No, we haven’t.”

After he disappeared into the night, Lu Qian put down the things in her hands. She took off the protective mask, tucked her hair behind her ear, and suddenly smiled, a smile with unspoken meanings.

…

Han Xiao smuggled himself out of the Western Capital, boarded the helicopter back to the sanctuary, and then took out the blueprints that he had just received.

_____________________

[Blueprint: Magnetic Chain Style Hovering Shield Shuttle]

[Blueprint: Sonic Sphere—Penetrate]

[Blueprint: Sonic Sphere—Quake]

[Blueprint: Sonic Sphere—Scout]

_____________________

These four machines made up a unique combat style, with both offensive and defensive capabilities. The three different types of sonic spheres were the core equipment; they all had different functions that complimented one another. As the name suggested, sonic spheres were related to sonic attacks.

Ultrasound and infrasound were equipped in the Penetrate style, focused on damage. Noise-sonic and Strong-sonic were equipped in the Quake style, focused on disabling. The Scout style was focused on support, related to sonar detection. It could also enhance the power of the other two types of sonic spheres, as well as create an area where all sonic attacks within the area would be enhanced. Plus, it had MP3 functions.

The requirements to learn these four blueprints were LV 45, more than 250 Intelligence, [Basic Acoustics Level5], [Basic Mechanical Engineering Level5], [Basic Energy Theory Level5], [Basic Energy Conversion Level5], [Basic Spatial Sensing Level3], and [Basic Electromagnetism Level4]. Han Xiao had 68 Potential Points at the moment—he spent twelve to level up what was needed and satisfied the requirements.

One day later, Han Xiao returned to the sanctuary and immediately started building the equipment.

The core technology of the sonic spheres was acoustics; the most important part was the emitter of the sonic attacks. Pipes to produce sound frequencies needed to be made with electromagnetic plates and micro adjusted according to different sonic attack types, and to connect these pipes together into a sphere frame required high skills. He spent quite some time before he finally built the end product.

The three metal spheres lay on the workstation quietly. They were roughly two-thirds the size of an average human head. They were not entirely spherical, and there were some edges and corners. The exterior was made of cold armor to protect the interior core, and the emitters were hidden in the gaps between the armor.

The original control method involved hand signs and whistling. Han Xiao changed that into Nerves Connection control. By wearing a specially-made headset, it would convert the nerve signals and send them into the receivers within the sonic spheres to be identified into commands, and this was effective within sixty meters.

Up, Han Xiao commanded in his mind.

The armor plate of these three sonic spheres split open and exposed black holes. White flames shot out from them, and they flew up, wobbling, hovering in midair. The sonic spheres had flying capabilities and could move freely in the air—it was his mid-range combat equipment. Han Xiao familiarized himself with the controls.

He then started to test the power of the sonic spheres. After some observation, Han Xiao found that the range of Sonic Sphere—Penetrate was about twenty meters. It was used mainly to damage the target, creating armor penetration soundwaves and attacking the target through obstacles. The attack range was in a straight line or an inverted cone.

The basic damage of Sonic Sphere—Penetrate was 81–130. Although that did not look very high, that was not the case. The specialty of sonic attacks was that they are highly penetrative. The damage reduction from armor was very low, and with Han Xiao’s attribute enhancements and skill enhancements, one hit from it could deal 350 – 400 damage. If Flaming Will was used as well, it would not be weaker than the Ghost sniper rifle that had more than 250 damage, Furthermore, the damage output of Sonic Sphere—Penetrate was more stable than the Ghost sniper rifle; it could be used as the main combat method.

Sonic Sphere—Quake had area disabling effects. It could cause debuffs like stunned, shocked, paralyzed, unconscious and such. Its attack range was a sphere of ten meters diameter. Sonic Sphere—Scout could create a sonic enhancing zone in a diameter of one hundred meters, increasing the damage and effects of the other two.

Thud!

Sonic Sphere—Penetrate sped up in an instant, smashed a pit on the metal wall, and made a loud noise.

The sonic sphere was very sophisticated. He smashed it against the wall to test its interior durability. This smash made it lose 17 durability, and the total durability of the sonic sphere was 1,600.

One percent is lost with just one hit. Seems it won’t last long if it’s attacked.

The three sonic spheres—one for offense, one for control, and one for support—worked together. The defense would be taken care of by the Magnetic Chain Style Hovering Shield Shuttle, with about the same technology as the Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades but for defense. Technically, it was a ‘shield generator’. The hovering shuttles would form a shape in the air, then connect with each other with electromagnetic energy. The shape it formed would become an electromagnetic shield.

Shielding technology was very common in the galaxy, but there was almost no mature shield technology on Planet Aquamarine. In the galactic standard, this kind of single surface shield was very basic. However, it was rare machinery in Version 1.0.

He could control at most four sonic spheres at one time—controlling more would mean lower accuracy. To Mechanics, receiving strong machinery did not mean that its powers could be fully utilized right away. Many complicated machines required the user to be very familiar with them in order to be able to utilize their full potential. The skills of Mechanic players were also based on how they used their best machinery, so-called micro-control.

However, micro-control was a piece of cake for the experienced Great Mechanic Han.

Including the sonic sphere style, I now have four combat methods. The core style would be Amphiptere mechanical suit, in cooperation with the other three, capable of ranged, mid-ranged, and melee styles. These will be enough for any situation at the moment. I will not need any new combat methods any time soon.

Han Xiao suddenly remembered that he had taken away what belonged to Lu Cheng, and he wondered what Lu Cheng’s reaction would be after he received the blueprints that he had replaced. Old Man Lu might find him to complain.

That was good as well. It had been quite some time since he last saw Old Man Lu, and he missed him a little.

Chapter 293 - Galaxy Pro League Season One, Commence!

A period of stability arrived on Planet Aquamarine. Time passed by quick, and four months passed in a blink of an eye.

Sanctuary Three was completed with tall guarding walls, filtered air, self-sufficient greenhouse farms, and many more. The aim of the sanctuary was to protect humans in times of disaster or even protect the tinder of mankind. In the last four months, Bennett had built more sanctuaries, but none of them could match up to the size of Black Phantom Sanctuary Three.

Alumera and Lu Cheng had already migrated their people over, built the guarding city surrounding Sanctuary Three, paid the money, and provided the manpower to build the transportation network, which spread all over the sanctuary. Han Xiao’s sanctuary could be considered a large city.

The rewards of this main storyline mission were calculated and given. Han Xiao had almost finished most of the constructions, so he was given an A+ grade.

_____________________

[Sanctuary Plan – Sanctuary Three] Completed.

You have received 6,500,000 Experience. You have received 1 Potential Point.

Grade: A+

+2,500 Dark Net Relationship Points. Current Relationship: Reverence (6,000) – [Leader of Dark Net]

A+ Grade Reward: Bonus 250% Experience (16,250,000), Special Item * 1

You have received [Medal of Honor – Sanctuary Owner (A)]

_____________________

An experience reward was the main reward of this construction type main storyline, unlike the Germinal Organization main storyline with many special items or any random reward. There was also no new dungeon creation right in the NPC panel, probably because it was just a construction type main storyline and very little actually happened.

Although the war ended, there were still many more areas in Planet Aquamarine that could be explored. The more the players explored Planet Aquamarine, the more the Six Nations would fear the Inhumans that were becoming stronger as time passed by. However, in conclusion, the situation of Planet Aquamarine was stable. During this time, the main storylines and the main characters in other novice planets had surfaced and started to shine, whereas the heat on Planet Aquamarine had cooled down.

Han Xiao was making preparation in peace in the sanctuary. As a ‘main storyline main character’, the times he was mentioned gradually became fewer—most players only remembered him when they bought loot boxes.

Just like ‘Galaxy Times’ said, when a main storyline ended, the corresponding main character would also fade away.

Han Xiao was not worried about the reducing attention—the things that he did were already deeply printed into the players’ hearts, so he had already built his base. Even if he was covered by the other popular topics, once he made any more news, the players would still be immediately reminded of him.

In four months’ time, he had collected a large amount of Experience, and the Experience on his interface had a long string of zeros. Due to the interaction he had with the players, his position of ‘Mechanic Mentor’ was firm, so many new players in the game would also buy things from him. This was a long-term benefit.

His business was prospering. Han Xiao had a very comfortable life during this peaceful time, but he did not forget where he came from. He still spent time every day in the workshop, building equipment and training himself, improving and familiarizing himself with his combat methods, making sure he was always at his best and never rusty.

He had used the Destiny’s Child Character Summon card and accurately predicted the chance to head toward the galaxy. There was still quite some time left. According to his memory, Pro League Season One would start during this time. This was a player festival. Han Xiao had paid a lot of attention to the competition in his previous life, and he was tempted to ride along.

If his sanctuary could be the hosting area for the Pro League, it would bring a large number of customers in. The Pugilist and Esper class advancement knowledge that he had prepared, the enhancing drugs, the high-level equipment and many more would make him a lot of profit.

Han Xiao had cultivated Frenzied Sword, Maple Moon, Bun-Hit-Dog, and Hao Tian with a lot of effort, hoping that they could get a good result in the Pro League, as it would bring him honor too. Since everyone knew that these four people were the lucky ones that had earned Black Phantom’s help.

Galaxy Calendar Year 689, 1st March. On this day, an announcement marked in red was placed at the top of the forums. Its popularity grew at an unbelievable pace, which meant the number of people viewing and commenting was quickly increasing every second!

Within half an hour, it became the most popular post in the entire forum!

“S1 Galaxy Pro League, officially established!”

It’s finally here. Han Xiao was motivated.

When the public launch just started, the rumors of the World Esports Association wanting to host Galaxy Pro League was already being passed around. And after one and half months passed in the real world, finally, the official message was announced!

“This morning, the World Esports Association announced the official opening of the first Galaxy Pro League. This will be the authorized and the highest-level competition, a player festival, and the biggest stage for the players to prove themselves. Showcase your skills and the world will cheer for you!

“There are 37 countries participating in the first season of Galaxy Pro League—China, Japan, Korea, Russia… According to the planet differences in-game, it is divided into 13 divisions. They are—Planet Aquamarine division, Planet Brighton division, Planet Longtune division, Planet Lonnie Division, Planet Aquamarine division…

“The matches will be carried out in the following modes: Singles, Challenge, Groups.

“Singles: Single player competition. 1 vs 1.

“Challenge: Team competition. 1 vs 1, winner stays on stage while the next player of the loser enters. Last one standing wins.

“Groups: Team competition. Group battle in complex environments. Annihilate the enemy or complete special missions to win.

“Competition Stage One—Division Qualifiers: All players are eligible to register. Teams registering must have nine members, including six players, two substitutes, and one coach. One match elimination, determining top 38 teams and top 62 singles in each division.

“Divisions Secondary League: 18 teams and 128 single contestants will enter, points based. Winners and runners up of each division will enter into the divisions stage, making up 40 teams and 64 players.

“Pre-Season: Warm up for contestants, no points calculated.

“Stage Two—Regular Divisions: Points-based. Teams will compete in Challenge and Groups. Top 8 teams and 16 players enter the finals. If any player belonging to a team enters top 16 of the Singles, that team will receive bonus points. Also, the first team and single player will receive the International Showcase Match invitation.

“International Showcase Match (All-Stars Match): Top teams from divisions battle with each other for a showcase, no points calculated.

“Stage Three—Division Finals: Best of Five. Winners of each division will receive the Division Trophy! The champions, runners up, and second runners up will enter the Internationals!

“Stage Four—Internationals: Points-based. Top three of each division compete. Top 8 teams and top 16 singles enter the International Finals!

“Final Stage—International Finals: Best of Five. Competing for the World Champion!

“Division Singles and Challenge venues are as follow: Planet Winterfrost, Fissure Canyon. Planet Brighton, Floating Island College… Planet Aquamarine, Black Phantom Sanctuary Three.

“Registration for Qualifiers and Secondary League will start tomorrow. We hope all contestants can receive their wanted position.

“S1 Galaxy Pro League—officially established!”

Every player’s passion was heated no matter which planet they were on!

It was a worldwide festival!

Seeing that Sanctuary Three was the venue for Planet Aquamarine, Han Xiao heaved a sigh of relief, followed by a rush excitement. He could almost see a tsunami of customers overwhelm him.

The arena was way too suitable for Singles and Challenge, and he had opened it to the players. With such a suitable location already built, the chance of it becoming the hosting venue was very high.

Such a large festival like Pro League being held in his territory was a huge business opportunity!

The competition mode for the first season is the same as how I remembered. Because it is the first season, there are only three competition modes. It will be more varied later.

Just as I expected, it is still Qualifiers, Regulars, Division Finals, followed by International Finals. The top three of both the division finals and international finals will receive huge prizes. All the various clubs are the main contestants of the first season. The normal players can only achieve something in the Singles.

It is actually easier to become a star in the Singles. The clubs will sign some good players after they showcase their skills, and they will become pro players next season, Han Xiao thought. He had experienced it himself. As a renowned Mechanic master, he had received invitations from clubs as well, but he had rejected all of them. He did not like the hardship in team training; playing the game comfortably was more suitable for him.

Han Xiao touched his chin and pondered, I remember China’s result in the first season was normal. Was it North America or a European team that won the champion? France? Maybe Canada?

He was staying in a high building in the middle of the sanctuary at this time. He looked down and saw the atmosphere of the players changed—it became filled with excitement, anticipation, and nervousness.

And so it begins…

Han Xiao was a little excited as well.

…

The commencement of the Pro League spread like a storm; every player knew about it. The teams and pro players of all the countries were motivated. After all their preparations, finally, the worldwide competition that they were waiting for had arrived!

Chapter 294 - Competition Festival (1)

“The registration for Group Stages is open. The club has already chosen the rest of the players and rushed us back to practice our tactics. Old Hao, this is the list of the other three members and two substitutes.”

There were three people in the chat room—Hao Tian, Sleepy Winter, and Twinkle Fried Rice. They were all pro players of the Long Sky Club.

The four biggest names of China Esports—Temple of God, Long Sky, Dynasty, and Fried Eggplants with Fish. The players would always be reminded of these clubs’ achievements when they saw those names.

The big names all had their pillars, like Li Ge of Temple of God and ‘Three Chariots’ of Fried Eggplants With Fish. Hao Tian and Sleepy Winter were both senior members of Long Sky; they were known as ‘Long Sky Twin Stars’. A few young players with potential had appeared in the youth camp in recent years, in which Twinkle Fried Rice was the most favored genius player that might become the successor.

Hao Tian, Sleepy Winter, and Twinkle Fried Rice were the core players of the Long Sky team. The competition requirement this time was eight players, including substitutes, where Hao Tian was the leader without a doubt. Sleepy Winter and Twinkle Fried Rice were definitely members. The other five had been chosen in the internal competition. The winners formed Core Team One with the three core players. The second-tier players formed Team Two—that was how large clubs worked.

Hao Tian went through the list and said, “These players are all seniors and familiar faces; they will be able to find their competition mode with just a bit of practice. The contestants are fine, no need for changes.”

He was a god player who had contributed to the club for years, so his words sometimes had more authority than even the coach and the manager.

Sleepy Winter nodded and said, “The first season is very important. Let’s win it. I have looked at the competition details. There’re five stages, so it will last quite a long time. We have enough time to prepare and continue leveling up. Now is the time where the leading players are reaching almost LV 50. When the Division Finals arrive, the rest of the teams should almost be all at max level.

“The qualifiers are just the first stage. As it accepts registration from all players, the fight will be the most intense. There will be thousands of teams in one division fighting for only thirty-eight places—imagine how intense the competition will be. Because of the number of participants in the Qualifiers, it will be in the form of single match elimination. If we are unlucky and lose to a strong opponent, we will be out of the rest of the competition straight away. We have to be careful from the start.

“All of the enemies can be roughly divided into four types—normal noob players just joining for fun, high skilled normal players, strong players from clubs, and the teams from the biggest names. Our biggest opponent will be the other three biggest clubs. I estimate that three quarters of the top forty teams entering the regulars will be from clubs.”

“The group battle is ever changing, don’t underestimate any team,” Hao Tian said in a low voice.

“Old Hao, did you register for the Singles?” Sleepy Winter asked.

“Yeah.”

“I shall not go then.” Sleepy Winter shrugged his shoulders. He was very clear of Hao Tian’s skills. There was a very high chance he would get a place in the Singles and earn bonus points for the team in the Regulars. Most clubs sent their strongest player to the Singles.

As another member of the Long Sky Twin Stars, since Hao Tian had joined the Singles, he would focus on the team—division of labor.

…

At the same time, Frenzied Sword also registered for Singles. Different from a big name like Long Sky, the Jiang City Club that he was in was a small team. All the members in the club were just enough for the number of team members required. All of them were tier two players, and only Frenzied Sword had made a name for himself.

However, he was not the leader. The leader was ‘Lone Crane’, a signature player cultivated by Jiang City itself. Yet, he did not have any achievements.

Jiang City was a dying team. When they saw the potential in Frenzied Sword and signed him as a strong help, the team only became a little more alive after he joined.

However, Lone Crane did not like Frenzied Sword; he felt that Frenzied Sword threatened his position. The management regulations in the small clubs was not as developed as the big names, so it was common to put seniority first when determining positions. Before making any result, pro players were all arrogant, thinking everyone else was just trash. Frenzied Sword was lucky enough to meet this situation and was often excluded by the team.

His Singles registration was obstructed by Lone Crane many times. Lone Crane’s reason was “The team needs to retain its power; you are our ace. If you expose too much in the Singles, the others will develop tactics against us.”

The registration only passed after being approved by the superiors.

Frenzied Sword did not favor these fools. It was a crazy dream to want to achieve anything with such a team. He had put all his hopes into the Singles. As long as he made a name for himself in the Singles, his position would be stable.

My win ratio against God Hao Tian is now four to six. He’s a top god player; since I can win 40% of the time, there should be a high chance of entering the top 64 in the Singles.

Frenzied Sword was confident in himself. He had received tons of Experience from Han Xiao’s missions. His level was ahead of most other players, and his ability levels were high too. Plus, all his equipment was limited edition from Black Phantom’s shop. Mechanical Pugilist depended a lot in equipment. Most of his equipment was blue grade, his weapon was even a purple, and its machinery type also exceeded normal player’s knowledge. It was luxurious.

The so-called limited editions were actually tailor-made machinery that Han Xiao had built for him. Han Xiao was cultivating the four of them, so he had to look after them. In fact, Frenzied Sword, Maple Moon, Hao Tian, and Bun-Hit-Dog were regarded as his apprentices.

Frenzied Sword knew very well that the reason he was so strong was all because of Black Phantom’s ‘Hidden Storyline’. Every time he thought of it, he would feel extremely glad that he had met Han Xiao during the closed beta.

I have to get a good place! Frenzied Sword encouraged himself.

…

The registration for the Qualifiers went on intensively. Various clubs made frequent movements, news articles appeared in the forums every single day, and players discussed the developments actively. It was boisterous. This was a festival; the players all looked forward to their idols’ performance in the pro scene, anticipating the battle of the highest skill level.

The players could already travel between the continents. Countless players gathered in Sanctuary Three. Sanctuary Three was the host venue for Singles. Other than the registered players, many players came to watch it live. The number of players in the city increased non-stop.

The number of participants for the Singles was the highest as most players knew that they had no chances against the professional clubs’ teams, and it was not easy to form a team. In comparison, Singles was much easier. Any one person could register. As recorded officially, every division had more than 100,000 players registered for the Singles. One could see how intense the Qualifiers would be.

The participating players were mostly older players that had joined the game in the earlier times. The new players afterward were only at level 20 or so; them joining would only be free points for the others. Some people complained that the league started too early, but their voices were buried in the sea of people very soon after.

Eight months had passed in-game since the public launch. According to the competition schedule, the Divisions would last for about half a year, and the Internationals would only start after about a year of preparation and rest. This long break was mainly to give the qualifying teams more time to improve their cooperation, which showed how important the Internationals were. Also, it was a form of hunger marketing to improve the influence of the competition.

The competition would last about two years of in-game time. The duration of the entire Version 1.0 was three and a half years. The players that could not make it for the Qualifiers could only be considered unlucky—time waits for no man.

Maple Moon did not register for the Qualifiers. She was a casual player, so she hardly paid attention to competitions and was completely ignorant of the competition mode. Thus, she decided to be a spectator peacefully. Of course, Han Xiao would not force her to join the competition. Furthermore, a Mechanic that focused on building abilities like Maple Moon had very ordinary strength in Version 1.0. Not everyone had the skills of the Great Mechanic Han.

Bun-Hit-Dog, however, contacted his streamer friends and formed a streamer team to join the competition excitedly. With Han Xiao’s experience and prediction, this streamer team would definitely just be free points. If they could join the Regulars, he would swallow ten energy crystals on the spot.

So, only three people under me will be joining the competition, Hao Tian, Frenzied Sword, and Bun-Hit-Dog… The last one can be ignored.

Han Xiao stood before the window, looked down on the crowded square and thought, Hope the two of them can get good results.

The registration stage was the brewing period of the competition; it was also the best period for him to earn a huge profit. 100,000 Singles contestants were willing to spend money and Experience for just a slight improvement.

A pleased smile appeared on Han Xiao’s face.

After heading toward to the galaxy, I won’t be able to interact with a large number of players in a short time. The Experience I earn now will all be taken into the galaxy—the more, the better.

Chapter 295 - Competition Festival (2)

The first season of Pro League was heated up. ‘Galaxy Times’ also released the latest episode to analyze the overall movements of the competition, which received a lot of attention, breaking the record of highest viewers.

Han Xiao opened the video. This episode was clearly different from the others. The comments were much denser than before, and the length also doubled, showing clear signs of it having a lot of content.

After making the regular opening cold joke, the hosts entered into the main topic.

“The first season of Galaxy Pro League has commenced. Registration has opened for the Qualifiers. Players, are you ready for this festival?”

The comment barrage filled with “always ready” flew past the screen.

“Starting from this episode, we will continuously bring comprehensive competition analysis for everyone,” the male host said. “The content of this episode includes interpretation of the competition mode, competition schedule analysis, and introduction of the various strong teams in the divisions. We also invited the leaders of the four biggest clubs in China as guests in the studio. Okay, let’s first enter a short commercial break. Don’t leave, the wonderful content will soon be back.”

A not at all short commercial started playing for the next five minutes. When even the comments started discussing which baby diapers were better, the hosts finally reappeared.

Han Xiao was speechless. No wonder this episode is so long…

“Welcome back. So, the Pro League is divided into 13 divisions, corresponding to the 13 novice planets, selecting the strongest teams of the various planets. And the clubs from some strong Esports countries have already selected their bases, which means that they selected their division in advance…”

The duo introduced the situation of the various divisions and what were the strong countries. Every strong team they mentioned, a barrage of slogan comments of that team would fly pass. Every strong team had fans all over the world.

When talking about the Planet Aquamarine division, the reaction was the most intense. It was the China version of ‘Galaxy Times’ after all.

“… Planet Aquamarine is the main division of the China clubs. We have invited the guests to analyze the situations of the Planet Aquamarine division. Let’s give a warm welcome to Li Ge from Temple of God, Second Prince from Dynasty, Hao Tian from Long Sky, and Sun Eggplant from Fried Eggplants with Fish!”

The comments exploded. Everyone knew that these four clubs were enemies, yet they were gathered in one place; it was an extremely rare occasion!

These four were all leaders of the biggest clubs. They had a lot of fans, and they were enemies too, so the comments were filled with arguments in no time.

“Boss Li Ge is so handsome!”

“Temple of God is all trash. Fangirls, back off!”

“Don’t stop me, I want to carry the child of Li Ge!”

“We can’t lose, brothers. Hao Tian, I want to give birth to your child too!”

“Why did Second Mace come out, where’s the boss of Dynasty? I want to see the top player in China!”

“That’s crossing the line, how can you call him Second Mace? Call him Second Son!”

“Sun Eggplant is the best!”

The four professional god players, all with unique characteristics, appeared in the image. Li Ge had the warm expression on his face as always, being the most handsome of the group. Hao Tian sat beside him, expressionless like a stone.

Second Prince was one of the renowned players of the Dynasty club—arrogant, combing his hair with his head held up high, fully expressing the definition of ‘too big for one’s boots’.

Among the four of them, this guy had the most haters. The rank one god player in China belonged to Dynasty, mysterious and barely participated in any shows. In contrast, Second Prince loved to speak badly of the god player in his own team, not hiding his ambition of wanting to take over at all. However, he regularly got thrashed by the god player in his own team, becoming a laughing stock, yet he never changed. All things aside, he was never a burden in the competition, so most of the haters were just joking.

The last one, Sun Eggplant, was the last member of ‘Three Chariots’ of Fried Eggplants with Fish. He was a middle-aged man wearing sunglasses, looking undisciplined and shaking his crossed legs continuously, one hand behind the chair, sitting like a boss. He even had a toothpick between his lips. If there was not the rule of no smoking in front of cameras, it would definitely not be a toothpick.

Li Ge smiled and said, “Thank you for your invitation. Come to think of it, this is the fourth time I’ve showed up in Galaxy Times.”

“Thanks to everyone for being a guest in Galaxy Times,” the male host said. “Please, our four god-tier players, let’s start with the analysis for the Planet Aquamarine competition situation.

They started the analysis. Li Ge and Second Prince spoke the most, Hao Tian almost didn’t talk, and Sun Eggplant occasionally piped up.

The Planet Aquamarine division was the main venue for China. There was a total of tens of clubs. Other than the four biggest names, there were other large clubs like Thunder Storm, Fanatics, and Nine Gates. There were quite a number of strong pro players. They discussed the topic at length. In their eyes, the four biggest clubs were still the ones that had the most chances to win.

Thirteen novice planets, thirty-seven participating countries. Small countries did not have the ability to choose their bases. There were some foreign club events in Planet Aquamarine, not many of them, but they were strong nonetheless. It was not to be underestimated.

Although the so-called base planet was just self-named, and any country could come to play, this was a naturally formed sense of the territory from the players. Han Xiao remembered some clubs would send strong players to other divisions, creating a team disguised as ordinary players to beat the local clubs, which would make the local players lose face.

Electrolux, whom he had once met, was this kind.

“… Qualifiers will be the most intense stage,” Li Ge said. “The participating players average at LV 40, not max level yet. With the elimination mode, luck will play a certain part, but the longer one stays, the more battles one will face. Even we can’t say that we are confident of every single match. The impact of the luck factor will be minimized. The last top 38 teams will definitely be strong teams with real skills.”

Second Prince sneered. “Hehe, that’s because your Temple of God is too noob. Our Dynasty has absolute confidence. Anyone who meets us just has to wait for their death.”

Li Ge smiled on the outside but cursed on the inside.

He did not bother about the fool and turned to look at Hao Tian. He smiled and said, “Old Hao, can you fulfill your dream and become the international champion this time?”

“Success depends on effort.” Hao Tian’s words were few but had a clear meaning.

Second Prince grunted and said arrogantly, “Save it, you guys. The champion will be Dynasty!”

Sun Eggplant looked at him sideways and said, “Moron.”

Second Prince turned his head and stared at him furiously.

“What you staring at, looking for a beating?” Sun Eggplant rolled his sleeve like he was going to fight him any time.

Second Prince stood back and murmured, “Savage.”

The four of them interacted, and the comment barrage fired. This episode of the show analyzed the competition in detail. In the end, the four of them promoted their preparations of their teams, expressing their fighting spirit and their strong determination for the champion position.

Han Xiao shook his head. Although they all look undisciplined, they were all god players.

Through the show, his old memories of Season One Pro League were refreshed.

…

The Qualifiers registration ended very quickly. The official start was three days later, so all the contestants prepared themselves as much as they could.

This time, hundreds of thousands of players gathered in the sanctuary, crowded around the arena, and filled the square completely.

Han Xiao looked down at the square.

Three more days to the start…

Han Xiao turned and walked downstairs.

It’s time!

Chapter 296 - Sensation!

The sanctuary was overcrowded with people. Not only were there contestants, but there were also spectators. It was more than ten times more boisterous than usual. The players’ line of shops extended from the square to almost the gate of the city.

The Divisions were big events for all players. The players not at the venue could watch the live stream on the forums.

Three days to the opening, there was one day that coincidentally was the fixed Black Phantom loot box sales day. Part of the reason a large number of players came to the sanctuary was also because of Han Xiao.

The location that he usually appeared at was already surrounded. A male player stood outside the crowd and looked around on his tiptoes.

“He should be here anytime soon,” the player mumbled softly.

His ID was ‘Jing Zhe’, an LV 20 Mechanic, one of the unnoticeable spectators, as good as transparent in the crowded sanctuary. He knew about Han Xiao’s functionalities from the forums, so he wanted to buy some low-level equipment.

This kind of new players appeared every once in a while, bringing Han Xiao long-term profits.

After waiting for a while, Han Xiao drove the truck and arrived at the scene with a 270 degrees tail drift. He jumped down from the car, and the waiting players swarmed over instantly to grab the boxes.

The number of boxes was limited. It was almost impossible to purchase them without putting up a fight to buy them as soon as possible. Jing Zhe was pushed around by the crowd.

After the boxes were sold out, only then did the crowd leave. Jing Zhe heaved a sigh of relief. Seeing that Han Xiao was still there, he quickly trotted over and conveyed his intention of wanting to learn abilities. And as he wished, he saw the shop list.

So much machinery, and it seems like I can learn abilities here as well. The functions of this NPC are so rich. I heard he was the main storyline main character before…Jing Zhe was a new player that only started after the end of the Germinal Organization main storyline. He barely knew about Han Xiao’s past at all.

The items made his heart beat a lot quicker. And after he scrolled down to the bottom, his eyes opened wide in surprise.

This is… the class advancement knowledge for Pugilist and Esper, [Energy Burst] and [Tier 2 Gene Chain—Endurance Enhancement]. Both selling for 30,000 Experience. Jing Zhe’s mouth was wide open with surprise.

Was Black Phantom not the Mechanic mentor? Why was he selling the class advancement knowledge for the other two classes?

Anyway, he could not use them.

Jing Zhe took a screenshot, posted it on the forums causally, and continued to look at the other items in the shop. What he did not expect was… this post created a storm on the forums!

Every player who knew what this meant was shocked!

Jing Zhe did not know how rare class advancement knowledge was yet, but the older players knew it very well—Class advancement knowledge could only be exchanged after they farmed their relationship points with the Six Nations to ‘Reverence’, which almost no one could at the moment. Yet, Han Xiao had just started selling them out of nowhere!

Only one word could describe how to old players felt about Han Xiao.

Horrifying!

After being silent for a few months, Han Xiao’s name dominated the forums once again!

Jing Zhe was stunned. He had never thought that his casual post would trigger such a reaction.

However, what was more shocking only came afterward. Countless players came from everywhere upon hearing the news and swarmed toward Han Xiao. After they confirmed the news to be true, the entire square’s players became frenzied!

Black Phantom is the players’ blessing as always!

Suddenly, there was a commotion at the exteriors of the crowd, and they split open a path automatically. Renowned pro players walked in one after another—Li Ge, Hao Tian, Sun Eggplant, and so on. They gathered in one place and snatched the spotlight!

With the Pro League just around the corner, the appearance of class advancement knowledge was certainly a very timely help. No one wanted to be behind the others, so they all rushed here. Dozens of famous pro players surrounded Han Xiao!

Some of the surrounding players had not had the chance to meet their idols before, so they could not hide their excitement and screams.

Jing Zhe was completely stunned. A post that he had casually published turned out to attract a group of god level pro players. He was used to being a nobody and had never had such an experience. He was shivering in excitement.

These pro players led the way to buy class advancement knowledge. The Experience on Han Xiao’s interface rocketed by millions every minute! Han Xiao was overjoyed.

It was worth hoarding the class advancement knowledge till now. It’s profiteering!Han Xiao was delighted. He had long expected the class advancement knowledge to be a hit. In Version 1.0, the prerequisites for acquiring class advancement knowledges were very difficult. The players went through a lot of hardship to get them, yet he sold them without any prior requirements. It would definitely shock all the players.

The class advancement knowledge for these two classes came from the Germinal Organization central computer. Now that the Germinal Organization had been eradicated, the class advancement knowledge in his hands became the only source of it throughout Planet Aquamarine.

Tens of thousands of players gathered in the sanctuary—excluding Mechanics, players with insufficient purchasing power, and players with insufficient potential points. Even if there were only a tenth of the players that bought it, he would still make a crazy profit!

30,000 was not high for the players at this time. Han Xiao sold it at this price because he wanted to sell more quantity and also because the contestants would spend most of their Experience before the competition to strengthen themselves as much as they could. If he set the price too high, he would miss the opportunity on those who did not have any Experience left.

He sold it for a few hours straight and only stopped as the sun started to set.

He looked at the interface. The Experience that he had received was an outrageous amount of 300,000,000.

Han Xiao had more than 500,000,000 Experience in his pocket through all sorts of events during the four months, and it had grown by more than half in just a day!

The players’ demand for class advancement knowledge is ridiculous. It will be high in the first few days and will start to gradually decrease as time passes, but even then, it will still earn a healthy profit just like the other abilities.

Han Xiao opened the forums. The Planet Aquamarine panel was filled with posts about class advancement knowledge. Many analyzed why he would suddenly sell the class advancement for the other two classes despite being a Mechanic.

This even affected the panels of other planets. The other division players were shocked and felt pressured. It was competitive between the divisions, and Planet Aquamarine players getting class advancement knowledge so easily was bad news for other planets. Players from all the planets were discussing it.

Han Xiao was very famous in Planet Aquamarine, and he also sometimes appeared in Galaxy Times. However, most of his popularity was limited to Planet Aquamarine. This was the first time that his name had spread to the other players. The players from the other players started to know his name—Planet Aquamarine Legendary NPC, Black Phantom, Han Xiao, Loot Box!

Actually, every planet had their own storyline main characters that appeared actively as they took part in the main storyline missions. Despite also being the main storyline main character, Han Xiao was very different. He did not provide main storyline missions one round after another, yet the functions that he offered were horrifyingly rich. The Planet Aquamarine players received countless benefits from him.

He was the storyline main character, the mechanic mentor, the salesman for rare items, the distributor for regular prize-pool missions, the loot box seller… His identity was so complex that the players had never seen any NPC that even came close. His position in the hearts of Planet Aquamarine’s players was unique and irreplaceable. It was like they had gone through the change of times side by side. When the players thought of him, they felt a sense of familiarity and trust!

Chapter 297 - Hao Tian’s First Battle!

At the edge of players, Li Ge was frowning.

Most of the players were surprised about Han Xiao selling class advancement knowledge, but not Li Ge, who was not happy at all. He already had another type of class advancement knowledge, which the Guild of Gods had poured their resources to help him get. It was Li Ge’s trump card; he was going to use it to shine in the competition.

However, Han Xiao’s actions largely decreased the effectiveness of this trump card of his, indirectly reducing the difference between him and the other players. Something that everyone owned would not be considered rare anymore.

Li Ge stared at Han Xiao with unknown meanings.

A few god-level players at the sides chatted in a group, and as usual, Second Prince was bragging. “With the god player, me, bringing Dynasty into the finals will be a piece of cake. An old man like Old Wang would beg me to carry him.”

“If it wasn’t for King Admiral 1 , you Dynasty would not be one of the biggest clubs,” Sun Eggplant said with contempt.

Second Prince was furious. They argued for some time, and Li Ge walked over with a smile and said, “It’s good to be confident. I hope everyone will be honing their skills. I need some help in the international competition to earn honor for China.”

They raised the corner of their lips. They disliked the attitude of Li Ge always considering himself as the leader. Hao Tian said directly, “I don’t like you to always representing others, speak for yourself.”

Li Ge’s smile vanished. He looked at Hao Tian and said coldly, “Then I will see you in the competition. Don’t let me win too easily.”

They stared at each other with sparks flying.

Suddenly, a laid-back voice appeared from the side. “Found you, moron, follow me back to the team for practice.”

The others turned around to look. A player with an unshaven beard walked over. He looked scruffy and slovenly, but the ID above his head was ‘King Admiral’. This was indeed the low-key, mysterious pro player at the top of the leaderboard in China, Dynasty’s core. He had an eminent nickname—Emperor!

“Don’t call me moron!” Second Prince was not happy.

“Okay, moron.” King Admiral nodded.

“Ah, *sshole!” Second Prince lost his cool easily when he saw the god player in his own team. He said furiously, “Don’t be so arrogant! One day, I will ride on your back and show you who’s better!”

Eww!

The others were loathing.

As if he had yet to wake up, King Admiral dragged Second Prince away by his collar without greeting the others. He did things his own way and did not get along with the others, but in Li Ge’s eyes, this was arrogance.

Looking at King Admiral’s back, Li Ge’s eyes sparkled, and he grunted in his mind. He yearned for King Admiral’s top seat; his career could only advance further if he became the top player.

“There’s no room for error in this Pro League.”

They exchanged looks and saw the resolve in each other’s eyes.

…

After three continuous days of sales, the Experience that Han Xiao received had reached an outrageous 1,000,000,000! Including the previous 500,000,000, he had a total of 1,500,000,000 Experience!

The amount of Experience storage determines how long I don’t have to worry for Experience in space. The next stage of my growth will be between the stars. The opportunities for growth can only be caught with enough Experience. After LV 70, the expenditure for Experience will be higher and higher. Plus, I’m a very experience-consuming Mechanic. After entering space, there will not be many chances to meet a large number of players, and there’s still the blank period between the version updates.

Han Xiao was thinking about future directions. Although the Experience that he had looked like a large amount, it would be finished one day after he entered the galaxy. Since that was definite, he had to hoard as much Experience as he could.

Bang!

A firework rose into the sky from the square outside the window.

This signified the official start of the Pro League!

The sound of cheers soared through the skies and created a sound wave, spreading out like a tsunami.

Looking down at the arena, the arena had now been reconstructed into the structure of a stadium. In the heart of it was a large ring surrounded by nine smaller rings. At the edge of the center was a large screen, and under the screen were the seats for the announcers and judges. At the exteriors were the audience seats, which were completely filled at this time without any vacancies, with yelling and cheering lighting up the atmosphere of the festival.

“So it begins.” Han Xiao lay on the sofa, changed into a comfortable position, and opened the forums to watch the live stream.

There were tens of millions of others who were watching the stream like him!

The beautiful female host, Red Phoenix, wore a professional smile on her face and gave the opening speech standing in the highest ring. Her pleasing to the ear voice echoed in the arena from the speakers. “Galaxy Pro League Season One, Planet Aquamarine Division’s Qualifiers officially commence!

“We have 2,759 teams and 104,652 players registered. The teams will compete in the wild areas. The arena is the venue for Singles; these rings will be where the contestants compete! One round elimination, the pairs will be chosen at random. The loser will be eliminated, and the winner will enter the next round till the best 38 teams and 64 players are selected.

“The Qualifiers will last for one month of in-game time. Yes, this will be a long season, but the entire process will be streamed. The audiences watching the stream can choose the player they want to watch freely, and our official stream will randomly choose the battles that are highlight-worthy.”

Red Phoenix finished talking about the competition rules and the speech to light up the atmosphere, then pointed toward the entrance to the arena.

“Next, let’s start the opening battle for Singles. Let’s give a warm welcome to the two contestants!”

From the dark tunnel, Hao Tian and the contestant with the ID ‘Star Chess’ walked out. The moment the two of them appeared, the atmosphere of the arena reached its climax!

To guarantee the atmosphere of the opening battle, the players had been chosen between the registered pro players. Hao Tian and Star Chess had thus been selected.

The two walked up to the main ring. Red Phoenix stood between them and introduced them. “I believe everyone is familiar with the contestant on my right. An old warrior battling in the Esports ring for nine years, earning top-five multiple times in the China pro player leaderboard, possessing an honorable and amazing battle history, with a steady and firm battle style yet not lacking aggressiveness. He is the core player of Long Sky Club, Hao Tian!

“On my left is a player you might not be so familiar with. He’s a senior in the Esports industry, once belonging to the Temple of God. His position was the core of his club, just like Li Ge now, but he retired five years ago. Now, he returns with his past honor and winning resolve. He re-contracted with the Temple of God Club, Star Chess!”

Cheering exploded between the audiences. Both sides had supporters, but the fan group of Star Chess was comparatively smaller. He had been retired for five years; therefore, his popularity had mostly faded. Star Chess looked up at his fans. They were all familiar faces; he did not expect there to still be a group of such supportive fans even after his five years of retirement. He was quite touched. He nodded toward his fans as a greeting.

The fans cheered even louder with all their strength as they saw this.

After Red Phoenix introduced both sides, she first approached Star Chess and said with a smile, “Welcome back to the pro scene. How are you feeling now?”

“Nostalgic,” Star Chess said with a lot of emotion. “I’m reminded of the days I used to battle in the pro scene.”

“We’ll always remember the achievements you led Temple of God to and that tint of pride.” Red Phoenix complimented him before asking, “This is the first season of competition hosted in Galaxy. Can you tell me how much have you familiarized yourself with this game?”

“I’m in a very good condition.” Star Chess smiled and said, “Confident to spar with any opponent.”

Red Phoenix asked a few more questions. Star Chess answered them with ease—he was experienced at dealing with hosts.

Red Phoenix’s eyes sparkled. She received the request from her superior to create some interesting chatter, so she asked, “I heard you invested your savings into a business after retirement. Your company filed for bankruptcy last year. Is this part of the reason you are returning to the pro scene?”

Star Chess’s expression remained unchanged and said, “Of course not. The pro scene is where I made my name. Returning is just because I never forgot where I came from. I’m looking forward to battling the younger generation. Hope that I can dig out some players with good potential and teach the young players nowadays some experiences. It will help them in their battles at the international competitions.”

As he was speaking, he smiled toward Hao Tian with a sense of superiority as a senior. Hao Tian was considered as his junior. The ‘young players’ whom Star Chess mentioned, of course, included Hao Tian.

Chapter 298 - The Battle

“Okay. Thank you for the response.”

Red Phoenix smiled back and turned to Hao Tian. “The legendary Hao Tian, are you confident that you will win today’s match?”

“You’ll see.” Hao Tian did not pay attention to the reporter, as if his face was saying, I am focusing now, please do not disturb me.

He had always been a quiet man and never liked being interviewed before the battle. He felt that using the time before battle to prepare his mental state was the professional thing to do.

Moreover, his opponent was Star Chess. Hao Tian had no comments about him. In the professional circle, everyone knew that Star Chess had started his business after retirement, but he had returned for the competition after his business went bad. It was obvious that he wanted to use his popularity to milk some cash.

Since they were on different paths, there was nothing worth talking about.

The audience all laughed. They knew the personality of Hao Tian, and they all loved to watch his cold, calm demeanor.

Red Phoenix’s face froze as she did not know how to respond. However, she was one of the most experienced hosts in the professional league, so she suppressed her awkwardness and backed away from Han Tian. “Okay. Looks like both of them are confident that they will win. Let’s start the thirty-second countdown, and once it reaches zero, the competition will officially begin!”

The screen showed a thirty-second timer, and the audience in the arena all quieted down, tens of thousands of pairs of eyes focusing on the two men on the ring.

The nervous atmosphere froze the ring and the stadium.

Within the countdown, the judges started the pre-game analysis.

“It seems that both of them are from the Pugilist class, and both of them are LV 46. They are at the same level, so we can expect to see a high-level pugilist battle. This is the fight between two generations, and I also feel that this battle has a sense of ceremony. There’s no doubt that Hao Tian is in his peak condition, judging from the uncountable wins. Plus, I’m worried if Star Chess has maintained his game after being away from the scene for five years.”

The other judge then replied, “There’s no need to worry about that. All professionals know how to adjust their own status before the game, and Star Chess is already a veteran, which means he has more experience than Hao Tian. I have a feeling that this will be an intense and cutthroat battle.”

Han Xiao sat up and straighten his back and looked at the dense atmosphere on the ring. After training Hao Tian for so long, it was time to see the result.

“Three… Two… One…”

Bang!

As soon as the countdown finished, Hao Tian stomped his feet into the ground and charged toward the opponent with surge of energy covering his body, as if he was a siege tank.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The two pugilist exchange fists and kick with each other. The sound of punches landing on the two’s bodies was deep and loud. The audience could see that the status bars of both sides, such as the health bar, energy bar, and stamina bar, were dropping.

The veterans would not fight like a rookie player, who fought as if they were video gamers smashing all the buttons. Even in a lower-level battle between Pugilists, it was essential to understand the timing of the use of skill and how to distribute energy to continue to activate buffs. They also needed to learn dodging techniques, reset timing, damage calculation, and cooldowns of skills.

In the fight of elites, detail determined the victor!

The battle between the two men on the ring was filled with subtle techniques from both fighters. Some spectators understood, while other did not, but in the end, it did not matter if one was able to identify the techniques—the audience all certainly felt a special atmosphere in a professional battle.

And it could be described in one word: steady!

The rate of decrease in their status bars was slower than the battle between average players. It meant that both players used a lot of small techniques that dodged a large amount of attacks from the enemy. This was the clear distinction between professional players and normal players.

The words of the judges were coming out faster than bullets from a machine gun. The commentator was also a skilled man, and he quickly analyzed the situation for the audience.

“It is still a stalemate on the ring. They are testing the water and only using normal attacks with some small skills. Both of their health bars are above eighty percent, and now, we’ll have to see who can grab the chance to deal a combo attack.”

There were countless styles of players in battle, but using combos was always one of the most popular techniques among the players, especially the Pugilists. If they could break through the defense and get a brief opening, the skillful players could take away huge portion of health bar from the enemy, and it was even possible to one shot the enemy with one combo.

Just like the ‘Girl and the Floating Island’, once one got knocked into the air, it was unavoidable that one would lose a huge amount of his health. Moreover, as professional players, Han Xiao and Star Chess had mastered the art of combos, and there was rarely any chance of error. Now, they needed to see how they could start the first combo.

“Wait, Star Chess is going in!”

After they exchanged blows, Star Chess suddenly lunged and stomped his front foot on the ground. An invisible wave shook the ring as it traveled across.

Knock up skill, [Ground Stomp]!

Any target within two meters would get knock up if hit by the shockwave. This was a rare skill, and Hao Tian did not react in time. His feet left the around, and he was around thirty centimeters in midair.

“This is bad. It seems like it is a rare skill. Hao Tian got hit, but he wasn’t knocked very high, so there’s no opening for combo… Star Chess charged forward and landed the first punch of the combo!”

The lower the height of knock up, the harder it was to start a combo, but Star Chess successfully found the opening, and a torrent of skills and attacks bombarded Hao Tian. The random and colorful energy splashed on his body, landing seven combo hits in an instant. Hao Tian’s health dropped by a large portion.

The judge shook his head and commented, “Star Chess could still grab the slim opening for a combo. Indeed, the older, the wiser. Let’s see how Hao Tian will react to this situation. Everyone knew that before the competition, Black Phantom sold out a class advancement knowledge called [Energy Burst]. It will use up a large amount of energy in exchange for a status of rage buff and knock back all the enemies. This skill can stop the combo of the enemy, but it will use a lot of energy. From the attributes of this level of players, they can only use this skill once in a competition. Both of them have definitely learned the skill, so let’s see if Hao Tian will use it first.”

While floating in the midair, Hao Tian curl his body into a ball to reduce the damage taken. The dropping health bar, however, did not affect his mental state. He was still focused and waiting for his chance.

Suddenly, he found a mistake in the combo, and he opened up from his defensive stance and caught Star Chess’s fist with one hand while swinging his body open the head of the opponent, trying to get behind Star Chess.

“He used [Return of Cloud]! Oh no, even though this skill is a midair escape skill, the successful rate is very strict—you need at least ten points higher in Dexterity than your opponent to have a few more percentage increase in successful rate. But they are at the same level, so their attributes should be the same! If the skill does not go through and fails, he won’t be able to move, and the next combo from Star Chess will finish him off. Seems like Hao Tian will…”

The judge suddenly stopped his tongue as he saw that Hao Tian escape the combo with the skill and land right behind Star Chess. Then, without any delay, Hao Tian’s elbow landed on the back of Star Chess’ head, stunning him.

Making use of the opportunity, Hao Tian grabbed Star Chess by the shoulder and swept the floor with a kick and made Star Chess float in midair without any defense. Then it was time for Hao Tian to perform his mesmerizing combo.

The situation suddenly changed, and the audience was left in shock.

“How did the skill succeed?” The judge had no time to freeze and shouted with his eyes wide open. “Now it’s time for Hao Tian to counterattack… Why is Star Chess’ health bar going down so fast?”

Just now, half of Star Chess’ combo took away twenty-five percent of Hao Tian’s health, but after only a few punches, Star Chess had already lost forty percent of his health points.

Part of it was because Star Chess was stunned and could not define, but the main reason was that the damage from Hao Tian was too high.

Star Chess could not believe his eyes as the damage numbers popped up on the interface.

“Hao Tian should have the same Dexterity as me; there was no way that [Return of Cloud] could have succeeded!”

The flowing energy again highlighted the serious expression of Hao Tian.

He was indeed on the same level as Star Chess. However, his skill level was much higher than not only Star Chess but also the entire professional players in the scene. Han Xiao’s reward of experience had all been used to increase the level of skill, and that was why [Return of Cloud] worked and his damage was unexpectedly high.

Chapter 299 - A Simpleton

Compared to character level, skills could directly increase one’s combat prowess.

Hao Tian sent out skills one after another and chased his opponent to the edge of the arena platform.

Hong!

Suddenly, Star Chess released a burst of energy from his body, causing a shockwave of flame to break Hao Tian’s series of attacks.

“Star Chess has used Energy Burst!” exclaimed the commentator.

There were three ways to win in these fights. One could either directly defeat one’s opponent, have one’s opponent surrender, or force them off the platform. Star Chess was already forced to the edge and had no choice to but to activate his Energy Burst.

However, the next moment, Hao Tian also used his Energy Burst, and as if a raging wild bull, he rushed at Star Chess and threw a heavy punch that broke through Star Chess’ defense and landed right on his chest.

Boom!

The muffled sound of the impact rang out!

Star Chess lost his footing, fell off the platform, and crashed onto the ground, causing clouds of dust to rise up.

“The winner is Hao Tian!” announced the commentator in a booming voice.

“He won!” the spectators screamed in excitement, and Hao Tian’s fans all stood up and cheered for him.

The screams from tens of thousands of people flooded the arena like a tsunami!

Star Chess was led off the center with eyes full of regret. Although this opening fight was held more for the sake of showmanship, and neither of the pro player would be disqualified regardless of the result, it was still a great chance to gain popularity. Winning under the eyes of tens of thousands of people was the best way to prove one’s reputation. But now that he had lost, most of the spotlight was on Hao Tian, unlike he had planned.

But it was what it was. Since he had lost fair and square, although Star Chess was unhappy, he still suppressed his emotions.

Red Phoenix bent her waist and walked onto the center of the platform with a smile. “Thanks to both of the pro players for bringing to us such a high level fight. Master Star Chess, you unfortunately lost. Do you have anything you would like to say?”

Star Chess collecting himself and forced out a smile. “It was an enjoyable fight. I got to witness how strong the young man is. He has a lot of potential. People like him will be able to take on my generation’s torch and fight for glory on the international stage…”

This was obviously just a formality. By using formal language and constantly mentioning the ‘young’ and ‘older’ players, Star Chess was secretly emphasizing the fact that he was a veteran.

“Thank you for your thoughts.”

Red Phoenix turned to Hao Tian and said, “Master Hao Tian, do you have anything you would like to say?”

Hao Tian stretched his hand for the microphone. Red Phoenix was glad as she thought that Hao Tian was finally going to say something and quickly passed him her microphone.

Hao Tian stared at Star Chess for a while expressionlessly.

“Are you only here to earn some pocket change or something?”

He then dropped the mic and left without another word. He evidently did not care about keeping up small talk with Star Chess at all.

Star Chess’s expression turned ugly, and veins were almost popping out of his head. He gritted his teeth.

How could he say something in front of so many spectators‽ Star Chess was furious.

The audience in the arena was instantly sent into an uproar, and Red Phoenix hurriedly tried to smooth things out.

…

“Kid’s got character. I like it,” Han Xiao said as he smirked.

He remembered Hao Tian from the past. This fellow did not bother with the bullsh*t that came with being a pro, and he hated being under the spotlight. He focused on training himself all the time and was very professional and righteous. In other words, a combination of a gaming nerd and a simpleton.

Han Xiao’s requirement when looking for players to cultivate was basically just how popular and how much potential the player had in his past life. It was not that he looked down on noobs or anything, but pros simply offered him a better return as they could utilize his resources to a better effect.

With the current resources at his disposal, Han Xiao could easily cultivate a player to a point where they were invincible among the current players. However, he did not do this as it was not beneficial in the long run. All the benefits that Han Xiao had been providing Frenzied Sword and the others with were more or less logical compared to the current players’ level.

Although the current players had weak attributes, this did not mean that they were bad at controlling their characters. With that in mind, Han Xiao could still learn a lot from the players. Despite how overpowered he currently was on Planet Aquamarine, the new techniques that he had learned from the players would prove useful in future fights.

Countering various abilities, performing countermeasures in emergencies, movement control, overall macro… and so on were all part of professional tournaments.

Players all developed in their own ways, and watching all the different powers clash against each other was one of the interesting aspects of these fights. For example, although Hao Tian did not have Star Chess’s [Ground Stomp], he was able to use other trump cards. Being able to utilize this variety of skills to their full capacity and even combine them in fights was what differentiated pros from regular players.

Moreover, being able to develop oneself properly also counted as a strength. Take boxing as an example. If Person A worked hard every day to train himself, while person B slacks off all day long, naturally, A would have a physical advantage over B in a fight. Or maybe A had better connections and could find a teacher to teach him new moves, while B could only train by himself. There was no rule that said A had to stop and wait for B to catch up.

This logic could also be applied to players. Be it farming monsters, complete missions, or looting for better equipment, no matter how prepared one was, in an actual fight, it would all come down to one’s performance. Maybe due to his lack of practice, B would get pummeled by A the whole fight. But just before B was about to lose, he might catch on to a mistake A made and turn the round with a one hit KO. Something like this was extremely common in tournaments.

Competitions would often produce with unexpected results, and this was what made it all so interesting.

The chance for Han Xiao to venture off into the stars would not come for another four or five months. As this was right in the middle of the tournament season, Han Xiao planned to take this time to look for more potential lackeys. For him, players were currently the most valuable resource on the entire planet.

After the ceremony, the arena started off the regular matches. All ten battle platforms had one referee, and all had ongoing matches at the same time. There were about ten thousand players who had registered for the tournament, and they were all currently going through the first elimination round. Each match was fairly straightforward and only took around ten minutes on average.

Only when the elimination stage entered the final rounds would the tournament slow down, giving time for the players to be introduced one by one.

As Frenzied Sword and Bun-hit-dog’s matches were held on a different day, Han Xiao got bored and went to the forums after switching between several fights.

There were a lot of players who were excitedly discussing about the opening fight. Hao Tian’s performance invited a lot of praise, and Long Sky Club also released their official message, congratulating Hao Tian for seizing victory in the opening fight.

…

A few days later…

Players were eliminated one after another, and the audience’s excitement was higher than ever. Han Xiao was also rejoicing from this.

Aside from selling merchandise, creating more tools, and training with Hila, he spent most of his free time watching the fights. He mainly paid attention to the team battles where two teams would try to fight each other to the last man on a random map. Each team was allowed to send in six players.

Pugilist, Esper, and Mechanic. These three classes had drastically different combat styles and allowed for a large variety of team combinations and skill chaining. Moreover, taking into account of terrain differences, team battles were much more entertaining to watch than the individual battles.

The more common teams were composed of a main tank, melee attacker, ranged attacker, and someone in charge of crowd control. The specific numbers for each role would differ depending on the team’s tactics.

Pugilist was naturally the most popular class for the main tanks.

Espers, on the other hand, were more of a jack of all trades. Due to their varying abilities, Espers could take on both melee and ranged roles in a fight.

Mechanics played the role of the main attacker and dealt outburst damage under their teammate’s protection.

Chapter 300 - Frenzied Sword's First Fight

Out of the three main class change trees for the Mechanic class, Cannon Master was the most popular among the players. It served as a reliable ranged attacker. Mechanics and Mechanical Pugilists, due to the early stage of the game, were still quite awkward in a fight. There were close to zero contestants with those two classes.

Mechanics were definitely out of the question, especially when they were a player and did not have access to a vast number of resources that Han Xiao had. Without paying to win, the Mechanics’ combat strength was nothing impressive.

Mechanical Pugilists, at this point in the game, were like a weaker version of the normal Pugilists. Moreover, they even had to repair their tools every time the durability ran out. A Pugilist would serve the role of a meat shield much better.

Han Xiao did not agree with this meta. Mechanical Pugilists were actually already pretty strong in Version 1.0. As long as they did not have awful gear, they could easily be both a tank and an attacker. They would also adapt to different environments much easier due to the variety of their equipment. However, the Mechanical Pugilist class did have a higher skill cap then Pugilists as they also had to control their machinery.

The combination of need for good equipment and harder controls meant that there were barely any who chose to play as a Mechanical Pugilist.

Although the Mechanics were quite useful in group matches, they performed poorly in individual battles. Players of the other two classes would often consider themselves lucky if they came up against a Mechanic.

After nearly a thousand elimination rounds, Mechanics had already been defeated sixty-four times, while they had only won eleven times!

Many of the players on the forums had already come to the consensus that Mechanics were not suitable for PVP. After watching several fights himself, Han Xiao understood that, as the Mechanic was a class that would take longer to develop, and also due to the class’s demand for skillful controls, it was not a class that suited the PVP scene this early on in the game.

Moreover, most the equipment that the Mechanics made was not high level enough to actually make much of a difference in a fight, especially not when other classes also had access to basic equipment.

The Mechanic class was heavily reliant on the player’s equipment, and as new versions of the game were released, players would gain access to better equipment and also reveal the strength of the class.

Today was Frenzied Sword’s first time fighting in the tournament. The opponent that he drew against was an Esper. Han Xiao was watching this fight live.

Frenzied Sword was a Mechanical Pugilist and had received a bunch of ‘benefits’ from Han Xiao—well, gear that he did not need anymore. Frenzied Sword was wearing the Magnetically-Controlled Retractable Armor and also had the Heavy Mechanical Arm attached to his arm. He had also brought with him lots of other spare parts and gadgets, which all hung on his body. He was fully clad in metal, and he gave off a cold glint under the sun, looking like a heavily armored knight.

The opponent was an ice-type Esper. With the wave of his hand, he instantly covered the platform with a thin layer of ice, reducing Frenzied Sword’s movement speed while increasing his own.

The Esper was a kiting player, and he then took out an enhanced Assault Rifle and started firing at Frenzied Sword, causing a shower of sparks to burst on Frenzied Sword’s armor.

“Ice abilities combined with ranged weapons is indeed a good combo to kite with.” Han Xiao nodded.

Firearms and other equipment were available to players of all classes, but without the Mechanic’s Machinery Affinity, they could only dish out the base damage with those weapons.

Frenzied Sword moved across the ice as he tried to avoid the spray of bullets. He had very good armor on, so the Assault Rifle was not much of a threat to him. However, the Esper player planned to keep on kiting and slowly whittle down Frenzied Sword’s HP.

Bullets landed one after another on the heavy armor, but they suddenly stopped. The Esper had run out of ammo. Just as he was trying to reload, Frenzied Sword took this opportunity and leapt forward with the help of the booster on his legs. His legs exploded off the ground and scattered the ice surface that he was standing on.

Frenzied Sword flew through the air and rapidly closed in on the Esper.

The Esper player hurriedly threw away his Assault Rifle and took off a grenade launcher from his back, immediately firing a shot at Frenzied Sword in midair.

Boom!

An explosion occurred where Frenzied Sword was, causing a bright flash of light, followed by a cloud of dust that rolled across the platform.

A sound of gears locking into place suddenly came from within the smoke, and a thin metal cable shot out and latched to the Esper player before it rapidly pulled him back to Frenzied Sword.

Bang!

The two clashed into each other and rolled around on the ground due to the impact. Melee combat was Frenzied Sword’s strong suit, and he quickly took care of the Esper after a few exchanging blows.

“Smoke to reduce visibility and increase the hit-chance of the hook.” Han Xiao nodded. He had focused on every single detail in the battle. Frenzied Sword was able to use the Mechanical Pugilist’s abilities and equipment to a pretty good level, and he could be counted as one of the rarer Mechanic players.

Currently, no single player had reached the point where they were completely invincible. All classes had weaknesses that could be taken advantage of. In the case of the ice-type Esper, Mechanical Pugilists could use their equipment to close in the distance, Pugilists could use Energy Burst or other movement skills, while other Espers also had their own tactics to use.

…

As he was not popular yet, Frenzied Sword’s victory did not garner much attention. Moreover, it was only an elimination round. However, Han Xiao thought that Frenzied Sword had shown a stellar performance in that fight. He just did not know if this Frenzied Sword was as good as the one in the past.

Players from around the planet went all out in the fights, and soon, twenty days had passed. Eighty to ninety percent of the players had been eliminated, and the ones left behind were the cream of the crop.

Frenzied Sword had passed hurdle after hurdle and had not lost a single match up to this point, so more people were starting to pay attention to him. There was an extremely small number of Mechanics who had made it that far into tournament. So, naturally, as a Mechanical Pugilist, Frenzied Sword piqued the interest of many curious players. Most of his earlier matches were replayed by players.

“Is this how Mechanical Pugilists fight? He seems to bring along a lot of equipment. It looks kind of complicated.”

“That combo he did with multiple weapons and gadgets looked really cool, but it seems pretty hard to pull off.”

“What’s so great about this? He just has a lot of good gear. Take away all that equipment and let’s see if he can still beat a Pugilist.”

“Bruh… why would a Mechanical Pugilist fight with their bare body for no reason?”

The forums were filled with different opinions, but overall, Frenzied Sword had finally made a name for himself. In a tournament filled with Pugilists and Espers, his Mechanical Pugilist class was a breath of fresh air.

However, Frenzied Sword’s rising popularity was nothing compared to the current talk-of-the-town, Hao Tian.

As a pro player from Long Sky, Hao Tian had blasted through all his opponents since the first round, and he seemed to be getting stronger and stronger after each fight. His battle team was also taking win after win in the team matches section. Hao Tian seemed like a potential candidate who could carry the future of the Chinese e-sports scene.

Aside from the three core members, none of the other Long Sky players were anything to scoff at. They had great team fights and were able to effectively complement Hao Tian’s aggressive playstyle.

On the other hand, the pro players from the other gaming guilds seemed to be hiding their strength, so they were not blasting through all opposition like Long Sky.

Long Sky players demonstrated an overwhelming momentum in both solo and team matches, and they were the player favorite on Planet Aquamarine. Many video streaming channels were also focused on highlighting these players.

Bun-hit-dog’s ‘Suicide Hosts’ team had been eliminated in a single round. Han Xiao randomly watched their match, and his eyes almost burst out of their sockets.

All six members were Cannon Masters. It was a pure ranged DPS team composition… yet they were unluckily placed in a dense forest that did not favor ranged classes at all.

To make it worse, their opponent was a powerhouse team made up of foreign pro players.

They were butchered.

Although Han Xiao knew that they did not have much of a chance in this tournament to begin with, he was still speechless at how bad their luck was.

It seems like Hao Tian has the best chance of getting a good score. Frenzied Sword’s performing well in his solo matches, but his team’s performance is rather subpar, and they’re barely surviving in the tournament…

Chapter 301 - Regular Season, The Group of Death

Under the bright, burning sun in the middle of the desert, the two teams were staring at each other with a sand hill in between. The players were soaked in sweat as they stood on the burning sand and entered the [Energy Draining] status. Even though they were not moving, their energy points were still decreasing at a steady rate.

“The location in the desert is too open, which is bad for us. We are probably going to lose here.” Lone Crane was discouraged.

This was Frenzied Sword’s Rivervale Club Team. They were lucky as they had not met any strong teams. They had struggled their way through the competition, and now, they are on the last batch of the Qualifiers. If they won this game, they could get into the next stage.

But it seemed that Rivervale’s luck had run out. The randomized map was an open desert, which was bad for a composition focused on close combat.

Lone Crane was annoyed, and because of that, the whole team’s morale was down.

Frenzied Sword stepped up to change the atmosphere and frowned. “Don’t worry, the fight hasn’t started yet. We still have the chance to win.”

Lone Crane shook his head. “The chance is too abysmally slim.”

“You are the leader; don’t you say things words.” Frenzied Swords got more and more unsatisfied on how the Lone Crane led the team. He had no leadership skills and did not give any insightful command. On top of that, he only brought a negative energy to the team.

“Oh? Then what do you suggest we should do?” Lone Crane glanced over.

“The enemy has a strong ranged attack abilities, so the only way for us is to close the distance. Of course, we will only get kited if we charge in recklessly, so the best way is to lure them into an ambush. I can hide in the sand, and you all act like you are running away and lure them to where I’m hiding. Then I can pressure their backline while you all turn around and attack. This is the only way.

“Luckily, I still have two shields for cover. Who wants to ambush with me?” Frenzied Sword said as he took out two oxygen shields. This was equipment that he always brought, and it was the essential tool for the plan to work.

The teammates all looked at each other, and this time, Lone Crane replied, “Since this is your idea, if we lose, you will be responsible for this.”

Lone Crane was obviously trying to be avoid the blame so that he would be off the hook if he lost the game. Frenzied Sword hated this type of behavior and stopped paying attention to him. Looking at his teammates, a pugilist sped forward to be his partner for the ambush.

They quickly selected a spot, and Frenzied Sword and this teammate hid under the cover and sank into the sand. Lone Crane and his team on the surface made some disguises and went on with the operation. They walked up the hill and exposed themselves in the vision of the enemy.

“Hehe. Seems that they can’t wait any longer.” Isaac from the opposing team laughed. The other team with six people saw the movement of Lone Crane and his team.

Isaac looked like the skillful one in his team, but in reality, all the six contestants were ‘spies’ all from other nations’ clubs to challenge the competitive league in Planet Aquamarine. Every league had this type of team.

“The enemy is just a small club. I saw their matches before, and they excel in close combat, but they have no synergy. Plus, we have the map advantage, so as long as we keep our distance, victory is ours.”

They moved up toward Rivervale and initiated their attacks while keeping their distance. Most of the players were Espers. Isaac could create a small tornado, while one of his teammates could shoot laser beams from his finger. Another could even create a small white fish ball that exploded like a grenade.

Lone Crane and the other four ran with tails between their legs. Isaac’s team quickly chased after them, but soon, they realized that there were only four people in Rivervale team.

“Where did the other two go?” Isaac raised his suspicion and raised his hand. “Halt. I think they are luring us into a trap.”

Isaac thought that if Rivervale was luring them, then if he stopped, Rivervale would also stop, or at least they would slow down their pace to bait Isaac. However, Rivervale did not slow down and ran as far as they could.

Lone Crane kept on running forward while being demotivated. He could not understand Frenzied Sword’s strategy. Then he suddenly had an idea to push all the blame on Frenzied Sword. If he directly fought the enemy head on without telling Frenzied Sword, at least it would seem like Lone Crane tried his best, while Frenzied Sword was hiding the entire fight. This would definitely make the higher officials be disappointed in Frenzied Sword.

However, he could not purposely steer away from where Frenzied Sword was hiding since the rest of the teammates also knew the location. Therefore, the only thing that Lone Crane could do was make them look like they were luring the enemy into a trap. Thus, Lone Crane kept on running, regardless of whether the enemy followed or not.

Lone Crane had been in the profession circle for years. For a man without much glory and achievements, he had been hired by Rivervale with a higher pay than before. However, he had never cared about winning or losing. The only thing that he wanted was to keep the position as a leader and enjoy the wealthy pay and luxurious life. There were all kinds of people in the professional scene, and the type like Lone Crane was also common.

However, Isaac misunderstood the intention. He shouted, ” Look at them go! They don’t look like they are trying to lure us, and there’s a lower chance that there will be an ambush in the open field. Let’s chase after them!”

Unfortunately, Isaac was wrong. After chasing Rivervale for a while, they reached the ambush area, and a spot within the team exploded, covering them in sand. Frenzied Sword and his teammate rushed out and charged into the backline.

It was so sudden that Isaac and his teammates’ jaws dropped.

Frenzied Sword used all his strength and tore open the enemy’s formation. Lone Crane, who was far away, also frowned, and he had no choice but to lead his team back into the battle.

The scene was in chaos. Despite the ambush, Isaac and his teammates did not back down easily, and Rivervale still had to fight an intense battle. Luckily, Frenzied Sword had a great performance and eliminated the squishy Espers, getting a double kill.

After Isaac fell to the ground, the surroundings finally quieted down, and one could only hear wind blowing through the sand.

Rivervale’s victory!

“We won!” Frenzied Sword waved his fist.

“We actually got into the next stage…”

Lone Crane could not close his mouth as he was shocked. Was the enemy so stupid that they could not tell his obvious act?

…

As the final round came to a close, the names of the victors of the qualifiers were announced. All the players were excited, and the attention from the public also reached its peak.

The qualifiers were just the appetizer. The regular season was the main course!

From here now on, the competition would be in a normal schedule unlike the qualifiers. Every match would be intense and thrilling.

From thousands of teams and hundreds of thousands of players, there were only thirty-eight teams for group bracket and sixty-two players for individual bracket. Han Xiao skimmed through the list, and the four powerhouses had all made it into the regular season, while the rest of the teams are all famous clubs such as Madhouse, Mystic Nine, and Storm. There were clubs from other countries, and there were only three non-professional teams.

Rivervale was in the list of qualified teams. Han Xiao recalled that back in his own world, Rivervale never got into the regular season, and instead, a team with foreign players got in.

As for the individual bracket, Frenzied Sword in both worlds was qualified for regular season, and the one in this world had more attention from the public compared to that of the other world. There were only four mechanic players in the individual bracket, and all of them were Cannon Master except Frenzied Sword, who was Mechanical Pugilist. Because of that, the audience showed more interest in him.

In addition, the recordings of Rivervale’s matches were released, and everyone witnessed how Frenzied Sword carried his team to victory. On the contrary, no one cared about the real leader, Lone Crane. In the eyes of the audience, he was just a side character who served no purpose, and they thought that Frenzied Sword was the irreplaceable part of the team.

Lone Crane was envious of the glory, yet he could not duplicate Frenzied Sword’s performance. He could only watch the Frenzied Sword getting more and more popular.

Frenzied Sword was indeed a natural talent in close combat fighting. His skills kept on improving, and other mechanic class players replayed the tape of his matches to learn the techniques.

Some players even went through some older posts and found out that Frenzied Sword was one of the mysterious characters under Black Phantom. The high-quality equipment and buffs had to have been given by Black Phantom. All the players could only drool next to the fancy equipment, and Han Xiao earned another wave of popularity.

They did so much better than in my old world. Han Xiao was satisfied and was glad that his work payed off.

A few days later, the secondary league also finished their matches, and only the top two got into the regular season; in the end, there were forty teams in the group bracket and sixty-four players in individual bracket.

The official site announced the results of the randomized groups in the regular season. The players were evenly spread out into A, B, C, and D groups. For every group, there were ten teams for the group bracket and sixteen players in the individual bracket.

The regular season used a points system, where teams would fight against each other in rotation. Only the two teams with highest points would be eligible for the next stage in the group brackets. For individual bracket, there would be four players coming out of each group.

The players’ jaws dropped as they saw the list of the groups.

Fried Eggplants with Fish, Dynasty, and Long Sky—three powerhouses—were all in group A!

Moreover, Tiger Dragon Club and Sky Palace Club were also in group A with another foreign club team. This was the group of death!

With so many strong teams, only two teams could get out of this group stage. At least one of the powerhouses would be eliminated from the competition. This news threw the fans of those teams into turmoil.

The atmosphere was already tense and nervousness when the regular season had not even started.

Chapter 302 - The Hidden Main Storyline

Galaxy Times made an objective analysis for each group in the tournament. Group A was the most competitive. The fan-favorite team since the start of the tournament, Long Sky, might even be eliminated there. Although Hao Tian was still overpowering all his opposition, many of the other teams that had survived thus far had been conserving their strength. Most of the teams had not revealed their trump cards yet. Under such conditions, even strong teams like Long Sky would have hard fights ahead.

The fans of the teams who were placed into Group A were not having any of it. The fans of the three big guilds, especially, were flaming and spamming in the forums about how the tournament was rigged and why all those strong teams were placed in the same group.

But their arguments were not at all convincing. Most of the neutral audience believed that if each of the four big guilds had been placed into different battle groups, then that would really have meant that the tournament was rigged.

Of course, what was logic in the face of the crazed fans? The discussions on the forums were getting more and more heated as the tournament entered its pre-seasons.

The pre-season matches did not count toward a team’s score and served as more of a warm up for the teams to gauge each other’s strengths or even misguide one another.

Compared to formal matches, these warm-up matches were much less pressuring on the players. The audience loved watching these matches as players often played without restraint and used whatever tactics and plays they wanted.

Each team’s mistakes and insane outplays were soon turned into memes and analyzed on the forums. Bun-hit-dog also made a few videos on these warm up matches.

After the pre-season matches would be a cooling period where teams would be given time to rest up and regroup. This was also when the clubs would amp up their advertising to hype up the next stage, which was the regionals. The waves of advertisements would be used to further excite the audience.

Once the official matches began, it was already the sixth month of the Galaxy Calendar.

Han Xiao had stayed in the shelter this whole time to farm experience points from the players. Other than that, there was not much else for him to do. He had already met the requirements for the third part of the hidden main storyline mission, but he could not get in contact with Hannes and thus could not turn in the mission.

This was the first time that Han Xiao had heard about this mission, and he was not sure how things were supposed to go. When he still could not find Hannes despite going through the Dark Net’s intelligence network, Han Xiao realized that something was wrong. If even the Dark Net, the largest intelligence hoarder on the planet, could not find him, then Hannes was really missing.

After some more digging, Han Xiao found out that Hannes had last been seen at a barren wasteland called the Somar Desert.

This kind of sound familiar… Han Xiao frowned. Oh right, I once visited this desert for a bounty mission. [Basic Strengthened Life] was also obtained from this place. It was the ruins of a nation, and there were also wanderers trying to find traces of magic or the like there.

Although Han Xiao was not very close with Hannes, since he was the NPC who gave out the hidden main storyline mission, Han Xiao was not just going to sit still as he went missing. Bennett had a similar thought.

Just as the official matches were about to start, Han Xiao left the shelter and arrived at the Somar Desert with Bennett.

…

Under the sun’s glare, heat waves constantly rolled across the desert floor. All one could see past the barbed wires of the Dark Net checkpoint was an endless sea of sand.

“Hannes was last seen a month ago. He resupplied at this checkpoint before entering the Somar Desert, but he never returned.”

The man in charge of the checkpoint reported the details to Han Xiao and Bennett while showing the two the supply reports proving his words.

“I have already sent out search parties to look for his tracks, but… the sands in the Somar Desert constantly shift and reform, and there haven’t been any concrete results yet,” said Bennett.

Han Xiao glanced and asked, “Can’t you come up with a better idea than that?”

Bennett was helpless about this. “Telecommunications and any other kind of communication all met a dead end. There’s no other way.”

Searching this way was like trying to look for a needle in a haystack. Han Xiao shook his head. “This is too much of a waste of time… but there really does seem to be no other way. Let’s hope something comes up soon.”

The Somar Desert buried countless secrets, and Hannes may have run into a tricky situation this time. When Han Xiao started thinking about the ruins of Felonia and the remnants of a ‘magic’ civilization, a thought started to form at the back of his mind.

“I’m afraid that Hannes may have already died.” Bennett sighed.

Han Xiao was not too sure about that. In the past, Bennett had raised tombstones for Hannes and the others, but Han Xiao felt like things were different this time. First of all, the hidden main storyline had not failed yet and was only stuck at the third stage. Han Xiao felt that Hannes should still be alive, as he was the mission NPC. Maybe this was all part of the storyline.

Since there was no other way to progress the mission, Han Xiao decided to patiently wait for something to happen. Although he was curious about what this hidden main storyline would lead to, the reward that the mission offered was not that tempting. The Great Mechanic Han did not need to work hard to farm experience at the moment, and the experience that would be rewarded upon mission completion was nothing in Han Xiao’s eyes.

After sending out some more orders for the men, the two got back on their planes to return. On the plane, Bennett suddenly said, “I heard that your shelter is welcoming more and more Inhumans. Make sure to keep a careful watch over them in case they decide to cause trouble one day.”

Han Xiao raised his eyebrow. “What are you trying to say?”

“Inhumans have unclear origins, and they often demonstrate weird behavior,” said Bennett with a heavy expression. “They are a ticking time bomb. If all the Inhumans decide to group together and rebel, the planet will see another bloodbath. We can’t take another war. My sources tell me that the Six Nations had already contacted the space civilization, and they will soon send personnel down to our planet to investigate the Inhumans.”

“I know.” Han Xiao gave off a faint smile and patted Bennett’s shoulder a few times.

Not only was Han Xiao aware of the Godora investigators’ future visit, he even knew the specific date and time when their spaceship would enter the atmosphere. This was fate smiling down on him. The spaceship sent by Godora would be his chance to venture out into the stars, in about another month.

…

During the next month, Han Xiao followed his original plan and continued amassing experience points. More and more players were visiting the shelter every day due to the ongoing tournament, and Han Xiao never ran out of players to farm experience from.

Han Xiao occasionally followed the tournament. There was now a new match format: the duel. Each team would send out six players to battle against another team’s six, one at a time. Winners would stay on the fight against the opposing team’s next player, until one team has no players left. There was also a point tallying system where the total points your team would win, in the case of a victory, would be six points minus the number of players who were defeated in the match.

Duels added variety to the tournament. As the official matches progressed, the situation within the battle groups had become clearer. Battle group B, C, D’s respective leading and runner-up teams had pulled away from the other teams in the group and were guaranteed to go to the next stage. They were Temple of God, Thunder Storm, Mountain Sea, and teams from three other foreign guilds.

Frenzied Sword’s team was unfortunately one of the bottom-placing teams and had no chance to advance. However, being able to enter the official matches had already allowed this newbie team to suddenly explode in popularity. Their team’s success had caused Lone Crane to become ambitious, and he wanted to obtain an even better score.

However, reality was harsh. All the teams that had survived to that stage were strong teams with elite players. Their team’s overall strength was just too low, so no matter how hard he worked, they suffered defeat after defeat.

Lone Crane was shocked, and he realized that his hard work was not going to make the difference. His ambition was also blown to the winds.

But he was still a veteran and was quickly able to reset his mindset. “That’s enough. It’s already not bad that we could get this far and fight with all these top teams.”

With this thought in mind, Lone Crane believed that he would be receiving handsome reward from his gaming club. However, reality gave him a face-slap, yet again.

Rivervale gaming club official announced that they were going to have Frenzied Sword take over the team captain position for the future. Lone Crane immediately lost his standing, and the announcement was even followed by them sending Lone Crane to terminate his contract. He was utterly flabbergasted.

The club’s management were not blind. Frenzied Sword’s performance in this tournament was clear for all to see. He had made it into the top three in the individual category and qualified for the regionals before finally becoming the only Mechanic left within Planet Aquamarine’s top sixteen individual fights contestant. He was even dubbed ‘China’s #1 Mechanical Pugilist’!

A player with such a potential would naturally be taken extra care of by Rivervale. This was only the first tournament, and there were still many more chances in the future. They planned on having Frenzied Sword become the club’s pillar and were in the process of building a team around Frenzied Sword.

On the other hand, Lone Crane, who lacked both results and commitment, was mercilessly kicked out of the club.

Frenzied Sword did not really like Rivervale at first, but now that he knew they wanted to build a team around him, he was ecstatic—this was treatment that not even some star players would get.

Once he obtained good results, his professional gaming career would kick off. Frenzied Sword was already somewhat of a star now, but he was not satisfied and always looked to improve himself to do even better in the future. He was full of determination, and he also made a note to himself to hang on to Han Xiao no matter what. Good things would always follow if he did.

Frenzied Sword’s results for the first tournament was actually already better than in the past. Han Xiao felt emotional as it was like watching his own kid grow up… Um, or more like raising a player.

On the other hand, Electrolux, who had made it into the top sixteen in Han Xiao’s past, could not even make it out of the elimination rounds this time. This was mainly due to Han Xiao’s interference with his early development this time, and it would not even have mattered if Electrolux had grade A potential for his Esper abilities.

In Planet Aquamarine’s tournament, only battle group A’s standings were still unclear.

This was a true death group. There are only a few more rounds of matches left, yet the top five teams were basically even in points. There was no way to tell who would come out on top in the end. Currently, Long Sky held third place.

Chapter 303 - List of Finalists, Advancement of Plans

In the group stage, Long Sky’s momentum was repeatedly stopped by Dynasty and Fried Eggplants with Fish. Having expectations on a team was a double-edged sword; when Long Sky performed poorly, the attention from the media would work against them as they sang the song of pessimism for the chances of Long Sky making it through the group stage.

As an experienced team, Long Sky had a strong resilience to pressure. In the last few matches of group A, the number of viewers again broke the record, but in the match between Long Sky and Dynasty, King Admiral single handedly took down four opponents in the group one on ones and secured first place in the group bracket. Thus, Long Sky fell to fourth place.

Under pessimism and doubts, the last round began, and Long Sky’s opponent was Fried Eggplants with Fish, which was in second place in the bracket. There was a large difference in points, and in order for Long Sky to qualify, they had to completely dominate the match and take as many points as they could. However, Fried Eggplants with Fish was also a powerhouse, and there was no hope that Long Sky could make it out of group stage.

But just when the audience thought that Long Sky was going to be eliminated, Hao Tian and his team pulled off a miracle team fight, which aced the entire enemy team. No mistakes could be found during the one on ones, and they walked over the enemy. The Three Chariots—Dancing Fish Dragon, Perfume Bear, and Sun Eggplant—were dominated by Long Sky without knowing what happened.

On the live stream, the screen was exploding with intensity in every frame. Fans from both teams were on the edge of their seats, as if their hearts were going to burst. Every time there was a turn of events, the audience would scream with excitement and nervousness.

The points of Long Sky skyrocketed, and in an instant, they had the same points with the Fried Eggplants with Fish. The final outcome was determined on the team fight, and Long Sky surpassed their opponent and qualified for the next stage as second place in the group.

“Long Sky pulled a reverse sweep!”

“In the fight of powerhouses, Fried Eggplants with Fish was destroyed!”

“Long Sky promoted to the next stage by the width of a hair”

“Fried Eggplants with Fish was defeated with humiliation! Is this the end of a powerhouse?”

“Competitions for group A have come to an end. Dynasty and Long Sky move on to the quarterfinals!”

Long Sky’s unbelievable comeback exploded in the forums. Fans of Long Sky were crying in tears as if it was a new year, and the tragic atmosphere and tone of the media quickly turned around; only words of compliments were seen on the news, no matter how badly they had performed previously.

Dynasty, Long Sky, and Fried Eggplants with Fish all held a press conference after the match. The reporters first congratulated the winning teams, and the representatives of the two teams appreciated the congratulations. Both teams replied to the questions with cliché formalities, thanking the fans and those who supported them along the way.

In the final session of the press conference, the reporter gave the microphone to Fried Eggplants with Fish and asked, “Would you like to share anything after your defeat?”

The representative for Fried Eggplants with Fish froze and said, “We performed poorly in the last match, and we did not meet our expectations. During the match, we made a lot of mistakes, and we could have done better. Long Sky is a strong opponent, and everyone witnessed how…”

This reply had been prepared before the press interview. They first started with acknowledging their mistakes and tried to learn from it, then they went ahead and apologized to the fans. This response was a standard procedure if one lost a game, so the reporter could only stay quiet, and he did not even bother writing any notes.

Suddenly, the team leader, Sun Eggplant, stood up. Even though he was known as the last of the Three Chariots, he was the leader of the three people.

Sun Eggplant interrupted the response and grabbed the microphone from the representative. He faced the confused reporters and stared at Long Sky. “I don’t want to say these fluffy words like ‘we tried our best’. We lost, and that’s an undeniable fact, but I can’t let it go. I will win the title back next time. Hao Tian, since we’ve both entered the quarterfinals in the individual bracket, if you see me, prepare to die.”

Hao Tian did not back down. “The result won’t change no matter how many times you challenge me.”

Both of them started at each other, and neither backed down.

Such exchanges were the ones that were exciting to write about. The reporters smiled and quickly recorded it.

Dynasty, who was on the side, glanced at the two. It was ironic that the first seed team was just a side character.

Second Prince clenched his fists and said, “The reporters are ignoring us now. I might as well go challenge…”

King Admiral was struggling to keep his eyes open as if he was sleeping. He slapped Second Prince on the back of his head and said, “Don’t find trouble.”

Second Prince pushed away his hand and replied with annoyance, “Stop hitting me, you freak. Why are you bitching about me joining the challenge?”

“B*stard, you are not even in the semifinals!” King Admiral’s poke through the heart of Second Prince.

Second Prince’s face turned red, and he stared at King Admiral with anger, as if he was going to kick him in crouch.

Second Prince felt that he was being mocked. King Admiral had not only advanced into the next stage in individual bracket, but he was also first seed and had the most points. He had been invited to the All Stars, while Second Prince had been eliminated. That was why Second Prince was upset.

At the same time, Temple of God also had their own press conference. They were lucky as they had been allocated into a group without much competition. They had also been invited to the All Stars games.

Li Ge claimed that they would bring trophy and pride to the country as they headed to the international competition.

Temple of God claimed that they were the strongest and that they were the dragon’s head of powerhouses. Li Ge walked on the path of China’s representative team. Even though he was ranked second of China’s players, the King Admiral was always timid and low-key with a casual appearance. On the other hand, Li Ge was handsome and strong, and they had the same popularity with tons of fans.

There was a significant number of females within Li Ge’s fanbase, while most of the fans for King Admiral were adult men. The fight between there fanbases was also interesting, and it was usually one of the biggest shows in the scene. As long as Li Ge and King Admiral fought against each other, this would be the extra show that would for sure show up.

The teams who had qualified for playoffs all had their press conferences, and all sorts of statements were made by the teams. Some were extremely confident that they would win the finals, while some were humbler and more reserved. These scenes sure showed the variety of stories that one could see in the professional scene.

And now, the schedule for finals was announced.

“Top eight of group bracket: Five Chinese teams—Dynasty, Long Sky, Thunder Storm, Thunder Storm, Mystic Nine. Three foreign teams—Son of Wind, Beast, Golden Orange.

“Top 16 of individual bracket: King Admiral, Sun Eggplant, Hao Tian, Li Ge, Frenzied Sword, Rainy Kim…”

Seeing the list, Han Xiao laughed as if it was harvest season.

Hehe, quite a lot of them are also players that were famous in my previous world.Han Xiao smiled. The other reason he had followed the professional scene was that it was a venue for him to pick out skillful players.

Anyone who got into the Planet Aquamarine competitive scene was a talent. In some nicer words, Han Xiao was preparing to bring natural talents to explore the galaxy. And this time, he would not only bring a few people—he would bring an entire fleet of players as his assistants.

Because they would always revive after death, players were an extremely useful tools. Even though they were a bit weak, but there would be room for improvement in the new version. Even though robots could be used as gunpowder, one still needed money to make them.

Players were free!

Han Xiao was planning to start a family by taking the younger talents. He already had a plan.

To create his own base!

In Version 1.0, players did not have a way to step into the galaxy, but if Han Xiao could provide the transportation, even the professional players would be shocked. Han Xiao had quite a lot of missions to complete, but there would not be much if he spread out the workload. This would limit the number of players that he could nurture. However, if the players were able to travel into the galaxy and be exposed to the opportunities around the universe, there would be endless missions, and it would definitely be attractive to players. This way, Han Xiao could bypass the threshold of missions that Han Xiao could take.

The players would be at an advantage if they were first to start their adventure in the galaxy. No one would not be jealous of the opportunity. At the same time, Han Xiao could again restate his presence and make headlines again.

The chosen players would slowly become closer to Han Xiao voluntarily and create a sense of acknowledgement. Han Xiao already had a blueprint for his plan.

The number of players that he could take still depended on the situation.

Inside his secret base, Han Xiao got up from his sofa, reached the armory, and entered the password.

The golden wall folded and opened up. A transparent pillar was in the room, and it was filled with gel and liquid. Inside the pillar was a brand-new Amphiptere suit.

“It’s time to go.”

Han Xiao pressed the button, and the gel was washed out of the pillar. The surface of the Amphiptere mechanical suit gave a cold shine under the light.

Chapter 304 - The Visitor from Above

In the night sky, far away from Planet Aquamarine, a few wormholes were opening and closing while leaking rays of rainbow and lighting up the dark universe into a colorful playground. These lights focused together and scattered away, as if it was a thin layer of silk drifting through space and mesmerized anyone who saw the view.

Around the center of the shattered wormhole was a large space station floating in space, and the shape was like three buildings stacked on each other horizontally. On the side and on the top of the space stations were different towers, some of which were the signal tower, some were space stabilizer, and others were weaponry and garages for convoys.

The bottom of the space station was a large metallic sphere, and a dark blue light surrounded the circle as if it was the path of orbit. This was the space station’s reactor, engine, and gravitation stabilizer.

The space station had a very complex and detailed structure, and it advanced and futuristic. The ‘windows’ of the buildings were space decks for spacecrafts to dock. One would have no perception of the space station without looking at the map. Each one of the decks could accommodate a spaceship that was a few hundred meters long. The space station had tens of thousands of decks, and it looked at an artificial mountain range.

It was Zuric Hub, the transit station of the Garton Galaxy.

The wormholes floating around the station were the different pathways to different civilizations in the Kerbal Stellar. Using an immense amount of resources in exchange for help from the advanced civilization, a stable stellar gate had been built, which allowed people to travel across different areas and solar systems in the Kerbal Stellar quickly and efficiently.

The space station took in thousands of spaceships every second, as if it was a beehive. A small spaceship covered in yellow and white flew into a space deck. The spaceship shook as it entered to gravitational area, and it headed into the garage after a few minutes.

The garage was filled with blue and white. The original materials for the garage were a combination of special metallic bonds and macromolecule materials. After a few seconds, the garage sounded with a women’s digital voice.

“Identity authorized. Permit granted to dock. Welcome, Captain Kerlodd, space investigator 741 of Godora.

Whoosh.

The door to the aircraft opened, and a man walked down as a platform extended onto the ground.

He was a male Godoran with light-golden skin. His hair was white and had seven braids on the back of his head. There were bolden spheres that were tied on the end of the braids. He had similar facial features to a human, but there was more space between the parts of the face. The body structure was also identical to that of human—one brain, two hands, two lands, and a schlong. There was nothing extra such as a tail or an additional limb. He was two meters tall, which was the average height of Godoran.

Kerlodd, who worked for the Godoran Space Investigation Department, was the captain of an investigation team. Even though his title was captain, he did not have any men under his command. He only had a Godora standardized suitcase, equipment, and the Observer, which was a small sized spaceship. The spaceship was thirty meters long, and it could only hold one passenger.

Kerlodd was the one who had been sent to investigated the ‘Inhumans’ on Planet Aquamarine.

“Oh wow, a pure-blood Godoran. It’s rare to see such an elite species.”

As the gate of the garage opened, a man wearing the work suit for the space station laughed. He had the same appearance as Kerlodd, but he was much shorter, and his skin was not as gold. This was half-breed Godoran, where one of his parents was another species.

“Huh, an inferior breed.” Kerlodd glanced at the worker and looked down at him. Godorans had extreme pride in remaining pure-blooded and denounces mixed breeds. It was part of their culture that they should discriminate against those who are not pure-blooded Godorans. That was why he called the worker ‘inferior breed’.

The man did not bother and said, “Just register. How long will you park here, and where will you be heading to?”

“Stopping for two days to refuel, then will head to Star Zone 9 to investigate a unusual phenomenon in a undeveloped civilization,” Kerlodd replied.

“Star Zone 9? Isn’t that a very dangerous place? Seems that you got the difficult work from your boss.”

“But since it was an uncivilized place, the reason that they thought that it was an unexplained phenomenon was because of their lack of technology. I can just take a look and come back in no time.” Kerlodd raised his chin, walked out of the garage, and headed to the resting station in the middle of the space station.

After the two left, the gate of garage closed.

After some time, a black gluey object crawled out from the platform of the space dock. It looked like it was a life form, and this unknown object was only a meter squared large.

The gluey liquid slowly crawled up to the ‘Observer’ and disappeared into the cracks of the spaceship.

…

In the icy mountain range of Planet Aquamarine’s Northern Continent, a black helicopter with the Dark Net logo rested on one of the mountains.

Han Xiao crossed his arms in front of him and viewed the clouds drifting in the mountain range. The cold air kept on slipping into his sleeves, but Han Xiao did not feel slightly cold.

On the other hand, the pilot who wore three layers of clothes was freezing to death. He asked with shaky voice, “Cough… Your Excellency, what are we doing here?”

Han Xiao looked at him with surprise. “Are you new? Did you not learn the principle to never ask questions?”

“Of… of course I did…” the pilot said with teeth chattering from cold. “But we have already waited for four days. Rather than not asking, I need to make sure if I need to prepare myself to die from hypothermia.”

Han Xiao laughed. “What’s your name?”

“Huang Jian, just finish pilot training last month.”

Han Xiao was surprised. “Huang Jian, both of the characters sound like he’s a creep. He must have a bright future ahead of him!”

With the boss joking around, what could Huang Jian do? He could only act like he did not hear it and ask, “Your Excellency, how long do we have to wait?”

“One day at minimum, but it might take up to half a month.”

Huang Jian’s face froze. The difference was too much!

After some thought, Huang Jian raised his courage and asked another question that violated the principle. “What are you waiting for?”

Han Xiao looked at him and replied, “You’ll know once it arrives.”

There were only two people in the chopper. They chattered to alleviate the boredom. However, most of the time, Han Xiao was watching the matches on the forum. The international all stars had started. All the top teams from each region competed fiercely, and the players brought endless entertainment onto the stage. Han Xiao used this to pass the time while waiting in the chopper.

All stars had players from other regions, and all of them were strong teams from their respective countries, such as Magic Field from the United States, Rose Knights from the United Kingdom, Kimchi from Korea, and Tulip from France. All of them were in the same position in their countries as Temple of God in China.

Seeing the familiar teams from the previous world, Han Xiao finally remembered that the champion of the first international competition was Tulip from France.

All Stars was the very first international competition, and all the players from different regions would pay close attention this event. The popularity was at least ten times greater than the competitions in local regions. All the winners from different countries would show their power and strength. Press conferences before and after the competitions were also filled with complements and enthusiasm. This event was a chance for the top teams to advertise themselves, and it was also to promote the upcoming international stage.

Temple of God from Planet Aquamarine also grabbed some fans from other countries as they performed well in the matches. Li Ge was happy with the result.

Three days after the end of the All Stars, every region started their quarter finals. The competition format was a best of five team battle. Long Sky was lucky that they met a weaker team from foreign country, so the powerhouses did not meet.

As for the individual bracket, Hao Tian was not so lucky. In the first round, he had to fight Li Ge.

Before the match, Li Ge was out of character as he issued an aggressive statement.

“The first opponent I will face is Hao Tian, and I think that it is good news. I can’t say that I will beat him for sure. If I’m being humble, I think my chances of beating him are around ninety percent.”

Chapter 305 - The Crash

Li Ge was very happy for suddenly becoming a hot topic among the players. Some even started to bet on his and Hao Tian’s match.

Although Li Ge had made it to the top sixteen, his main strategy revolved around slowly grinding opponents to death with his Esper abilities, and it was not all that entertaining. The vast majority of the bets were also made against Li Ge.

Frenzied Sword was matched with Thunder Storm’s Rainy Kim. Rainy Kim was also not an opponent to scoff at. Not only was she a pillar of the Thunder Storm battle team, she was also a great beauty.

It was not uncommon for attractive female players to be well-liked, especially in the esports scene, which was dominated by male players. Rainy Kim’s popularity was through the roof, and many of her crazed fans even went to Rivervale club’s official page to bash and threaten Frenzied Sword, saying that if he won, they would never forgive him.

Han Xiao had been waiting at the top of the mountain for seven to eight days, and the pros had already finished their first round of matches. Li Ge had surprisingly won the best of five against Hao Tian three to one, winning three straight rounds after giving Hao Tian the first win.

In the match recordings, Hao Tian was able to finish off Li Ge after the latter kited for ten whole minutes. Li Ge actually used the first game to analyze Hao Tian’s fighting style, and starting from the second game, Li Ge played much more proactively, as if he had seen through all of Hao Tian’s moves. His Esper abilities were also perfect for this kind of combat, and Hao Tian, like a prey caught in a spider’s web, lost three consecutive rounds.

Li Ge was actually quite a talented player. His career as a pro gamer was not long, but he had obtained many accolades. Han Xiao had even thought about adding him to his list of spare tires.

The media immediately moved its attention to Li Ge, who had now stolen all of Hao Tian’s previous popularity. He had now advanced to the top eight, and his next opponent was the one who had clinched victory over Rainy Kim, Frenzied Sword.

Frenzied Sword had barely won his fight and was able advance to the top eight. It was supposed to be a happy thing, yet Rainy Kim’s fans were relentlessly bashing him on the forums. The voices of Frenzied Sword’s supporters were drowned in a flood of hate comments. It was not until Rainy Kim herself came out and asked her fans to stop that they finally stopped this behavior, albeit feeling wronged by the person whom they were supporting.

Frenzied Sword had won the match fair and square, but all that meant nothing in front of Rainy Kim’s crazy fans; it also was not as if she could just openly denounce her fans, and she was only able to secretly apologize to Frenzied Sword about this. The two were more or less familiar with each other as they had me during the beta testing of the game.

Frenzied Sword felt helpless. He had won with his own skills, yet he had now gained a bunch of haters.

However, in the end, results were the most important when it came to these tournaments. The majority of the audience saw the match and believed that Frenzied Sword deserved the win. The excessive hate on Frenzied Sword even triggered a bunch of the more neutral players, and many rose up to become Frenzied Sword’s supporters, allowing Frenzied Sword to somehow still gain popularity despite all that.

Fame often came with trouble, and it was often hard to say who would gain the most out of those kinds of things. In Han Xiao’s opinion, most of the audience and fans were just looking for someone to flame and to argue for the sake of arguing.

When these anti-fans found out who Frenzied Sword was up against next, they started to laugh behind his back.

“You deserve this!”

“Haha, so this dumbass can only get this far.”

“Boss Li Ge will definitely stomp all over him.”

Frenzied Sword had won about fifty percent of the practice fights against Hao Tian. Han Xiao thought that things were not looking good now that he was up against Li Ge, who had won three rounds in a row against Hao Tian. There was no way that both of the players that he had raised were going to be defeated by this Li Ge, right?

…

“Sir, the satellites have discovered an unidentified object that’s rapidly approaching the atmosphere.”

The observatory of Raylen in the Northern Continent was suddenly in alert.

The satellite showed a light dot approaching Planet Aquamarine from outer space.

“Is this a meteor‽”

“Target appeared on our scanners three minutes ago before. If it was a meteor, our scanners should have noticed it much earlier. Moreover, meteors should be more affected by our Planet’s gravitational pull.”

“Don’t tell me it’s an alien spaceship?”

“The target has increased in velocity. Estimated landfall in eight minutes!”

“Coordinates? Is it an unpopulated area?”

“Target is estimated to land in a barren mountain range in the Northern Continent. The specific location is right by our country’s border!”

The professor in charge of the Observatory immediately gave out the order. “Report this to the higher ups now. Request for troops to head to the landing site!”

…

Huang Jian was bored out of his mind. He had already been waiting in this darned wasteland for ten days with Han Xiao, waiting for god knew what. But due to how legendary his boss was, the felt that Han Xiao was definitely there for a purpose, and he was curious as to what it could be.

Han Xiao was standing in the snow when he suddenly looked up in the sky. He then immediately turned around and headed for the helicopter and took out his equipment.

Something’s finally happening! Huang Jian was elated and asked, “What’re you doing?”

“It’s here,” Han Xiao answered without even looking up and quickly put on his gear.

“What’s here?” Huang Jian did not get it.

Just as he finished asking the question, an ear-piercing sound came down from the sky, causing Huang Jian to look up. A fireball flew down from the sky, and one could more or less make out the shape of an aircraft amid the flames.

Boom!

The aircraft crashed into the peak of a nearby mountain, blasting black rocks and snow everywhere. It then continued flying down and cleaved a path clean through the snowy valley, burning all the surrounding trees as it passed and causing a mini-earthquake.

The high mountain peak collapsed and caused a small avalanche.

Huang Jian mouth was hanging wide open, and all the color had drained out of his face.

“Space… space… spaceship!”

Huang Jian could not believe what he was seeing and looked toward Han Xiao. He had heard all sorts of things about Han Xiao, but it turned out that this man was even more mysterious than in the rumors! He could even know when a spaceship was going to crash land!

Quickly, Han Xiao had put on Amphiptere, stretched out the joints, and took out the flight device ‘Bat Wings’ before attaching it onto the empty slot on his back.

His helmet’s interface showed that the flight system was functioning normally.

Fly! Han Xiao commanded in his mind as he sprinted toward the cliff’s edge, and the wings started to make out buzzing noises. The turbines span at maximum capacity, and the tail-end spat out blue flames.

Huu!

Han Xiao felt a force lift his body completely off the ground.

The flight system was connected to Han Xiao’s nerves, and he controlled it to fly toward the crash site.

…

The Observer ship had gotten itself stuck, and half of its body was in the ground. The surrounding trees and grass were still on fire, but the ship itself seemed to still be in perfect condition. Its energy shield had protected the ship from breaking apart during the crash. However, the massive impact did damage the generator, and now, the shield was greatly weakened while the engines were simply done for.

Bang!

The half-bent cabin door was kicked open, and Kerlodd walked out unsteadily while holding his head in pain and throwing out random Godoran curses.

Kerlodd pressed on the golden bracelet on his right arm a few times, and a suit that looked like ancient armor sprang out and covered his entire body. A semi-transparent layer of energy surrounded his head in place of a helmet.

This was the Godoran observer combat suit. The combat suit was made to adapt to the different living conditions and environments on the various planets that the observers visited. A synthesized mechanical voice sounded out from within the suit.

“Coordinates stored. Location: Planet Aquamarine, Ninth Star System

“Gravity Level: Low

“Current Temperature: 3°C

“Climate Type…

“Air Moisture Level…

“Civilization Level: Planetary

“Danger Level: Low

“Summary: Survivable”

Kerlodd was still a bit shaken up and said, “Check body condition.”

“Analyzing… Analysis complete. Three bone fractures, moderate nerve damage, and minor damage to the brain. Inject nano-healant?”

“Inject.”

Kerlodd then felt a wave of coolness pass through him and was much better. He immediately climbed back into the cockpit as he wanted to check the reason the mainframe had stopped functioning properly. However, the warning told him that all systems were damaged.

Kerlodd felt rather helpless about this. He then tore apart the ship’s exterior to reveal the internal structure. After ripping through a bunch of wires, he finally got his hands on a palm-sized metal box. The blue light shining from the box indicated that it was still working. This was the intergalactic communicator.

Naturally, Kerlodd’s communicator was nothing like the cheap stuff developed by the Six Nations. According to observer guidelines, he needed to do two things right now. First, he had to use the communicator to get in contact with his headquarters, and second, he needed to request for help from the local civilization—the Six Nations.

At this moment, buzzing sounds came from the sky, and a figure in a black mechanical suit with two huge wings on its back landed beside the ship.

“So, it does look like what I thought it would. Oh, there’s a survivor.”

Han Xiao noticed the Godoran to the side. He was very knowledgeable and was able to tell that this was the observer suit. Han Xiao raised his eyebrows before his gaze focused on the intergalactic communicator on the Godoran’s hand.

This was what he was looking for!

“Planet Aquamarine’s local?” Kerlodd sized him up in a glance and switched on the translator mode, allowing his own language to be translated into what Han Xiao could understand. He pointed his fingers at Han Xiao, and said, “You, tell me, what is this place?”

Chapter 306 - Explosion!

In the clairvoyant view of Destiny’s Child, it could never show the details on whether a person lived or died. Han Xiao had originally decided to first get to the crash site of the spaceship and steal the intergalactic communication device. This device was the most important factor to leave the planet; the spaceship was never the target.

As it turned out, the device was still in the investigator’s possession, so the original plan would not work. He had to think of a new way to deal with the investigator.

Han Xiao thought quickly. Do I rob or swindle him?

Seeing that Han Xiao still had not replied after some time, Kerlodd frowned and said, “Hey, I asked you a question. Answer me.”

“Are you the visitor from Godora?” Han Xiao made up his mind and slowly moved toward Kerlodd.

“The civilization from this planet requested help. I am the investigator responsible for the assistance. Who are you?”

When Han Xiao was within ten meters of Kerlodd, he replied, “I am the messenger of Planet Aquamarine. I am here to invite you to our place.”

“Good. Take me to the most powerful leader in this civilization.”

Kerlodd was surprised and dropped his suspicion. He suddenly remembered something and said, “Wait for a second, I need to report back to the people who sent me here.”

“No problem. Waiting is the least I can do.”

Kerlodd was satisfied with the treatment from Planet Aquamarine, and he was even more pleased with the attitude of this ‘messenger’.

Just as he lowered his head and turned on the communication device, Han Xiao suddenly charged forward!

The ‘Bat Wing’ flying device suddenly activated, and Han Xiao shot forward as if he was a cobra. Han Xiao kicked right on Kerlodd’s body and snatched the device from his hand.

Bang!

The impact of the kick was powerful, and Kerlodd was knocked back and crashed into four trees.

Han Xiao put the device in his pocket and prepared for battle. He had decided to take the first step and create a momentum in the battle.

If he had left the investigator alone and could not stop him from contacting the Six Nations, then his identity would be revealed. More importantly, there would be no place for Han Xiao to do anything if Kerlodd talked to the Six Nations. Therefore, the only choice that he had was to take action.

There was actually another way, where Han Xiao acted like he was a man from an advanced civilization that had ended up stranded on Planet Aquamarine. He could borrow the communication device to call for help, and the best-case scenario was that the Godoran would be willing to help, but chances for that were slim.

It would be more likely that the Godoran would raise their suspicion and become alert. Knowing that the other party was from an advanced civilization rather than an uncivilized one, the investigator would hold a different attitude, and the chances of successful sneak attacks would be lower.

Moreover, using the identity of an advanced civilization was not always beneficial. Godora was one of the most powerful civilizations in the entire galaxy. There was no reason for them to help him. Even if Han Xiao was willing to offer money, Kerlodd could still contact the Six Nations to get resources. So, it was possible that they would not help Han Xiao.

The most likely scenario was that Godoran would have bad intentions. Was it not a freebie to kill a wanderer without any backup?

With only a few seconds to think, Han Xiao had decided to directly use brute force and rob the device. Not only that, he also came up with a new plan. First, he had to stop Kerlodd from talking to the Six Nations.

On the receiving end of the attack, Kerlodd slowly got up without any injury. The battle suit was still releasing a golden glow, which was the shield embedded in the suit.

Kerlodd’s expression was cold, and he took the two small golden balls that were attached to his braids. The Mechanical force flashed on his fingertips, and the small ball expanded. One ball became a golden shield, while the other ball turned into golden spear. The appearance was old-fashioned, but one could feel the energy embedded in the weapon, showing that they were not ordinary weapons.

“You uncultured swine, you’ve made a big mistake.”

The transformation from the golden ball to a weapon was a mechanic skill. Advance civilizations basically had this skill in hand, and it was clear that Godora had better equipment.

Kerlodd was a LV 63 Mechanical Pugilist. Pure-blooded Godorans had much higher attributes compared to humans. His attributes where not lower than the LV 60 Pugilist on Planet Aquamarine, and with advanced equipment, his power points were around 3000 Ona, a Class C Super. Just from the power points, he was stronger than all the LV 60 Superhumans on Planet Aquamarine.

But he did not surpass Han Xiao.

The battle erupted.

Han Xiao spread out his wings, and the four machine guns on the wings fired rapidly. Kerlodd raised his shield, and the shield release a larger circular light shield on top of it.

Ding ding dang dang!

All the bullets were reflected by the light shield.

Kerlodd roared with anger and pointed his spear right at Han Xiao. The head of a spear suddenly fired a golden bullet in an arrow shape. Han Xiao jumped in an instant, and the bullet passed right by his feet. The bullet left clear holes in the trees that were on its path and disappeared into the distance.

Godoran craftsmanship combined technology and magic, so it was not an ordinary weapon that was based on technology. Instead, its power was stronger than normal explosive powder, where one light bullet could take out 500 armor points; the damage was extremely high.

Han Xiao hovered in midair and used the sniper to kite the enemy. However, all the electromagnetic bullets were blocked off by the shield. At the same time, Kerlodd pulled off another golden ball, which formed a weird gun that was the size of half of the body and fired into the sky.

Hong!

A bright red beam shot out of the barrel. Han Xiao tried to dodge it, but he still got tagged by the edge of them beam, and the armor points dropped by 300.

The Mechanic class clearly showed the power of having a better equipment and weapons. Kerlodd was supposed to be an enemy from Version 2.0, so it was natural that one felt his damage was too high.

Even though investigators were not famous for their combat skills, Kerlodd was different. He had great confidence in his combat abilities, and he thought that he could suppress anyone from the lower civilization with just his equipment alone.

Kerlodd had the sense of pride as a part of a higher civilization, and he did not put Planet Aquamarine in his eyes. He did not understand why Han Xiao attacked, but a lower species trying to challenge him was just to ask for death. He wanted Han Xiao to understand the position that he was in.

Han Xiao remained calm. It was not the first time that he had fought someone stronger than him. Even though Kerlodd had good equipment and attributes, but he was still an elite model, so the skills and abilities were all normal.

This is probably the first time I’ve fought with a space soldier. His ranged attack is stronger than mine. I need to try and get close.

Han Xiao instantly adapted his plan and dove down onto the enemy. Four Sonic Spheres flew and exploded around Kerlodd. Kerlodd’s shield was affected by the attack, meaning that the attack was stable.

Kerlodd counter attacked with his spear. Han Xiao also used a basic shield made out of electromagnetic field and blocked the attack.

Hum—

The sparks dance around the friction between Han Xiao’s electromagnetic blades and Kerlodd’s shield.

Bang bang bang!

Punches and kicks with huge bursts of energy landed on Kerlodd’s body. The shield was heavily weakened, and the suit was also heavily damaged.

Even though close quarter combat was advantageous for a Mechanical Pugilist, Han Xiao had a variety of skills and abilities that overwhelmed Kerlodd.

The two men did not rest for a second, and the battlefield was soon moved away from the spaceship crash site and into a forest.

Even though the Godoran investigator had the advantage in equipment, Han Xiao’s attacks were too complex and unpredictable. Kerlodd could not hold back the attacks as he got more and more frustrated.

[Sonic Sphere—Penetrate] again released a penetrating sound wave. The shield flickered, and the energy was finally exhausted.

He’s so hard to deal with!

As Kerlodd realized the danger that he was in, he intentionally left an opening and used his suit to take a direct hit from Han Xiao. The light of suit dimmed again, but Kerlodd had the chance to open up another ball. It turned into a battle axe, which was the weapon that had the highest damage.

He had decided to end this battle!

The axe exploded in light like burning sun, and Kerlodd whirled it in the air and chopped down.

Hong!!

The earth cracked, and the impact wave exploded onto the side. The suit showed another ferocious crack, and the armor points dropped again.

“One more!” Kerlodd roared. He took a step back, used another skill as his body shined, and attacked again.

The signal of danger was imminent and deadly—the air pressure was landing at extremely high speed!

“Nice!” Han Xiao was happy instead of being afraid. He quickly activated the skill that he had saved up.

[Aftershock – Death Thorns]!

Dang!

The battle axe flew away, and Kerlodd fell to the ground on his knees as his hands were covered in his own blood.

The maxed-out skill [Aftershock – Death Thorns] could return fifty percent of close combat damage, which broke through Kerlodd’s armor and dealt actual damage.

The Sonic Spheres again landed on the enemy, and Kerlodd was knocked away. However, the shield on his suit was still active.

“You are strong. I did not think that this planet had people who are this strong.”

Kerlodd tried to catch his breath. He stood up again and took another two balls, which turned into another shield and a longsword.

“But choosing to fight me was your biggest mistake! My equipment is so much stronger than yours. You are a strong fighter, so I will kill you with honor.”

Han Xiao stopped moving and shook his head.

“Man, I didn’t want to do this.”

Before Kerlodd realized what was going on, Han Xiao’s energy power boosted at an insane rate. The thick and strong mechanical force covered the mechanical suit, as if it was a lighting snake crawling on his body. The energy core of the mechanical suit was so bright that it hurt Kerlodd’s eyes.

At the same time, a shadow of a man wearing a black mask appeared behind Han Xiao.

_____________________

Mechanical Skill [Snake – Devil]: Energy core overloads, attributes buff increases. All modules have no cost.

Duration of Status: 2 – 7 minutes

Cooldown: 7 days

Character Summon Card: Germinal Organization Leader [Combo Penetration]: For the next 8 seconds, all skills deal critical true damage, ignoring all armor. The target’s defense status will also decrease by 24%, lasting 5 minutes.

Usage: 1/12

_____________________

And also, Flaming Will! Overload! Surging Mechanical Force!

Bang Bang Bang Bang!

The tsunami of attacks washed over the frightened face of Kerlodd.

Chapter 307 - Alien Captive

The sound of the explosions came continuously from where the spaceship had crashed. Huang Jian rubbed his hands and exhaled, worried.

Sounds like a battle, but who is he fighting?

Huang Jian was confused. In this unpopulated wilderness, was Han Xiao fighting with an alien?

Even the thought of it made him think that it was such a crazy world.

After a while, the sound disappeared, and Huang Jian worried even more. Although he had heard of how strong Han Xiao was, the enemy was an alien after all.

If anything happens to him, there won’t be anyone giving me orders. Should I continue to wait or…

Just as he was in a dilemma, an outline of a person flew in his direction from the place where the spaceship crashed and approached very quickly; it was Han Xuan, and he landed near the helicopter. Some parts of his mechanical suit had even cracked, exposing the wires inside, sparkling with electricity.

“Great, you’re okay.” Huang Jian heaved a sigh of relief. Suddenly, he saw that Han Xiao had brought along a being of a species that he had never seen before, and its feet and hands were locked by electrical handcuffs—that was Kerlodd, who was had multiple bruises on his face and was naked.

“A—a—ali…” Huang Jian stuttered and pointed at Kerlodd in shock, unable to say a complete word.

“An alien, took me quite some effort to capture him.” Han Xiao grabbed Kerlodd by his hair and stuffed him into the cabin. This Godoran’s face was filled with rage, but his mouth was blocked, so he could not say anything.

Huang Jian was stunned. He knew that Han Xiao was strong, but he did not know that Han Xiao was so strong that he could even capture an alien. His knowledge of Han Xiao was refreshed.

“Fly the helicopter quickly. This place is close to Raylen’s border, so their people will be here very soon,” Han Xiao said.

Huang Jian started flying the helicopter hastily, and they departed.

Han Xiao took off the mechanical suit on the helicopter and checked its damage. The armor was only at twenty percent. The Godora investigator’s equipment was much more advanced; however, his last burst had made Kerlodd unable to fight back at all. All Kerlodd could do was lie there and take it.

He destroyed the investigator suit, seized the tiny golden ball, made sure that Kerlodd would not be able to touch any weapon, and only left him with a translator to make fooling him easier… no, to make communicating with him easier.

He got the communicator and a Godoran—the result was better than expected.

I can still get quite a number of things from him. I shall deal with him after getting back. Han Xiao thought on the new plan.

Huang Jian was very curious about the alien, and he kept turning back. “Your Excellency, does he bite?”

He, a high civilization investigator, was being looked down on by a native as a savage beast! Kerlodd was furious, but his limbs were all tied, so he could only express his protests by knocking his head on the metal plate strongly.

“I don’t think he bites…” Han Xiao touched his chin and said with a low voice, “but seeing that he’s so furious, maybe he has such twisted interests.”

Bang! Bang!

Kerlodd continued knocking his head on the metal plate.

“Is he edible?” Huang Jian asked curiously.

Han Xiao pinched the Godoran’s arms and said, “The skin is quite smooth, and the meat is rather solid. Are you interested?”

Huang Jian hesitated then nodded and said, “I have never eaten an alien before.”

Boom boom boom!

The frequency of head knocking on the metal plate became higher.

Underdeveloped! Savages! Kerlodd growled in his heart, then a tint of fear appeared in his mind.

Do these natives really want to eat me‽

Huang Jian was very interested and asked questions one after another, wanting to understand how Han Xiao knew an alien would arrive on in Planet Aquamarine and why he captured the alien. Incidentally, Kerlodd wanted to know the answer to these questions as well.

First, the space ship malfunctioned and was barely crash-landed, then came this strong guy in a mechanical suit, saying that he was there to welcome him. However, this ‘representative’ sneak attacked him, beat him up, and bound him.

Thinking that the analysis panel’s danger evaluation to Planet Aquamarine was ‘Low’, Kerlodd was in a rage. How long has it been since the database was last updated? How is this not dangerous!

Besides, who is he? Why did he capture me? How did he know I crash landed here?

Kerlodd could not figure it out, and of course, Han Xiao was not saying anything.

“Is it a male or female?” Huang Jian was curious.

“Check it yourself,” Han Xiao said with a weird expression.

Huang Jian opened his eyes wide and looked for a while, then said in surprise, “I thought that since this alien’s build is so huge, it should be huge too…”

Boom!

Kerlodd could not take the humiliation anymore and used all his strength to bang his head against the metal plate, knocking himself unconscious.

…

More than ten minutes after the helicopter left, Raylen’s troops arrived late at the scene, found the crashed spaceship, and immediately locked the area down in shock.

“This is a spaceship from outer space!”

“According to the orders from above, this is a spaceship from the friendly Godoran Civilization that was specifically sent to help us investigate the Inhumans!”

“Even the mountain peak was destroyed—this was not a usual landing, and the spaceship wrecked! Check for survivors immediately!”

“Report, no corpses were discovered in the spaceship. There are traces of a battle here!”

Raylen’s troops collected clues, observed the battlefield, and reached their first conclusion.

“Two people fought each other, both superhumans. One of them used weapons unknown to us. The marks on these trees seem like they were melted through by laser beams; the slash marks are extremely smooth; they were not caused by ordinary cold weapons. These battle traces have comparatively higher radiation levels, so this should be the Godoran.

“The other party used firearms; the metal construction of the bullet shells is similar to ours. There are also some armor shards in the ground, so this should be someone very strong in our planet. The actual person needs to be further verified with the database. From the destruction level of the scene, this person’s strength is definitely at the top of Planet Aquamarine, and there are very limited people in this category. The person should be identified within a short period.

“The result of the battle was most likely that the Godoran was captured and taken away.”

“Are there any other discoveries?”

At this time, a researcher noticed that the spaceship’s armor was open, and inside were the internal parts of the spaceship. He looked inside curiously, and as he was using the torchlight, he suddenly found something special. The researcher said, “There seem to be liquid in the spaceship.”

“Liquid?”

The crowd surrounded the area. With a strong light shining in, they found a pile of metal and pipes covered in black, sticky liquid.

“What is that?”

“Probably fuel.”

At this time, the officer suddenly said, “Orders from above, transport the spaceship back to the nation secretly!”

The accident that happened to the Godora spaceship was a once in a blue moon chance for the Planet Aquamarine regimes, so Raylen decided to research on the technology of the spaceship. Since they were behind the other civilizations, they had to grab any chance to develop themselves; the hope of prospering only appeared when there were risks.

Of course, Raylen did not want to anger the Godoran Civilization, so they would report this to the Godoran Civilization, but they were going to delay it for some time, acting oblivious to the situation.

Raylen took this very seriously. They were determined to prevent news of the incident from spreading, and they wanted to have the spaceship excluding themselves.

About the missing Godoran, Raylen decided to search in secret.

The engineering team soon arrived. They dug out the spaceship, covered it in black cloth, and used three transporting helicopters to move it into Raylen’s territory.

Chapter 308 - Deal

Being back at the Sanctuary, Han Xiao locked Kerlodd in his secret base, then checked his battle trophies.

_____________________

Godora Battle Spear (Super Model)

Type: Highly Compressed Cold Weapon + Light Element Enhanced

Quality: Green

Basic Stats: Melee Damage 247 – 255, Ranged Damage 294 – 381

Power Output: 346

Requirements: Above LV 50, Above 1500 Energy

Length: 1.7 m

Weight: 37 lbs

Energy Source: Level3 Magic Engraving

Made in: Godora Military Satellite 7, Dawn Military Workshop, No. 248 Assembly Line. Product Serial Number PV1324

Ability: [Golden Thrust]

– Activates Energy Engravings and releases magic bullets from the tip of the spear.

– Energy Usage: 5 per shot

– Cooldown: 11 s after every 20 shots.

Ability: [Godora Slash]

– Using 10 Energy, releases an arc light blade, +240% attack area of next slash, +60% damage, deals splash damage

– Cooldown: 8.6 s

Additional Effect: [Magic Affinity] — Using MiGold as the material, +12% Magic Resistance

Additional Effect: [Portable Compressing] — Can be compressed into a gold sphere

Remarks: Godora Crafted Weapon, made with MiGold, has light element blessing and high compressing technology. A product made from the combination of vintage aesthetics and advanced technology, of magic and technology, it is useable in both melee and ranged battles. It is common equipment in Godoran Civilization.

_____________________

These small golden spheres were assembly line products, standard equipment for an investigator, and not made by Kerlodd himself. He was a standard galactic warrior. Plus, Mechanical Pugilists were more focused on fighting, so their building abilities were very low.

All seven golden spheres were products of technology and magic. The basic damage was two to three times higher than usual gunpowder firearms, and with the enhancements from mechanic abilities, the difference would be even larger.

The standard equipment for high civilizations could be roughly divided into two types, normal models and Super models. Stronger beings could use strong weapons with higher requirements and make better use of their energy, whereas normal models were equivalent to gray quality.

The ‘Super’ in Super models referred to those with superpowers, like Superhumans. However, naturally, not every being in the universe was a human; thus, Super was used as a catch-all term.

Magic knowledge is not compatible with me; I can’t reverse engineer the building process of this equipment. In the case of the normal path of pure machinery, after the gunpowder firearms should be the electromagnetic energy firearms, and the basic attributes of those are about the same level as this.

Han Xiao nodded. The strength of standard equipment of civilizations was an indirect indication of that civilization’s strength. Godora was a Galactic Civilization, and compared to the entire Galaxy, its civilization level was in the middle. However, in the eyes of Planet Aquamarine people, any civilization able to travel in the galaxy was an advanced civilization.

If players wanted to build mixed equipment with combined technology, it would require different classes working together, a Mechanic building the basic structures and a Mage giving blessings. There were also some restrictions on the details.

This was the first batch of galactic equipment that Han Xiao had acquired, and his favorite was that firearm that could shoot a beam cannon, which had a very magical name—Wrath of Garrett. Its range was six hundred meters, and its basic damage was an astonishing five hundred! It could temporarily replace the Ghost sniper rifle, becoming the best weapon to use with Flaming Will.

However, the most important thing about a Mechanic was the machinery they made themself—only these could be considered as regular equipment. Han Xiao was very clear of this fact, and these new weapons could only be used during his transition into the galaxy.

After putting away the equipment, Han Xiao took out the galactic communicator. His face turned serious in the face of the key item.

At this time, Kerlodd, who had been tossed and left in the corner, secretly opened his eyes. Seeing that Han Xiao was looking at the galactic communicator, his lips warped into a sneer.

Although he had become a prisoner, Kerlodd still held onto his sense of superiority; he was sure that this Planet Aquamarine native would not be able to use the communicator. In his eyes, Han Xiao was like a monkey getting its new toy.

A thought appeared in his mind, and Kerlodd suddenly felt energetic. He doesn’t know how to use any of this equipment, which means he will definitely ask me about to use them. Maybe I can trick him into sending a rescue signal to the headquarters without him knowing…

Kerlodd felt this plan could work, and he became excited as he saw hope.

At this time, Han Xiao easily brought up the translucent crystal screen of the communicator, looked at the screen full of Godora words, chose the option to switch language instantly, and changed it into Planet Aquamarine’s language. Back then, when Godorans first came in contact with Planet Aquamarine, they had keyed the Planet Aquamarine language into the database. This was one of the things that had to be done when they discovered a new civilization, only then could they analyze the language for ease of communication.

The Galactic Communicator was a necessity for galactic travel; every player in his previous life used it before, and Han Xiao was so familiar with it that he could even operate it with his eyes closed. He easily brought up the login interface for a personal account, turned to look at the stunned Kerlodd, and said casually, “Kerlodd, right? Good that you’re awake. Now, tell me your personal account.”

“How can you possibly know how to use the communicator? And about personal accounts? Who are you‽” Kerlodd’s eyes were filled with disbelief. He could almost not make sense of his words and was terrified—how could a native know about these things‽

There was only one explanation for this—this guy is definitely not a native! He came from the galaxy as well!

Thinking of this, Kerlodd’s sense of superiority was nowhere to be found anymore; he was stunned and confused.

Originally, he had planned to threaten the man with the name of Godora, but it would only be useful against a native. People in the galaxy would not be afraid of such a vague threat at all. With the distance and peace treaty limitations, this method would not work at all. Furthermore, he was just a little investigator, not anyone in a high position.

“Who am I?” Han Xiao raised the corner of his lips and said deliberately mysteriously, “Our meeting was rushed. Please, allow me to officially introduce myself. My name is Han Xiao. There’s nothing else you need to know.”

Kerlodd was more convinced of his guess and felt that Han Xiao was very mysterious. He looked Han Xiao in his eyes and saw an abyss filled with mist. Suddenly, it occurred to him, and he yelled, “Wait a minute, how did you know my name‽”

“You are a Godoran Investigator, ordered to investigate the so-called ‘Inhumans’ in Planet Aquamarine,” Han Xiao said slowly. “Due to unknown reasons, your spaceship met an accident.”

“Are you a mind reader or Foreseer?” Kerlodd said with a cautious expression. He discreetly used his energy to protect his mind; however, he did not discover any traces of it being invaded.

“Guess,” Han Xiao said mockingly.

This attitude made Kerlodd grind his teeth, but he had no choice under such circumstances. He held his anger and asked, “Why did you attack me?”

Han Xiao pointed at the communicator and said, “Don’t worry, this is not personal. I also am not hostile toward Godora. All I want is this.”

“You call this not hostile?” Kerlodd tried to pull away from the mechanical chains in rage.

Han Xiao sat on the sofa, placed his hands on his knees, leaned toward the Godoran with a pressurizing look, and said coldly, “If I was hostile, you would already be dead.”

“You just think I am still useful to you,” Kerlodd said with abhorrence.

“Correct answer, no reward.” Han Xiao smiled. “I just need the communicator to contact Galactic Travel Agency and leave this planet. We cannot be considered enemies. The crash of your spaceship had nothing to do with me, and attacking you was just to prevent accidents. I know about Godorans’ arrogance full well, and we can only have a proper talk after I defeat you. Now, I have a deal I want to talk to you about… Of course, you are in no place to reject.”

Kerlodd clenched his teeth and said, “Go ahead!”

“I need to borrow the money in your personal account. If you are willing to cooperate, I can let you go and bring you to leave with me. At that time, you can return home if you like.”

Kerlodd was surprised. “You’re willing to let me go?”

“Why not?” Han Xiao laughed. “I have no grudge with or hatred toward Godora; I’m just robbing you of your money, not your life. I didn’t really hurt you. Or is it that, because I defeated you, you are holding grudges and want revenge?”

Kerlodd thought carefully. Indeed, Han Xiao’s direct conflict with him was only their fight. Although he had lost, Han Xiao did not hurt him severely and even gave him a chance to return home. Godora had the old tradition of admiring the strong, and he was an investigator, so fighting was normal.

Although he was still quite upset, Kerlodd’s rage gradually cooled down.

After pondering, he said with dignity, “As long as you fulfill your part of the deal, I am willing to cooperate. I can promise in the name of God Gal that I will never seek revenge; I admit my defeat.”

God Gal was the religious god of Godora, so this kind of promise was very solemn.

Chapter 309 - All Ready

Clank!

The heavy chains fell onto the ground. Kerlodd heaved a sigh of relief, moved his limbs around, and awkwardly looked down on his nude body. “Can I…”

A set of clothes were thrown toward him. Kerlodd shoved them on hastily; being naked would have humiliated anyone.

Han Xiao stared at Kerlodd with a smile the whole time. Kerlodd’s personal account had galactic general currency. Calling the galactic travel agency needed money, and since Han Xiao was unsure if they would accept resources as payment, getting the general currency was insurance.

Furthermore, he indeed did not want to kill Kerlodd. Although he had the upper hand now, Godora definitely knew that an investigator had come to Planet Aquamarine, gotten into an accident, and lost contact. Thus, they would contact Six Nations at some point or even send out new investigator team.

The truth would always be revealed. If he killed Kerlodd, the conflict would only get more intense, and there was no need for that. Letting Kerlodd live meant that the personal conflict would not become a bigger one. Investigators often met a bit of danger; as long he did not die, Godora would definitely not bother as such small conflict was nothing.

Of course, although Kerlodd had made a promise, Han Xiao did not trust him completely. At least he would not let Kerlodd out of his sight in Planet Aquamarine and would not return any of his equipment to him.

Because of him acting mysterious, Kerlodd assumed that Han Xiao came from the galaxy as well, so he would not dare to make a move easily unknown of his identity.

As expected, Kerlodd asked again, “Who are you really?”

“Galactic Human,” Han Xiao said with perfunctory.

The human race in the galaxy was a very large species, and there were countless branches. Kerlodd observed that Han Xiao seemed to be the most common type of Galaxy Human race. Not being able to identify Han Xiao’s origins, he scratched his head and said, “Okay, I will not ask again. When are you planning to leave? I want to go home soon.”

“Not too long.”

Han Xiao planned to bring the pro players from the Planet Aquamarine Division away. The Divisions would soon end; he could wait.

“By the way,” Kerlodd suddenly said, “where’s my spaceship?”

“Someone took it away, probably without the intention of returning it to you.” Han Xiao knew full well what had happened after. He knew that Raylen locked down the information just from the fact that there was no intelligence about the crashed spaceship from the intelligence agents in the Dark Net; it was clear what Raylen wanted to do.

Kerlodd was upset and did not think about contacting the Six Nations at this time. The current situation did not favor him, so he did not want to take the risk. Furthermore, he felt that he had more to say to Han Xiao, who also came from the galaxy like him, and communicating with him would be easier than with the natives.

“What malfunction did your spaceship have?” Han Xiao asked.

“I don’t know either. It was flying normally and perfectly under stealth mode, and when approaching Planet Aquamarine, the engine suddenly stopped working. Although the observer spaceship isn’t big, it was very stable. I have no idea why it would suddenly malfunction.

Han Xiao thought about it before shaking his head

He started to get down to business. He turned on the communicator and registered for a personal account. The communicator also worked as a personal terminal—its personal account functions were very rich and had a bank transfer function, the most common way of making a deal in the galaxy, quick and convenient. Every big civilization had their own galactic bank, among which, the most authorized and powerful ones were the three Universal Civilization banks of course. The banks worked with each other, and they could be used anywhere in the galaxy.

Han Xiao picked one randomly and told Kerlodd to make the transfer.

Ding!

“Your account has been transferred 878 Enas.” A pleasant-sounding female voice appeared from the terminal.

“Only this much money? You’re too poor.” Han Xiao could not help but complain.

Enas was the general currency in the galaxy, the most common currency unit used.

Kerlodd’s face turned red, and he said, “I don’t have the habit of saving. Being an investigator is a tough job, and I need to enjoy myself… Wait a minute, why am I explaining myself to you?”

He suddenly realized that he was being robbed—why did he even have to feel ashamed of having little money?

Having received the money, Han Xiao’s target was achieved, and he felt assured. Counting the days, the Planet Aquamarine Divisions would last for about more than ten days, and he planned to use that time to contact the galactic travel agency in advance.

There were thousands of channels in the communicator. Han Xiao looked through and entered ‘Garton Galaxy Travel Agency Channel’. A dense list of traveling routes appeared on the screen, and a cold electrical voice appeared.

“Is filtering required?”

“Yes.”

“Location?”

“Star Zone 9, Planet Aquamarine.”

“Destination?”

Han Xiao paused then said, “Juberly Hub.”

“Please select price range.”

“Cheapest.” Han Xiao gave ‘Kerlodd the Cheapskate’ a stare.

“Number of travelers?”

“A few dozen.”

“Race?”

“Human.”

“Have you used the Galactic Travel agency before?”

‘Yes.”

After more than twenty questions, the result was finally filtered down, leaving only five traveling agencies. The Galactic Travel agency was a very large industry, and many large organizations provided this service. This was one of the cheapest ways for galactic travel, like a private hire, or more accurately, a ‘public spaceship’.

Han Xiao chose the ‘Short Horn Star’ travel agency as this was a galactic travel agency with a very good name. After choosing, the communicator transferred the communication channel into the Short Horn Star salesperson channel, letting both parties discuss the details.

“Greetings, thank you for choosing Short Horn Star. We will provide you the best high-quality and inexpensive services…”

The salesperson was a beautiful human female. According to the race of the customer, they would be assigned to salespersons meeting their standard of beauty. After the saleswoman finished her welcoming opening, she said, “We have received your travel requirements. Fortunately, a Whale Spaceship will pass by Star Zone 9 in twenty days’ time. We will bring you to the ship by then. What grade of seats would you like? We have economy class, business class, first-class class, VIP cabins, and even VVIP cabins.

“What’s the price for the economy cabins?”

“3 Enas per person. How many seats would you like to reserve?”

Han Xiao quickly counted before saying, “Fifty.”

Bringing about fifty of high skill players in the top places should be enough. Bringing some players was a very important part of the plan.

Han Xiao then paid the deposit and confirmed the boarding time, nodding in his mind. The preparation of heading into the galaxy could be considered completed. His destination was Juberly Hub, a transfer station in Garton Galaxy with accessible and convenient transportations. Various races of the Colton Group gathered there, and there were many opportunities. In Han Xiao’s plan, the Juberly Hub was the most suitable to be his first station of entering the galaxy.

Now, I just have to wait for the players to finish the competition. I will then make an announcement, and the team will be created. It’s all ready.

There were some matters in Planet Aquamarine that he had to deal with before leaving.

…

For a few days in a row, Han Xiao transferred his resources secretly and brought Kerlodd along all the time. He made him wear a cape covering his skin. They occasionally appeared before people in the sanctuary, raising some curiosity and shock as to why there was suddenly a mysterious man alongside Han Xiao.

During the battle between the top eight to decide top four in the Singles, Frenzied Sword met Li Ge. Frenzied Sword, who everyone expected to lose before the match, gave an astonishing performance. After five tough battles, he beat Li Ge by one round. This time, Frenzied Sword expressed what a Mechanical Pugilist was fully capable of and finally showcased something he had been hiding, his Energy Warhammer. Its explosive power was even stronger than a Pugilist, helping him to break through Li Ge’s combos.

Frenzied Sword entered top four Singles, and the haters suddenly all disappeared. The victory was the best confidence boost, his ‘China’s Best Mechanical Pugilist’ nickname in the forums became more popular. He was considered the black horse of the first season!

Li Ge did not think that he would lose to Frenzied Sword, and unfortunate things did not come alone. The Temple of God entered the top four teams, meeting Long Sky. This time, Hao Tian gave his all. He cleansed himself of his previous shame, defeated Temple of God, and entered the finals of the Groups.

The situation became clear. Long Sky and Dynasty would fight for the Divisions Champions and Runner-Up. Temple of God could only fight for Second Runner-Up with another team. As for the Singles, if things went smoothly, Frenzied Sword could very possibly enter the top three, and he had a very high chance of entering the Internationals. As for the champion, not that Han Xiao looked down on Frenzied Sword, but Dynasty’s King Admiral was way too strong. His skills, control, and attributes were almost undefeatable in Version 1.0. Dynasty seemed to have the momentum of becoming the champion; the media favored them.

Even so, Frenzied Sword’s achievements and popularity were way better than what he had boasted in Han Xiao’s previous life. It had definitely been worthwhile cultivating him.

The Divisions lasted for about half a year. The batch of players with the highest level already reached an average level of the limit LV 60.

As Han Xiao was doing his preparation discreetly, Bennett suddenly called him.

“I have arrived at Sanctuary Three. Where are you?”

“Why are you suddenly here?” Han Xiao said jokingly. “Missed me?”

“What do you think?” Bennett said with a very serious tone. “Where did you hide that alien? You didn’t eat him, did you?”

Han Xiao’s smile disappeared, and he frowned. “Did Huang Jian expose it?”

“Talk when we meet. You’re in big trouble this time again!” Bennett said with a low voice, but there was not much blame in his tone… He was already used to having trouble drop from the sky.

Chapter 310 - Raylen's Message

In the high tower of Sanctuary Three, Bennett stood behind the window with hands behind his back and looked down on the players in the square with deep and mysterious emotions in his eyes.

The door was pushed open. Han Xiao walked in, and Bennett asked with a serious expression, “Is that alien still alive?”

Han Xiao stepped aside, and Kerlodd walked in as well. Bennett’s pupils constricted; this was the first time that he had seen an alien, so he could not help but stare, forgetting himself.

“Native, what are you looking at!” Kerlodd said unhappily.

“He speaks our language?” Bennett said with surprise.

Han Xiao pointed at the translator and explained it to Bennett—only then did Bennett understand.

“Aliens’ technology is indeed advanced,” Bennett commented. He looked at the two of them and said in confusion, “Didn’t you capture him? Why does it look like…”

“We have agreed on some matters.” Han Xiao did not want Kerlodd to hear their following conversation, so he took off his translator.

“How did you know about the alien?” Han Xiao asked.

Bennett shook his head and said in a low voice, “Raylen told me, or else I wouldn’t have known an alien came. They investigated you, confirmed that you captured the alien, and contacted me discreetly to demand that you to give them the alien.”

Han Xiao was not surprised that it was Raylen. Following the traces at that time, they would indeed investigate him. Besides he had never planned to hide it because there was no need to.

“And what if I reject?”

“Their official response was ‘violent methods will be unavoidable’. Raylen is very firm this time.”

Not only was Han Xiao one of the biggest contributors to the fall of the Germinal Organization, but he was also the strongest superhuman in Planet Aquamarine. So, the Six Nations respected him. However, Raylen had made up their mind this time and had a very strong attitude; they were not preparing to give him face and wanted to force Han Xiao to give up the Godoran and control him. Han Xiao inwardly shook his head; Raylen’s hostility meant nothing to him anymore.

Bennett was very speechless. “Can you tell me, how did you kidnap an alien back after a casual walk outside? What do you want to do?”

Han Xiao sat down, looked at Bennett, and said, “I’m planning to leave Planet Aquamarine.”

Bennett was completely stunned.

This message was way too sudden, Bennett only regained his focus after a while and asked with surprise, “Why? Are you really an alien?”

“Compared to the galaxy, Planet Aquamarine is just a tiny rural place. The world is so large, and I want to explore it.” Han Xiao smiled.

Turns out this was the reason for the capture the alien…

Bennett adjusted his mindset very quickly. He had seen a lot of things. After all, he said with some sadness, “You are a friend who shares the same ideals as me. If you’ve really decided that, I can only wish you all the best. I will miss you.”

Han Xiao looked him in the eye and smiled. “That’s a wider world, aren’t you tempted? Do you want to come with me?”

Bennett’s mind drifted away a little. It was like he saw the endless galaxy in Han Xiao’s eyes. Men’s romance was the sea of stars, and one could only look further by standing taller.

His heart started beating faster; the desire for exploration in his heart became stronger.

However, Bennett calmed down very quickly. He shook his head and said, “The sanctuary is my ideal. Sorry, I need to continue it.”

Han Xiao hesitated and said, “There’s actually another reason. A disaster will sweep over Planet Aquamarine in two to three years’ time; I foresaw it. It’s a horrifying disaster, and there’s a very low chance of surviving… Are you really not leaving?”

Han Xiao decided to warn Bennett about the arrival of the Mutation Disaster. After all, Bennett had treated him well. It was dangerous staying in Planet Aquamarine, and Han Xiao wanted to enter the galaxy before Version 1.0. One of the main goals that he had was to avoid the first and most dangerous wave of disaster when the Mutation Disaster arrived in Planet Aquamarine.

With the possible identity of a foreseer, Han Xiao’s ‘foresight’ had reasons to be believed.

However, after Bennett listened carefully to Han Xiao’s rough description of the disaster, his hesitation disappeared completely, and he said, “Then I categorically have to stay; this is my home, and she needs me.”

Han Xiao stared at Bennett for a while before letting out a long sigh.

“Indeed, that’s the type of person you are.”

People’s beliefs differed and could not be forced. Bennett stared at Han Xiao with complicated emotions in his eyes and asked, “Are you leaving to avoid the danger?”

Han Xiao smiled and said, “The solution to the disaster is hidden in the galaxy. Not only am I avoiding danger, but I am also looking for the solution in the galaxy.”

He did not lie to Bennett; solving the Mutation Disaster in Version 2.0 in advance was part of his plan. If he could change the storyline of Planet Aquamarine in Version 2.0, he would definitely gain some Legendary Points.

Hearing this, Bennett smiled and said, “I was not wrong about you. When I heard your speech back then, I knew we are the same type of people.”

We are not! Han Xiao’s lips twitched. That speech had been completely copied from Bennett’s original words in his previous life. The last time that Han Xiao had gone to look for Bennett in Sanctuary One, he had seen the speech hung in Bennett’s office and was specified that the original author was Han Xiao, showing Bennett’s admiration to the speech, and that had been a little awkward for Han Xiao.

Anyway, although their motive was different, their goal was the same, so the motives would not matter.

Since Bennett knew about Han Xiao’s thoughts, he completely left Raylen’s demands behind.

“How are you going to leave Planet Aquamarine?”

“I have already made the arrangements; you will know by then.”

Seeing that Han Xiao did not want to give the details, Bennett held back his curiosity and said, “If you leave, Sanctuary Three will need to elect a new person in charge, do you have anyone to recommend?”

Han Xiao pondered and said, “Huang Yu. He has been dealing with all the daily matters in the sanctuary, and he is very familiar of the situation here. It will be most suitable for him to take over.”

Through the influence of the Pro League, the Players’ Main City impression of Sanctuary Three was complete. Even if Han Xiao left, the sanctuary’s position would not be affected. Sanctuary Three had his name in it, and every player arriving at the place would be reminded of him.

However, the sanctuary players would not be able to enjoy all of his ‘functions’, which might cause the sanctuary to lose some of its popularity.

Han Xiao suddenly had a new thought. Maybe there’s a way to continue strengthening the influence of the sanctuary even after I leave the planet…

Since he had already told Bennett about the Mutation Disaster, this ‘foresight’ should be able to make more impact. Han Xiao gave it a slight thought and came up with a plan, memorizing it in his heart.

Bennett agreed that Huang Yu was a suitable candidate as well. Suddenly, Bennett said with a serious tone, “There are too many Inhumans in Sanctuary Three, even more than the refugees; they’re taking up too much space. They have unknown origins and are too mysterious. This is a potential security threat, I don’t know how you make them work for you, but if you leave, what are we going to do with them?”

“When the disaster is upon us, the Inhumans will most likely be the pillar of sanctuary’s protection. Don’t be too strict toward them—accept and include them.” As the players grew, the various organizations in Planet Aquamarine feared ‘Inhumans’ more and more, and naturally, Bennett was not an exception. He had to convince Bennett to make sure that his achievements in Planet Aquamarine would not be destroyed.

Upon hearing this, Bennett’s expression changed. “If that’s the case, I will take it very seriously.”

Although he feared the Inhumans, he changed his attitude immediately upon knowing that the Inhumans could protect the sanctuary; this reasoning was very effective on him.

The two of them chatted for a while, then Bennett stood up and said his goodbyes. He had come to deal with Raylen’s message but unexpectedly heard about Han Xiao plans. In this case, Raylen’s warning would not be worrying at all.

On the other hand, the disaster that Han Xiao had told him about gave him a heavy heart; it felt like there was a dark cloud above the path in front of him. He decided to immediately return and write the crisis protocols, strengthen the sanctuaries’ protection, and speed up the plan.

Bennett was sad to see a partner like Han Xiao go, so he said sincerely, “I wish you all the best, and I hope that we can meet again one day.”

Han Xiao reached out to give Bennett a firm handshake.

They smiled at each other.

…

Bennett’s arrival reminded Han Xiao that he should notify some of his friends. Hila and Aurora had stayed in the sanctuary because of him, so he decided to tell them about it first.

On that same night, under the clear sky and Sleepy Winter, he summoned Hila and Aurora to tell them that he was going into the galaxy soon.

As expected, they were surprised, and their faces were filled with disbelief.

“Han Xiao, what is the galaxy like? Have you met an alien?” Aurora asked hurriedly.

During these days, Aurora had been resting in the sanctuary and regained health. Han Xiao also corrected what she called him; he was finally not called an uncle.

Han Xiao asked Kerlodd to come closer and said, “This is an alien.”

Aurora’s eyes were filled with curiosity. “Aliens look quite similar to us. Does he bite?”

This question again! Can’t you natives be more knowledgeable!

Kerlodd could not take it anymore and yelled at Aurora, “I don’t!”

Pa!

Kerlodd fell onto the ground with his face down.

Han Xiao put his hands down and said hastily, “Be kinder to kids.”

“Aliens are so scary,” Aurora mumbled softly.

Hila pointed at Han Xiao with an expressionless face and said, “he’s obviously scarier.”

Chapter 311 - Could It Be That I'm Not Charming?

Lying beside Aurora lazily, Bear Cub suddenly stood up and growled at Kerlodd as a warning. Han Xiao had made Aurora raise Bear Cub for a long time, and this bear had already grown to the height of half a human. It was reaching its youth stage and had developed a strange mutation with characteristics that it should not normally have—its hair glowed lightly, and its attributes seemed to be gradually growing toward an elite level.

Aurora’s power seemed to have a catalytic effect on life forms; young beings could receive special growth by being staying near to her. Some time ago, Han Xiao had come to know that Aurora’s Esper power was called [Dawn of Life]. Its potential grade was also S, just like Hila. That had been an exciting discovery.

The source of this discovery came from combat information. Of course, it was not from him attacking Aurora. He had realized that he had misunderstood how it worked—he could just let Aurora attack him. However, even after a lot of persuading, Aurora had still kept shaking her head, unwilling to attack Han Xiao. She had even been incredibly distraught, thinking that Han Xiao might have been unhappy with her for some reason.

To Aurora, there were only two people in the entire world whom she was close to—one was her older sister Hila, and the other was the person who had torn open the darkness and brought her light when she was at her lowest point, Han Xiao. Other than Hila, Han Xiao was the only one that treated her very well. She only had these two to rely on, so she cared for Han Xiao like an older brother.

After Han Xiao finally convinced her to shoot him with the excuse of testing the performance of his mechanical suit, Han Xiao got the combat information. His initial target was only Hila, and to his very pleasant surprise, Aurora had the same level of potential. To him, it was like a ‘buy one get one free’.

In the original storyline, Aurora had turned into jam, so her future achievements were unknown. This time, she had the chance to grow. Furthermore, with how much she relied on Han Xiao, she was much more dependable than her older sister.

Han Xiao gave Hila a look, signaling that they needed to talk privately, then walked to the side.

Not long after, Hila walked over, stood beside him, and frowned. “What?”

“Do you want to leave this planet with me?”

“Why are you inviting me?” Hila’s expression in her eyes changed a little, and she looked at Han Xiao’s profile.

“Not just you, your sister as well. I know that you two will never separate.”

Hila looked down to consider, and after a long silence, she said slowly, “No.”

Han Xiao raised his brows. “I asked Bennett the same thing. It’s understandable that he’s not coming, but why did you reject?”

“Dangerous,” Hila said. “I need to take care of my sister.”

“It’s dangerous to stay too.”

Hila’s expression turned serious and said, “what did you foresee again?”

Han Xiao roughly described the Mutation Disaster and said, “The disaster will come to you sooner or later even if you stay on this planet. You and Aurora both have very high potential, so your future will definitely be in the galaxy. Even so, do you still not want to come with me?”

Hila’s closed her eyes and fell into contemplation.

The silence continued, like the lonely moon hanging high up in the sky.

After a long time, Hila turned to Han Xiao and said softly, “No.”

Han Xiao looked at her meaningfully, lit a cigarette, and exhaled some smoke. “Okay then.”

His tone was very casual and did not show any signs of wanting to know more, which made Hila doubtful. She frowned and said, “Do you not want to know why?”

Han Xiao laughed and said, “Don’t think of yourself too highly, I just asked. Whether you come or not doesn’t affect me much—you won’t be much of a help with the strength you have now.”

Hila’s eyes turned cold a little. Although she had rejected Han Xiao, feeling the man’s careless attitude, she felt like she was not important to him, and it was embarrassing.

This time, Han Xiao added, “This is your own choice; I won’t force you to do anything under the guise of ‘for your own good’.”

As he was speaking, he took out a string of keys, threw them to Hila, and said coldly, “If the darkness devours the sanctuary one day, these keys lead to my secret base. It can provide a place to hide for you. I’ve left the location information in my office, the laminated back side of the third drawer on the left; I’m leaving it there for you.”

Hila played with the keys. Suddenly, she said, “Are you not coming back?”

Han Xiao put on a half-smile and said, “Do you care about that a lot?”

Hila snorted coldly, raised the keys, signaling that she would remember what he had said, and left.

After she walked a few steps away, Han Xiao’s voice came from behind with a light tone.

“Don’t die.”

Hila’s footsteps paused.

“You too.”

After Hila left, Han Xiao’s smile disappeared. He threw the cigarette butt on the floor and extinguished it with his foot.

From what he estimated, there was more than a fifty percent chance that Hila will leave with him, but Hila had made the other choice unexpectedly. Even after he explained the pros and cons, Hila had still chosen to stay. Other than her sister being the reason, she might have other considerations. The personality of Hila before she turned evil was not easy to guess.

However, Han Xiao’s need for Hila at the current stage was indeed not high. The amount of help that Hila would be to him was not much before her power matured, and she would not even be as effective as those highly skilled players.

Furthermore, bringing Hila along meant that he had to bring Aurora, and the current Aurora was even weaker and could be hurt easily. The galaxy was full of known and unknown dangers. Even though Han Xiao was familiar with Galaxy, he had to be cautious.

Players, on the other hand, were an extremely great help since they could revive, and Han Xiao could enjoy the freedom of acting alone without constraints. There were benefits to not bringing anyone too.

Therefore, letting Hila and Aurora stay on Planet Aquamarine might even be a good choice. There were still two to three years before the Mutation Disaster would arrive, and these two would be able to grow in a safe environment before that. If they followed him, they would face danger very soon.

Letting them grow and coming back to fetch them after the Mutation Disaster was not a bad thing from how Han Xiao looked at it.

Even so, after being rejected twice on the bounce, Han Xiao was still rather hurt in his heart. He mumbled to himself, “Could it be that I’m not charming? It can’t be.”

A sound came from beside him; Emerald Grass walked out from the shadow in the corner. Han Xiao had known all along that she was hiding there. He looked at her and asked, “How much did you hear?”

“Everything,” Emerald Grass said surprisingly. “Was everything you said true? Aren’t you afraid that I’ll leave after you leave as well? You exchanged me and now have no use for me, huh?”

“You’re free, but it’s best for you to stay in the sanctuary. I wasn’t joking about the disaster.”

Emerald Grass nodded with a complicated expression, turned around, and left. Han Xiao looked at her back with narrowed eyes and shook his head.

The prisoners from the Bell of Death Island were new characters in Version 2.0, Emerald Green being one of them, and he had gotten her out in advance. Emerald Grass was valuable given that she would invent important drugs against the Mutation Disaster in the future.

The heart of a human was difficult to control, but he felt there was quite a high chance that Emerald Grass would stay. She valued her life and was fanatic about pharmaceutical research. With so many players in the sanctuary, it was the best place for experiments—it was attractive to Emerald Grass.

…

Bringing fifty highly-skilled players was a very important part of the plan. When the Pro League finished and the players were still unsatisfied, it would be time to carry out the plan.

It was already the finals and would end in just a few days. Han Xiao was perfecting his plan to bring the players away.

On this day, Raylen skipped Bennett and contacted Han Xiao directly, giving him the final warning with a very aggressive and tough tone.

“Black Phantom, we know you captured Godora’s investigator. You have made a big mistake. We respect the contributions that you made during the war with the Germinal Organization, but we won’t allow you to use that contribution to do whatever you want. Give the Godoran to us; this is the last warning, or we will take the necessary measures. You won’t want that to happen. Although you’re very strong, you will not be able to match up to our nation.”

“‘Kay, bye.”

Ka-chin.

Han Xiao ended the communication and rubbed the bridge of his nose, speechless.

Raylen refused to give up and wanted to pressure him, but Han Xiao did not want to waste his time with them now.

Han Xiao was sitting in his office at this time, and Kerlodd was right beside him. This Godoran was standing next to the window and looking out at the players on the square. He suddenly said, “So, is this the special phenomenon on your planet?”

Kerlodd still remembered his investigation mission. During this time, he had noticed the so-called ‘Inhuman Phenomenon’ as well and seen many of the characteristics of the players.

“This is your investigation mission, right? So, have you reached a conclusion?” Han Xiao asked.

Chapter 312 - Inhuman and The Space Wonder

“There’s nothing much to conclude. I only have some guesses from my observation,” Kerlodd said. “When I received the mission, the government on this planet described the phenomenon from the point of view of undeveloped civilization. You call this occurrence ‘Inhuman Phenomenon’. They said that these Inhuman aren’t anything special, but more and more of them kept appearing. They could not tell where they came from, and they just integrated into this planet’s environment. Their behavior was weird, and they had a special connection with each other. Most importantly, they cannot die, and they learn and grow at a rapid rate…”

What he babbled on about was the view of the Six Nations on the players, in addition to some of his own observations. Han Xiao was curious on how the advanced civilization understood this phenomenon.

“The most special characteristic is that they can revive after they die while keeping the same personality.” Kerlodd finally showed his aura of an investigator. “There are a lot of reasons for the cause of this phenomenon, and the simplest explanation is that this is an evolution of an Esper power of a group of people, which is highly improbable but still possible.

“It could also be due to some complex causes such as the life projection technology, which may be an experiment of an advanced civilization, or it is possible that these people were created from a disruption between clashes of different planes. Another reason may be that the Inhumans are accidental projections from a civilization far away in a different space and time, and they are a new life form created by some unexplained rules in the universe. I know a dozen theories that can explain this phenomenon.

“Space Wonder is the hardest way to understand what is happening, and I personally think that it is the least possible hypothesis out of all theories.

“These Inhumans had another important characteristic—there was a sudden increase in the number of Inhumans. This means that this is not a natural phenomenon. But to be sure of this possibility, I need special tools to find out the cause to see if any civilizations are responsible for this. However, I need to ask management for approval to use a rare detection tool. If the civilization is too advanced, there won’t be a way for us to find out. To be honest, I don’t think that any civilization will find this planet useful to invest their life projection technology in.

“If we hypothesize that it is a natural phenomenon rather than human intervention, then it is possible that the planes crossed each other and that the planet was right on top of the crack that resulted from the clash of planes. But if there is a crack, why aren’t there any instances where people disappeared on the planet?”

Han Xiao froze, and he remembered that Hannes and the others disappeared into thin air. Was there actually a crack in plane?

No, the players definitely did not have any relationship with the crack, but there was a possibility that the planes had overlapped.

If the players’ world was a plane, and that plane crossed with that of the game, then it was not impossible.

“What’s the difference between different planes?” Han Xiao asked. “Does that mean it is another universe?”

Kerlodd laughed. “There are a lot of definitions for planes, but there are three basic categories. First is the Outer Plane, which is often seen in highly developed magic civilizations, where powerful wizards can summon creatures from another plane. They are usually formed from imagination and mental energy. The more realistic way to explain this is that wizards can use their imagination to create an actual tangible object. This is the evidence that the Outer Plane indeed exists, but the plane itself is not tangible. It seems rather contradictory, but theory for this phenomenon is that we are limited by our sense, so there are life forms and Super knowledge that we don’t… um, I’m not a wizard, so I don’t have an in-depth understanding.

“The second category is the material planes such as Dimensional Plane, Microscopic Plane, and other planes that exist in the real world. These are more commonly seen, and it is the most widely accepted scientific theory on planes.

“The last category believes that the theory of planes is just a misunderstanding because two planets, each on opposite sides of the universe, suddenly had some connection that led to a wormhole that connected the two worlds. Because they had never made contact before, they thought that the other was from a different plane. However, the universe you are talking about is from the theory where there are multiple universes, and it is believed that there is an uncountable number of universes. Seems like you are an advocate for this theory, but we do not have much research in Godora, so I also don’t understand it well.”

Han Xiao was enlightened by the perspective that the NPCs had when they saw new players coming in to this world.

Kerlodd then continued. “As for High dimension projection, it will touch on the theory of the space-time dimension. For example, as objects in the three-dimension world, we see that a two-dimensional space is just a plane like paper. This paper represents a complete environment. Imagine that if a two-dimensional man stood in front of a mountain, the world is still three dimensional, and the two-dimensional man will have to climb the mountain to get to the other side. But for a three-dimensional object, we can put our finger on the paper and move to any place on the plane and overcome the mountain that a two-dimensional man faces. As for a two-dimensional perspective to interpret three-dimensional world, the observed phenomenon would be the area that the finger and paper are in contact.

“The contact surface can be changed, so the projected impression will be unstable. The perception between a higher and lower dimension is different. For example, if we ignore the debate on whether time is an independent or dependent variable, and we assume that time is the fourth dimension that actually exists, then in the eyes of a life form in the higher dimension, we might be just creatures created by a combination of thousands of time points as if it was a worm. The Inhumans may be beings from the higher dimension that touched our dimension. For the knowledge of dimensions, you should ask a civilization with more expertise on this. Godora is pretty weak in this area of research.”

Han Xiao pursed his lips. The world of the players did not have better technology compared to this world, so it probably not high dimension projection.

“That’s everything for theory on explaining the new creatures. The theory that I don’t get is the Space Wonder that no civilization can understand.”

“So, it is completely unknown?” Han Xiao was shocked. “Even the civilization on top of the universe also can’t understand it?”

“Haha, there are still unexplored places in the universe, so of course, there are still things we don’t understand. Um… maybe those advanced civilizations are hiding their knowledge, but I will share my understanding.”

Kerlodd showed his passion and excitement in his tone.

“I have some understanding of universe theoretical studies. There were millions of explanations for the workings of the universe, and because of the nature of curiosity in a intelligent beings, we all eventually ask questions like ‘Who am I?’, ‘Where do I come from?’, and ‘Where am I going?’. That is why people are enthusiastic about the origin of life, the truth of the world, and the meaning of existence. Civilizations use these curiosities as fuel to explore the origin, truth, form, process, and the end of the universe. Ultimately, different civilizations will have different interpretations.

“To understand the nature of the universe, exploration of the physical world is needed. Now we know that particles are the building blocks of the world, and there are also different theories on the formation of the particles. Different universe theories have different explanations for particles, such as its use and shape. If one zooms in on a particle, is it just a single point? Or will it be like the shape of a planet? Will there be different shapes for different particles? Or are the shapes just randomized? The most common view is that if we truly understand the characteristics of particles, then all the incorrect theories will be rejected, and only one correct theory will remain.

“If there are theories that can be proven with hard facts from experiments, not only should it work on one theory, but it can prove all the existing theories in the world! There will also be theories that contradict with each other! Isn’t that amazing?

“So, civilization’s understanding of this world is still shallow. There is still a towering wall between us and the truth. All theories are like holes in the wall, and we look through the wall to see the other side. We can only see small parts of the other side, and we can’t get through the wall. Theories only allow us to view the world from a certain perspective, and different perspectives will lead to different results. All the results of the theories are just the tip of the iceberg.

“This is similar to the limitation of our perception that I mentioned before. The phenomenon that a life form observes all depends on the perception abilities. In the places that we can’t see, touch, smell, taste, and hear hides a lot of unknown knowledge. Our sensory organs let us understand the world, but they also hinder us from truly knowing everything in the world.

“Do you still remember the Dimensional Projection? Maybe this universe is just a projection from a higher dimension.

“There even is a theory that believes that the world is just a simulation. All the natural laws are created by some physical engine, and we are the test subjects of some life form much bigger than us that’s controlling us using some complex calculations.”

Han Xiao’s heart skipped a beat.

Chapter 313 - The Selection

Han Xiao raised an eyebrow and asked, “Has this been proven?”

“Well, not really.” As he played with his ponytail, Kerlodd explained, “This kind of belief in a greater being and the creation myth behind the origins of the universe is most focused on by the Arcane Church, one of the three major civilizations in space. Their beliefs in the spiritual and the supernatural is the source of their power…”

“Stop. I know what the Arcane Church is.” Han Xiao stopped interrupted him mid-sentence.

“Sure. Right, where were we? Oh. These theories and beliefs of the universe’s mysteries are all different, but through them, different civilizations were able to come up with countless technological inventions and applications. So, from another angle, these theories are only a tool to be used to understand the universe; like tools, they all have their own pros and cons. Each tool is responsible for a specific task, and in the case of these theories, none can be considered the be-all-end-all.

“Our Godorans’ particle theory argues that all the particles in the world carry magic, and as such, our civilization started being dominated by the use of magic. Later on, as we discovered the usefulness of technology, we also started to do research to facilitate technological development. Both of these are only tools that we use to help understand the world.”

Han Xiao frowned. “You know quite a lot.”

“Haha. I’m a trained investigator. I have heard all sorts of things during my rounds in the different space stations that I’ve visited throughout the universe.” Kerlodd smiled. “Basically, all the unsolved mysteries in space are commonly referred to as the wonders of space, or Space Wonders. Inhumans are unlikely to be one such universe-wide mystery.”

Space Wonders huh… Han Xiao made sure to remember this.

Suddenly, the sound of cheering crashed over the chatting duo like a tsunami.

Han Xiao went onto the forums to check out the commotion as there was currently a live broadcast of the tournament. All the fights had come to an end, and a champion had been born.

For the team matches, Dynasty had clinched the top spot after a hard-fought battle against Long Sky, while Temple of God had closely followed behind as the third team. Although the three big guilds had lived up to their names and taken all three top spots, the other teams who managed to reach the top eight had all shown breathtaking performances. For individual matches, King Admiral had secured a victory in the finals and netted Dynasty two championships, causing their fame to skyrocket.

Frenzied Sword had defeated his opponent and secured his spot as third in the individual rankings. Due to his relatively new gaming career, he was dubbed the dark horse of the tournament.

The top three teams as well as the top three players from the individual matches on Planet Aquamarine had all qualified for the internationals. All three teams were from Chinese guilds, and countless players looked forward to seeing them compete on the global stage. The forums were bustling with discussion as if a national celebration was going on, and Dynasty was naturally the talk of the town.

After the end of the regionals, there was still an in-game year before the international games would start, and the matches could be considered to have already ended. However, the players’ excitement did not look like it was going to die down anytime soon.

Countless posts analyzed the winners from each region, and some teams started to make plans to prepare for future competitions. The guilds whose teams performed well also held numerous events to boost their own popularity.

They’re finally done with the matches. Those pro players are finally free. Han Xiao’s eyes gave off a weird glint as he prepared his next stage of action.

…

At the sanctuary’s square, the roads were bustling with players who were living in the excitement of the tournament. They each discussed their own favorites, and the pro players would occasionally show up themselves, exciting the crowd even more.

Of course, there were also the group of bros who believed in their luck, waiting day in and day out at Han Xiao’s usual stall for the next batch of loot crates.

“He’s coming.” The group of people stretched out their necks as they waited.

The truck drove by slowly before it came to a stop. Han Xiao walked off the truck, but it did not seem like he was going to sell loot crates as usual. Instead, he took a look around and said in a loud voice, “I have a perilous mission ahead, and I’m in need of helpers. I will be selecting qualified people to join my team. If you’re confident in passing my test, come.”

Immediately after, Han Xiao sent out the mission that he had previously written up.

_____________________

Team Member Selection

Mission Introduction: Han Xiao will soon leave Planet Aquamarine in secret to begin a new adventure. He is looking for powerful people to fight alongside him. Those who pass his test can venture off into the stars with him.

Mission Requirement: LV 60

Mission Period: 5 days

Completion Requirement: Pass Han Xiao’s combat test.

Reward: 1 Experience and the qualification to go with Han Xiao on his journey.

_____________________

This instantly caused massive waves among the players.

Everyone had widened eyes as they read through the mission information.

“This is so sudden. Can we now leave the beginner planet‽”

“I can’t believe we need to have max level before we can take the test. This is so frustrating!”

Up till now, the players had all been limited to their respective beginner planets, and none were able to travel into space. News of Han Xiao’s mission exploded within the present players, and they rushed to release this information onto the forums. The whole of Planet Aquamarine was shocked, and even players on the other planets were talking about this.

The forums were thrown into chaos once more!

Every single player’s attention was forcefully wrenched over from the previous competitions to Han Xiao’s shocking new mission.

Space in Galaxy was still a complete unknown to the current players, and many were curious and anticipating it. However, everyone was stuck on their beginner planet. Now that news had gotten out about a chance to venture off into the stars, something that should only have been possible in later versions, the players could not help but get more excited than ever.

This was a chance!

If they could follow Han Xiao, they would be able to travel into space much earlier than their peers, giving them massive advantages over the others.

Han Xiao had nonchalantly thrown out a mission with such huge implications that it was like a bomb had gone off. The players realized that Han Xiao had not actually mentioned going into space—rather, this information was revealed by the mission notice. The players were secretly happy as they thought that they had hit the jackpot and were able to glance into Han Xiao’s true intentions.

Naturally, Han Xiao had done that on purpose as he was aware how the players would react. He knew that the players would feel a sense of accomplishment when they saw this. Standing there, he just smiled as he watched everything unfold on the forums.

He was only planning on bringing the pro players, so he obviously needed a plausible excuse and could not be too obvious about it. The maximum level requirement would be able to filter out most of the casual players, while the combat testing could easily be manipulated by him. As long as they could last thirty seconds against him in a fight, they would have passed the test.

With this, he should be able to acquire all the professional talents.

The news very quickly caught the pros’ attention. These players were done with their matches and had nothing on their hand. There was still another year before they would fight on the global stage; however, as they were all already maxed out in levels, there was not much that they could do aside from personal training and trying to learn some new skills. Most of the winning teams who had qualified for the next stage were in the same position. But now, Han Xiao had given them a chance to adventure in a brand-new map.

New maps meant countless new possibilities!

These pro players could not have been happier. In their eyes, this was the same as a blessing from God, and this chance could not be missed.

..

On the second day, countless pro players gathered in the Sanctuary’s square. It was like a celebrity red carpet event. These star players dazzled the crowd as they walked on the road.

“Oh right. A while ago, wasn’t there a similar scene a while ago when Black Phantom started selling advanced knowledge?”

“There are still recordings of that time, but things are on a much bigger scale this time. Basically, all the pro players on Planet Aquamarine have come here today.”

“Both events have something to do with Black Phantom…”

The matches had just drawn to a close, and most players were still in the Sanctuary. This was one of the reasons that Han Xiao had chose this time to announce the mission.

Soon, a bunch of people had accepted the mission. Han Xiao walked back a bit to make some space and randomly chose a pro player who he did not recognize and said, “Hold for thirty seconds, and you pass.”

About a thousand people had accepted the mission, and they all discussed among themselves as they watched.

“Thirty seconds can’t be that difficult right,” said the Second Prince. “Even if I went one on one against a level sixty Boss in the wild, I could at least survive for a few minutes.”

Li Ge looked at the time and shook his head. “Thirty seconds for everyone is quite long.”

As the players chatted, the players and the pros all used [Detect] on Han Xiao to get some basic information.

_____________________

Han Xiao (?)

Level: ?

Type: ?

Danger scale: Extremely Dangerous

_____________________

“It’s all question marks‽” Everyone’s faces suddenly changed.

They had all reached Version 1.0’s level cap, and when they used the same ability on the other Boss-level NPCs, they could at least see some of the target’s basic info such as character level and character type. However, they could not see anything when using it on Han Xiao. There was even a question mark on his basic identity. He had to be at least five levels higher than them, right?

Ever since maxing out their levels, they had never encountered something like this!

Just how high was Black Phantom’s level‽

Chapter 314 - As Expected of the Great Mechanic Han!

This new information caused a commotion within the players.

“I’ve never seen any main NPCs that are over LV 60.”

“But he’s still ‘Extremely Dangerous’ like the last time I inspected him. Was he already this strong back then? It didn’t feel like that.”

“Based on his story, Black Phantom didn’t start out strong. He suddenly became strong later on, eventually becoming the one to topple the Germinal Organization. I guess this is what sets him apart as the main character in the storyline.”

“Black Phantom’s combat strength is definitely on the level of bosses. I wonder how he ranks on the entire planet.”

The players’ first impression of Han Xiao was that he was very strong. However, his actual strength was still a myth. Most of them had watched the recordings of Han Xiao’s fights out of curiosity ever since they started playing the game. Now that they realized that they still could not inspect his character information even after maxing out their levels, they could not wait to see Han Xiao go up against these pro players and demonstrate his strength.

“Thirty seconds doesn’t sound too difficult, right?”

Most of the players, including the mission participants, thought this. Although they could not inspect his stats, they made the assumption based on his previous battle recordings as well as the fact that he was only a Version 1.0 character.

Although he was definitely strong, how much stronger than them could he be? The difference between them and Han Xiao’s strength had to have decreased significantly since the start of the game. They were players! They leveled up super-fast!

The first player who was selected for the test had the ID ‘Falling Leaf’, and he took a big step out of the crowd.

The surrounding players immediately backed up to clear a space. Although fighting in Players’ Main City would usually worsen their reputations with the city’s NPCs, it should be fine with Han Xiao there.

Countless pairs of eyes stared unblinkingly, as if waiting for something.

“Start.” Han Xiao said a single word.

Falling Leaf immediately got into a defensive stance while waiting for the incoming blow.

Hum—

Four Sonic Spheres flew out while crisscrossing in the air. Attached to the spheres were detection devices that both increased the weapons’ range and accuracy.

An ear-piercing explosion suddenly bloomed on the stage!

Falling Leaf’s health dropped instantly, and he was rooted where he was by a stunned effect.

Boom boom boom!

Six pre-planted turrets suddenly sprang out of the ground and simultaneously opened fire on Falling Leaf. The combined firing rate was so fast that it was as if a miniature hailstorm was occurring where Falling Leaf was standing. Within a few moments, Falling Leaf collapsed onto the ground after being blasted to bits by the turret.

Although Falling Leaf had activated multiple energy skills to surround himself with a thin layer of energy, he was pinned to the ground as bullets rained down on him. The Sonic Spheres were also constantly applying various kinds of crowd control debuffs on him, locking him on the ground.

His health dropped to a dangerously low level within the blink of an eye, but the hurricane-like assault suddenly stopped, and the ground cleared up as if nothing had happened.

“You didn’t pass,” said Han Xiao with a flat voice.

Falling Leaf was stunned. It was all over before he even realized what had happened.

The surrounding players all had their mouths hanging wide open as they could not believe what had just happened.

A max level pro player could not even resist for five seconds before almost being wiped out!

There was no need to even talk about skills or controls. Han Xiao might as well have just hung him up and whipped his backside.

The player had been completely suppressed!

What surprised the players even more was that Han Xiao had remained in the same position throughout the whole thing. Even his pose was the same!

“Are Mechanics supposed to be this overpowered? Do we really have the same class‽”

“He didn’t even move. How did he control those weapons?”

“Isn’t he too overpowered for Version 1.0? Could it be that Planet Aquamarine can no longer limit him and that’s why he has decided to go into space?”

“Based on his past battle recordings, Black Phantom still has a lot of cards up his sleeves. This means that he didn’t even go all out!”

“Wasn’t that DPS a bit too ridiculous? Even a fifty-man raiding party would be turned into mincemeat if they had to fight a Boss like that…”

The same question once again surfaced in the players’ minds, albeit with them feeling completely different emotions this time around—just how high was Black Phantom’s level‽

The players had been in contact with Han Xiao ever since the open beta. They had thought that they had already closed the level gap between each other after farming so much experience. But never would they have expected to be so wrong… as expected of the Great Mechanic Han!

When Han Xiao turned around and saw the dumb expressions on the players’ faces, he knew that he had achieved the intended effects. He had once again refreshed his position in the players’ hearts, and they once again worshipped him.

Although the players were at max level, they were still too lacking in terms of talents, attributes, and skills. Their characters were still, after all, built around player templates. Han Xiao had now reached LV 70, and he was only stuck here due to the class change requirements, unable to choose a new sub-class. However, the difference between him and the players was the difference between one whole Version. On top of that, with Han Xiao’s Boss templates, his countless talents, skills, energy capacity, and weapons, the damage that he was able to output was unimaginable for the players.

LV 60 players only had around 3,000 health and some meager defense. They were still too weak in front of him.

Moreover, his Sonic Spheres had been upgraded to the purple grade and had very high damage. Sonic Spheres were a very unique type of weapon in Version 1.0. They operated on an entirely different set of tactics, dealt very high damage, and required high-level control skills.

The pro players’ expressions were all frozen on their faces.

Li Ge realized how wrong he had been when he ran his mouth off earlier, saying that this would take a long time. Han Xiao had basically one-shot the previous challenger!

None of the participating players dared to be careless anymore, and they all listened carefully for when they got picked. Everyone was starting to feel nervous in front of this monstrous foe.

The battles continued. The following players were much more careful, and they all tried their best to kite around Han Xiao. None dared go head on. The moment a player was hit by Han Xiao’s attacks, they would go down within ten seconds. Everyone tried everything that they could to survive for thirty seconds.

The surrounding audience grew in size, and some started to post recordings of the ‘fights’ onto the forums.

The people who watched the recordings were flabbergasted. It had only been a few days ago that these pro players had been showing off their skills in the tournament. However, watching them getting butchered like pigs by this NPC aroused their curiosity.

It was not an everyday occurrence for them to be able to watch pro players get bullied like that. More and more people got interested in this event as they got to watch the pros get shredded one after another.

Han Xiao’s strength was also recognized once again. Many posts were discussing this topic intensely. The happy bunch, of course, consisted of the Mechanics. Mechanics, on average, had the worst performance during the tournaments, causing many of them to be unhappy about the status quo. Watching Han Xiao pop off was like a breath of fresh air!

So, we can become that strong! Please show us the way!

Han Xiao’s mission had exploded among all players, and many tried to come up with jokes about the situation. What was originally a serious topic quickly turned into a source of memes. Only someone as famous as Han Xiao could get this kind of treatment.

“Black Phantom: Hold on for thirty seconds if you are a man!”

“Shocking! Pro players can’t even do it for thirty seconds!”

“Guide by pro players: How to hold on for thirty seconds!”

Making fun out of everything was what these players were best at.

‘Thirty seconds’ soon became a well-known term, while ‘seconds’ became something that people used to quantify a pro player’s strength. Those are players who were able to make it to the end of the thirty-second test all became the legendary ‘Thirty Seconds Warriors’.

…

The selection continued into the night. The crowd only started to disperse after Han Xiao had returned to his quarters to rest. The mission period was five days, and the remaining pro players went away with heavy feelings in their hearts, stressing about coming up with a strategy for the next day.

Han Xiao was just about to enter his house when he thought about something and suddenly stopped. He then turned and walked toward the room with Frenzied Sword and the others.

When Han Xiao pushed opened the door to their room, he saw that the four were chilling in the room. They immediately stood up when they saw Han Xiao walk in, curious as to what was about to happen.

Black Phantom would not look for them on normal occasions. He would only find them when he had missions or benefits to distribute.

When the four thought about the commotion earlier in the morning, they were able to make some faint guesses, and the anticipation started to show on their faces.

As Black Phantom’s followers, they had always been receiving special treatment. So, maybe this time as well…

Han Xiao chuckled before saying, “You’re all my friends. I am about to leave this planet for the boundless world above. Are you guys willing to come with me?”

Look at this!

Everyone had only been able to find out about Han Xiao’s plans through the mission that he gave out earlier. Yet, he had come to invite them in person. They could even directly skip the selection. What a caring boss!

“I’m willing!” Frenzied Sword answered without a second’s hesitation with a face full of excitement.

Chapter 315 - Prelude to an Age of Strife (1)

Although Frenzied Sword and Hao Tian had both accepted the selection mission, neither was confident about passing. Now, with Han Xiao’s direct offer, the two could finally let out a deep breath.

This was a golden opportunity, and of course, none of them would want to reject it. Bun-hit-dog was especially happy about it. He understood the impact that being one of the first few players to journey into space could have on his videos. Moreover, most of the people to follow Han Xiao would certainly be exceptional pro players, allowing him to interview them whenever he wanted to boost his show’s popularity.

At first, he had felt heartbroken when he saw the requirements that one needed to meet in order to join Han Xiao’s journey. He was not a particularly skillful player, and he had thought that he had no chance of following along Han Xiao.

In this moment, Bun-hit-dog was so excited that he would have jumped through the ceiling, but he stopped himself after he thought about the fines that he would have to pay if he did.

To Han Xiao, Bun-hit-dog was the perfect reporter. Although he did not even think that Bun-hit-dog would be good enough to be cannon fodder, his role in the group was still irreplaceable.

Bun-hit-dog’s shows served as a bridge between Han Xiao and the players, and it helped to boost his popularity. Han Xiao leading the only group of players who could adventure in space would definitely bring in loads of attention. So, he would be able to continue to leave a deep impression on the players despite having left Planet Aquamarine.

The player’s curiosity for the space in Galaxy as well as their fan-craze on the pro players would ensure views for Bun-hit-dog’s ‘Exploration Diary’.

After all, things like this were highly entertaining for the players and would be in high demand.

“Are you really going to space?” asked Maple Moon curiously. She was a big fan of anything plot and lore-related.

Han Xiao’s eyes flashed. He glanced at Bun-hit-dog before saying in a cryptic way, “This planet is about to witness an unprecedented calamity. Only the endless reaches in the galaxy beyond hold the key to saving the planet.”

Calamity‽ The four were shocked.

Bun-hit-dog had started recording their conversation the moment Maple Moon asked that question. He had a feeling that what Han Xiao had said just then could be something big very soon.

A few days later…

Boom!

Within the flashes and sounds of explosions stood the Second Prince, who was still hanging on for all he was worth.

“Fourteen, thirteen…”

The surrounding crowd counted down in excitement.

“C’mon, you can do it man! You must join the thirty-seconds club.”

Sun Eggplant was fanning the flames from the side. He stood with a small group of people who had all passed the test. Han Xiao had secretly weakened his attacks for certain players as they were the one that he wanted on his team. Most of them were big names in the pro-scene and those that had performed well in the tournament.

The onlooking players could only feel envious about it, and they comforted themselves by telling themselves that those who had passed were all godly pro players. The group of people who had passed were then called the ‘thirty-seconds club’.

“Damn, you just needed another second.”

“Why do I keep finishing early?”

During the days of the selection, Han Xiao never changed his attacking style. He just stood still and controlled the Sonic Spheres and the turrets to suppress the challenger. This gave the players hope, as they believed that this was just like clearing a dungeon. They could always learn and analyze Han Xiao’s moves from the others’ attempts and even their own failures, thus gaining an advantage for themselves later on.

However, try as they might, no matter how much the players learned about the fight, most were completely suppressed by Han Xiao and could not even last longer than ten seconds.

Second Prince, huh… He’s not bad, thought Han Xiao as he slowly let up his attacks.

An opening! Second Prince’s eyes flashed, and he threw himself on the ground and rolled out of the range of the attacks. The rain of bullets slowly inched toward him, and he did not even have time to get back up on his feet before he started to wiggle around on the ground in a desperate attempt to stay alive.

“… two, one, zero!”

“He made it!”

“I can’t believe he used his trump card—Repeated Barrel Rolls!”

The crowd started laughing at the pro player’s sorry state.

Second Prince got back up with a face covered in smoke and dirt, and Sun Eggplant, who stood to the side, raised his thumb before snickering. “You have really opened my eyes today. You even pioneered your own fighting style, becoming the grandmaster of rolls. What a man.”

King Admiral pretended to be comprehending something. “It feels like it would be quite useful. How about you learn it as well, Li Ge?”

Li Ge remained expressionless. “What an embarrassment.”

“Screw off!” Second Prince was enraged.

This bunch of star players were opponents in competitions, but they were also old friends, and they often bickered among each other whenever they hung out.

Han Xiao had basically gotten all the members that he needed. He had already gotten a hold of pro players from the four big guilds and from the top eight teams. Most of the top eights from the individual matches had also joined his team. After counting up everyone, there was a little over fifty people total, but it was not a big deal, as he could simply purchase the new tickets on board.

Thanks to the official tournament, Han Xiao had an easy time looking for talents. He had packed most of the top rankers on Planet Aquamarine into his group in one go.

To him, not only were the players the best cannon fodder, they were also his main information channel. Galaxy offered countless storylines, and Han Xiao could become the middle-man to offer all these missions to the players, just like he did on the planet. That way, a part of all the pro players’ earnings would go directly into his pocket. He had basically acquired a group of sweet, little bees that would work tirelessly for him, earning the resources that would have gone to the other NPCs instead.

This was the correct way to utilize the players’ advantages.

Ultimately, Galaxy was like a theme park, full of distractions. He would need to use some methods if he wanted to ensure that these players stayed by his side. Now, having established his position among the players as ‘one of their own’ combined with the benefits that moving together as a single party would offer, there should not be any problems in the short run. Han Xiao would not have to worry about the pro players being tempted by something else in space for now.

Regardless, Han Xiao had long since become accustomed to being prepared for anything. He had already come up with a more concrete plan to deal with issue. However, he would have to wait until they actually entered space before he could start implementing his plan. This was not some sort of idea that had sprung out from a moment’s brilliance, but rather, a plan that he had thought up after considering the big picture, and it was a crucial step for his future developments.

“They’re all star players. Isn’t this too extravagant of a line-up?”

“Doesn’t it feel like we’re a few persons short?”

The more meticulous fans realized that Hao Tian and Frenzied Sword had not come for the mission.

“All the other pro players came. How could they let go of a chance like this? Even other Long Sky members participated in the selection.”

The star players had also realized this, and Li Ge frowned. “Where are those two? Where’s Hao Tian?”

Sleepy Winter felt helpless. “I have already asked. Old Hao and Frenzied Sword were already qualified to begin with.”

The crowd could not process what Sleepy Winter had just said for a second.

Hao Tian and Frenzied Sword had triggered Black Phantom’s Hidden Storyline. Was that why they got this special treatment‽

The bunch of pro players suddenly felt a sense of unfairness in their hearts. They could not believe that they had to come here to get tortured over and over again, while those two just backdoored their way in.

Where was the justice in that!

The pro players were jealous to no end. They also wanted to receive such benefits.

Once the testing was over, the crowd started, albeit quite unwillingly. However, at that moment, Han Xiao silently sent out another pre-written mission to the surrounding players.

_____________________

The Last Bastion

Mission Type: Prize-Pool Mission

_____________________

The players stopped dead in their tracks and focused on the new information.

“What a sudden mission. Where did it come from?”

“Black Phantom didn’t say anything, right? Could he be the one who sent it?”

“Prize-Pool… What’s this?”

“1,000 experience points are required to accept this mission. Let’s try it out.”

Many could not hold back their curiosity, and immediately accepted the mission. However, they were all surprised when they all found out that this mission was grayed out.

_____________________

Mission Introduction: Someday in the future, a calamity will strike this world, and Sanctuary Three will become the last remaining bastion for humanity. Protect this dwindling flame from the encroaching darkness. Only then will there be hope to overcome this calamity.

Requirement: Protect Sanctuary Three. The destruction rate must not go above 50%.

Mission Status: Frozen

Start Date: Unknown

_____________________

The grayed out name implied that this mission had not started. This was the first time that the players had seen a mission with the ‘Frozen’ status, and many were mystified. Word soon got out, and more and more people learned of this news.

Chapter 316 - Prelude to an Age of Strife (2)

Han Xiao could assign all sorts of mission, and those that were in the challenging category were more difficult than usual. They were often large-scale mission, where every movement of the individual players could impact the final result. Therefore, they had to work together to complete the mission.

He had witnessed some missions that could affect the version, where millions of players fought for the same goal. Every player’s actions earned contribution points, and the mission needed tens of millions of points to complete. Once finished, it would be the turning point of the entire storyline.

[The Last Bastion] was a mission that Han Xiao had created so that the players would still protect Sanctuary Three after he left the planet. In the mission introduction, he hinted that there would be a disaster that would fall upon the land, yet he was vague in the description. However, it was enough to raise the interest of the players as they tried to guess the future storyline.

Han Xiao did not give out a clear instruction just so that the players would think that the information was a leak from the mission, which would make it credible.

The testing mission that he had published before was just to warm up the players.

Freezing a mission was a special method where the mission would not start until the disaster actually arrived. Han Xiao then could activate the mission from miles away. This was like bait for the players as it lured their curiosity about the fate of their future.

One condition to issue a mission was that Han Xiao could not be too far away from the players. Han Xiao had tested a lot of trials to find out this hidden condition. After he left the planet, it was impossible for him to directly give missions to the players. But now he could activate the mission from far away by using frozen missions.

There’s still a few days before I leave the sanctuary. I have enough time to walk around the entire city and give missions to hundreds of thousands of players, Han Xiao thought to himself.

With this, he could ensure that the players would still hang around Sanctuary Three as if it was their main hub. At the beginning of Version 2.0, these players could protect the sanctuary through the hardest times.

…

For the players, shocking news came wave after wave.

Since Han Xiao had remained in the dark for a quite some time after the storyline of the Germinal Organization, the players had started to believe the analysis of [Galaxy Times], thinking that the character had no more storyline and was just a normal NPC.

But after staying quiet for more than half a year, Black Phantom had started to become active again, and his actions were shocking.

He wanted to take the players across the galaxy!

Not only that, Black Phantom also left a frozen Prize-Pool Mission, and the introduction hinted at a disaster that would sweep across Planet Aquamarine.

The ‘old-fashioned’ ‘NPC’s return from the dead’ started another wave of nostalgia players as they remembered the time when Black Phantom took over the world after the game launched. The scene was now showing in front of their eyes, and it felt rather dear to them.

On the forums, countless of players were discussing what was the upcoming ‘disaster’.

“Alien invasion? Another war from the Six Nations that destroys the whole planet? Or is it a natural disaster?”

“I think this could be the start of a new storyline. Just look at storyline on the other planets, all of them are intense, while Planet Aquamarine is so chill. It’s time for something to happen!”

“Someone once said ‘those long divided shall be united, and those long united shall be divided.’ Is this the start of the romance of the Six Nations?”

With the boiling discussion in the forums, one player out of nowhere connected the two things that Han Xiao had done.

“Is it possible that Black Phantom is trying to escape the disaster and that’s why he wants to leave the planet as soon as possible?”

“No way! I still remember an episode in ‘Cabbage hits itself’—it was a speech from Black Phantom to gather troops, and he said that he would do everything he could do protect the innocent lives. Isn’t that courageous?”

“If that’s the reason, then there must be no hope for us to survive, and that’s why Black Phantom is leaving his hometown. I wonder how devastating the disaster will be… There won’t be that much of a change in storyline, right?”

“Maybe not. It’s possible that Black Phantom is just scared. Don’t you see that he is trying to gather helpers for his escape?”

“Quit joking around. He’s still a main character in the storyline. He wrecked the Germinal Organization by himself. Do you think he’ll still run away?”

“Well, the circumstances are different. A lot of his story with the Germinal Organization had to do with planning. Moreover, there is a history between him and the Germinal Organization. They were each other’s mortal enemies, so of course they would use everything that they had to kill the other. But that’s a different story for disasters. If he has the chance to run away, why wouldn’t he do so?”

“And here I am, still thinking that he wouldn’t have any more screen time after the Germinal Organization incident.”

One single topic would not have only one explanation. Some people stood up for Han Xiao, while others stood against him.

Han Xiao was not bothered at all because having oppositions was not a bad thing. It was through conflict that more people would pay attention. On the other hand, if everyone praised how all mighty Han Xiao was, then it would easily bore the players.

However, Bun-hit-dog did not want the players to look down on Han Xiao for thinking that he was trying to run away. Bun-hit-dog had already decided to start a new space adventure show, and if the audience viewed him as a deserter, then it would negatively affect to the show. On the other hand, if Han Xiao’s reason for going to the outer space was courageous and noble, then their upcoming adventures would touch the hearts of the audience, which fit with the content that Bun-hit-dog had planned.

Because of that, Bun-hit-dog leaked the discussion between Han Xiao and the other three, which could reveal the reason for Han Xiao’s departure—to find a solution for the upcoming disaster. This suddenly boosted the public’s view of Han Xiao.

At the end of the episode, Bun-hit-dog released the preview. “As I looked up the mysterious night sky, my heart and soul were absorbed in the solidarity. I will follow Black Phantom to the world beyond the stars, and for this, I will create a new series recording the moments of the journey in the universe and present them right in front of you. Coming soon.”

Because the topic was hot, Bun-hit-dog’s preview for the show spread like a wildfire. The players then all understood that Han Xiao’s departure from the planet was to save them from a disaster. Without any delay, most of the players all respected him from the bottom of their hearts, while a small minority were still suspicious.

No matter what attitude the players had, they were all paying close attention to the event, thinking about Han Xiao traveling through the galaxy, and they were excited for Bun-hit-dog new show.

These new messages, however, where only visible for the players. The organizations on the planet still had no idea what was happening.

…

In the powering snow and freezing wind stood a mountain range located in the territory of Raylen. There were a lot of wild beasts in the mountains without any civilization. Not even a single town was visible within dozens of miles, and the roar of beasts echoed in the mountain range.

Raylen’s secret laboratory was right there in the mountains.

Inside the laboratory, Kerlodd’s spaceship was hanging in midair, and thousands of pieces of equipment and wires surrounded the spaceship, detecting any data coming out from the spaceship and presenting it on the big screen. Countless researchers came and went while adjusting the equipment.

After moving the spaceship around for more than ten days, Raylen secretly organized people for this research operation, the best researchers from both the military and the intelligence organization. There were normal people and some mechanic superhumans.

Even with so many talents working together, there was little progress to be seen. The technology that built the spaceship was too advanced for the people on Planet Aquamarine to understand. Moreover, Godoran technology also contained magic, requiring the magic engravings for it to work. It was a completely different type of technology compared to that of Planet Aquamarine.

For the researchers who had never seen magic, they did not know where to start. In their eyes, this spaceship lacked many important components and modules, and they could not even find where the energy source was. They only found some parts that looked related to the energy source, some really ancient parts, and a black liquid object that looked like motor oil. It was stored in an empty test tube on the side and being experimented on.

Chapter 317 - Lift Off

The director of the research operation walked in with high officials wearing Raylen’s military uniform. An older gentleman who looked like the leader said with a deep frown, “Any progress?”

“There’s literally no progress at all.” the director responded helplessly. “The alien spaceship technology is too much for us to comprehend. We can’t solve the mystery. The meters from measuring equipment are constantly jumping at the same time, which was completely illogical.

“Then copy just a small part. I only need something concrete.”

“Sorry, but most of the components are too weird in structure, and we don’t even know what they are used for. We tried to copy the engravings on the spaceship, but nothing happened, and we can’t even start the engine up…”

“After years of investment, you give me this kind of answer?” The old official stared at the director coldly.

The director was sweating. “But there is something that we have found out. Please follow me.”

The group then moved in front of the transparent test tube that contained the black liquid. The director said, “This seems to be motor oil that the spaceship uses for fuel. It is extremely dense and viscous. We found some special characteristic that resembles a microorganism after looking through the microscope. More importantly, its reaction can produce energy.

“From our understanding, the molecules in the liquid can separate by itself and reproduce while keeping the original mass. The extra molecules are then released as energy. The process is completely automatic, meaning that it can produce energy without any input. This is revolutionary. We think that this is a reusable energy source that is used by alien civilizations. If this object can keep on separating molecules and producing energy, in theory, it can produce an unlimited amount of energy. We are still trying to understand the mechanism behind the process.”

The black liquid slowly moved in the test tube, and the old official frowned.

“Why is it moving by itself? Is it a living creature?”

“This should be the reason it could produce molecules. It has characteristics of microorganisms, but it does not have a nervous system, which means that it does not have conscious, so the movement is probably a reaction from the molecule separation process. This liquid is basically the same as bacteria.”

Since it was an alien technology, all the researchers accepted all the unexplained phenomenon, and the director added, “We have already run the tests. The liquid is not radioactive, and it does not contain poisonous materials. We also used a death row prisoner to touch the liquid with his body, and nothing went wrong after the contact.”

The old official nodded, and the others all looked at the liquid.

“The progress is still too slow,” one of the officials said. “Our time is limited, and we can’t keep on hiding this operation from the Godoran Civilization. We need physical copies as soon as possible.”

“But the difference in technology is too much; it’s not easy to break through this barrier. Unless…” The director hesitated. “Unless there’s someone who understands the technology to help us.”

The higher officials quickly looked at each other and thought of the same person.

“The missing Godoran… He must understand this technology.”

“If we can find him, not only can we report this back to Godora, we can also use the excuse of repairing his spaceship to obtain part of their technology.”

The old official turned to the official of intelligence organization and asked, “How is it with the Dark Net? When will Han Xiao turn the man in?”

“He never responded,” the intelligence official replied coldly, “and the Dark Net keeps on postponing the request.”

“God damn it!” the old official shouted with anger. “He is crossing the line on this matter that can impact the future of this planet! A civilian organization dares to ignore us, do they want to die?”

“Should we send someone?”

“The Southern Continent is Stardragon and Hesla’s territory, so he thinks that we don’t want to leak any intel to them. Haha, he underestimated us,” the old official said in a deep voice. “The upper command gave us the order to retrieve the missing investigator. We will contact the other countries and work together to suppress the Dark Net.”

Originally, Raylen had thought about using violence to directly raid the base of Dark Net, but considering the safety of the Godoran Investigator and Han Xiao’s strength, there was no way it would work. The only way was to force the Dark Net to give up the hostage voluntarily, so they had to cooperate with other political powers and pressure the Dark Net.

Even though Raylen did not want the other nations to know that they had the spaceship, compared to the future of the planet, this concern was negligible. Of course, the negotiation condition would probably require the other nations to join the research. However, since they had no progress in the beginning, maybe working together could maximize the potential benefits under the condition that everyone would share the research knowledge to each other.

This was also a plan to deal with the individual strength of Han Xiao, and it was obvious that Raylen hated him.

Raylen could simply have helped the investigator return to his own planet and built close ties with Godora as if they were love birds, but Han Xiao had ruined this honeymoon dream and cut off the red string between Raylan and Godora.

“The top officials are contacting the leaders from the other countries. If the Dark Net ignores us, then let’s see if he can deal with the power from the Six Nations. More importantly, Han Xiao still thinks that he’s invincible and the strongest man on the planet. He keeps on using the sacrifice that he made as an excuse to do whatever he wants.”

“I hope this punishment will teach him that there are powers in this world that he cannot steal away.”

The old official laughed coldly.

…

The players in the sanctuary all accepted the mission [The Last Bastion]. The prize-pool mission that seemed to be a main storyline kept on attracting more and more players to join.

The prize-pool quickly reached an astronomical number and met Han Xiao’s requirement for the number of participants. As more and more people discussed the mission, the mysteriousness of Han Xiao thickened.

Counting the numbers of days left, the day of the arrival of the tourist group grew ever closer.

Di di!

The galactic communicator rang, and it was a new message from the Acute Galactic Travel agency. They would arrive at Planet Aquamarine the next day, and the agency reminded the passengers to pack the luggage. The position to aboard the spaceship could be controlled by the communicator, so Han Xiao could choose whichever place he wanted to enter.

It’s finally here.

Han Xiao suddenly got up, and his heart was pounding with excitement. The memories of battles in the galaxy boiled in his mind, and the scenes popped out in front of his eyes like bubbles.

In the universe without borders, one civilization after another, new powerful storyline characters, millions of new species, the battleship that sailed across the universe, life filled with danger and action… all the memories flashed before his eyes.

The galaxy was the future. To first explore the universe was to build a proper foundation for the future growth for later actions from updates of the version. The galaxy would be the spotlight.

Han Xiao calmed down and thought, I have all my equipment and have chosen dozens of team members. I have all the resources that I need for the journey. I don’t have to worry about experience points for quite some time, so I’ve dealt with all the small things.

His accumulation in Planet Aquamarine was the bottom line for exploration in the galaxy.

…

When dawn arrived, the thundering sound of engines break the silence of the sanctuary. A heavily armored convoy quickly responded and drove to the gate. The players and strangers on the street all looked toward the convey.

The logo on the cars represented the highest rank troops that were under the direct command of Han Xiao. Players suddenly realized what was happening and followed behind the convoy.

The messaged spread wide and far, and all the players in the sanctuary heard the news and headed toward where the convoy was heading. Waves of people all flooded through the security walls and reached the red flat plain.

Chapter 318 - The Clueless Six Nations

When the convoy stopped, the horde of players stood afar as they stared at the supply boxes that were dropping from the sky. They quickly stacked up like a mountain, and the chosen professional players stood by the boxes without moving.

As for Han Xiao, who had the full attention of the players, he was just standing alone at the side, looking up into the sky, as if he was waiting for something.

Quite a number of players activated the record function with excitement.

“It looks like he’s leaving today.”

Everyone was curious about how Han Xiao would leave the Planet Aquamarine. The players had long waited for this moment. They followed Han Xiao and looked upward.

It was right at the crack of dawn, as the sun on the horizon slowly raised up. The heavens and the earth brightened while chasing the darkness away.

Right at that moment, in the area right above the convoy, the players realized that there was small black dot that was the size of an ant. They focused their eyes, and they could soon see that it was an outline of a spaceship that was descending toward the planet.

“Look! Spaceship!”

At the beginning, the crowd became exhilarated as they talked with each other. But as the shadow of the spaceship become larger and larger and the sky started to dim, the excitement and noisiness of the crowd quickly died down.

Tens of thousands of people’s jaws dropped. The scene in front of their eyes was so shocking that they were lost for words.

When the spaceship was still high up in the sky, the outline was only the size of a green bean. It was only when the spaceship was a few hundred meters above the crowd that they realized the sheer magnitude of the spaceship. The spaceship was large enough to block out the entire sky above.

“My god… just how big is this spaceship‽”

As the players looked up into the sky, they could not see anything other than the black spaceship. They only saw the outline of the spaceship that was near the horizon. There was one poem that everyone remembered as the spaceship landed.

Dark clouds bearing down on the city threaten to overwhelm it.

The Short Horn Star was the main spaceship of the tourist group. The large-scale commercial spaceship had a controlled ecosystem, and it was comparable to the size of a space station. It could travel in space for a long time with radar equipment, powerful turrets, and a high energy shield. Just this one single spaceship could sweep over Planet Aquamarine.

The crowd was in great shock, and it was even more so for the chosen professional players. They took a deep breath. In their eyes, Han Xiao was just a character on Planet Aquamarine, yet he had the ability able to call in such a large spaceship. It was simply phenomenal.

However, because Han Xiao had shown so much power and capability, the teammates started to gain confidence.

The magnificent futuristic scene left a powerful impression in the players’ hearts. The monstrous machinery and the natural environment juxtaposed each other perfectly, and it was perfect for a desktop picture. The players quickly took out their cameras and captured the view.

A box-shaped levitating cabin detached from the main spaceship and spat out blue flames that pushed the dust in the air as it landed right in front of Han Xiao. This was the specialized cabin that carried the passengers into the spaceship. The metal cabin had a high-tech style, with a very clean, detailed structure.

The cabin door opened up, and folded stairs extended in front Han Xiao.

“Let’s go now, I can’t wait to get a drink.” Kerlodd got in without hesitation and left all his burdens behind.

Han Xiao waved at the players, and they had to do hard labor, carrying all the supply boxes up into the cabin. After everything was done, the cabin door closed by itself, and it shot right up to the sky and docked into the Short Horn Star.

After a few seconds, the Short Horn Star quickly moved up. Despite its huge mass, it did not make any noise or release any flames as it flew away, giving the crowd a weird feeling. When the Short Horn Star stopped by a planet, it would turn off its engine and only use the anti-gravity core to save fuel.

Through the window, Han Xiao looked down on people that had turned into the size of ants and let out a deep sigh.

After spending so much time on this planet, I’ve finally moved on from this place.

And up into the sky they went.

On the plain, millions of players stared at the spaceship that disappeared into blue heavens, and the sunlight showed up again in the sky.

…

Inside the Sanctuary Three, Hila stood behind his sister, and she put her hand on the shoulders of Aurora. The two of them both looked at the Short Horn Star.

“Will he ever come back?” Aurora asked curiously.

Hila remained quiet and shook her head. “It’s a wider world out there. After stepping out of here, there’s no reason for him to come back.”

“Hey sis, why didn’t we also join him?”

Hila patted on Aurora’s golden hair and did not reply.

“Hey, you’re hurting me.”

Hila then realized that she had use too much force and quickly let go.

The bear cub on the side roared at the sky, lay on the ground, and covered its head with its paws, sobbing, as if it was sad about the departure of its owner.

Aurora patted on the bear’s fur and was also sad. She asked quietly, “Will we be able to see him?”

“Sooner or later, we will.”

“But you just said that he won’t come back.”

“Yeah.” Hila did not explain. Aurora’s heart skipped a beat as she understood the hidden meaning. Then her mood was happy again.

..

“He’s gone.”

In Sanctuary One, Bennett was doing a video call with Huang Yu and listening to the intel.

“From now on, Sanctuary Three is under your command. Don’t try to change Han Xiao’s arrangements, but other than that, you can decide on the other matters.”

“Okay, thank you, Sir Bennett.” Huang Yu was motivated since his hard work had finally paid off.

“Don’t thank me. Han Xiao recommended you before leaving.”

“I understand.” Huang Yu nodded and carved it in his heart.

After ending the call, Bennett, with a smile on his face, logged into his secret account and opened the threats that the Six Nations had sent him.

Bennett had dealt with the pressure from Raylen and other countries by himself as he did not want Han Xiao to worry about these things before departing.

Now that the ship had sailed, the way that his old friend had left was enough to shock the Six Nations since Bennett himself also was surprised at the scene of departure. He wondered how Raylen would react to that.

…

Because there were too many witnesses of the event, it brought a large impact all over the world with the video of the spaceship spreading on the internet. Every citizen on Planet Aquamarine saw the landing monstrous spaceship that was as large as a mountain.

The Short Horn Star did not state their purpose of entry, and this massive ship frightened the Six Nations. As the satellites detected the Short Horn Star, the Six Nations had panicked and sent the air force to try and communicate with them. Yet, the Short Horn Star had ignored them and showed no intention of talking to the highest power of the planet. Before the Six Nations could do anything, the spaceship had then left without a sound.

After the visit of the enormous spaceship on Planet Aquamarine, the Six Nations feared what had to come and quickly tried to get intel.

When they found out about the truth that the Short Horn Star had just come to pick up Han Xiao, the Six Nations had been flustered at first, but then they were suddenly struck dumb with amazement!

The mysterious spaceship that had surpassed Planet Aquamarine by countless of years was just there to pick Black Phantom up!

How did he do it‽ What else was he hiding‽

Although they knew that Black Phantom was capable, this action was so unbelievable that no one could ever have thought of it.

This time, the Raylen was bamboozled. They had never thought that this would happen! The target whom they were threatening had already jumped out of the pool and stopped playing with them. No wonder Han Xiao had ignored all the threats from the Six Nations since their hostility was just a speck of dust.

Chapter 319 - The Short Horn Star

As Han Xiao left without a sound, Raylen were left in confusion. They could not even lay their finger on the world above, yet Han Xiao had simply achieved this without breaking a sweat. For the Six Nations, there were still a lot of unknowns about the nature of the galaxy, and they only had the downgraded version of the Galactic Communicator, so they could only contact the Godoran Civilization and were unable to use other functions.

It was complete suppression of difference in civilization, so the Six Nations had to comply.

Therefore, they did not know about the function of the Galactic Travel agency and had no idea how Han Xiao had achieved what he had done. In their eyes, they felt that the ship was the unknown space organization that backed Han Xiao up. The man had always been mysterious, and they were always clueless.

As the major political power, having one individual that had allies more powerful than the entire planet, their fear and anxiety was off the charts.

Raylen was the party who had started the aggression against Han Xiao, but the pressure was meaningless. On top of that, they had also revealed the secret that they had the spaceship. They had suffered a double loss, and it pained their heart.

The difference between reality and expectation was huge, as if a student was trying to beat Han Xiao in exam, but then they realized that he was already confirmed to go to a top university in a big city. Raylen was left only with disappointment.

…

Through the box-shaped cabin, the earth became smaller and smaller as Short Horn Star flew in the sky. The blue sky slowly turned dark while the anti-gravitation engine operated quietly. They headed into the dark universe. Suddenly, the cabin shook violently as it tried to escape the atmosphere. Before they knew it, they were in space.

Planet Aquamarine was filled with the deep blue color of the ocean with bountiful fertile land and specks of yellow dots. From above, one could see the entire land in detail, and Han Xiao saw that Andrea was covered in black, showing that the war and nuclear explosion had the most damaging effect at this area.

His experience on Planet Aquamarine flashed by in his eyes. He had started with nothing, then he had finished accumulating enough resources to start rising in this planet. And now, he was taking the next step to the higher stage. He felt sad leaving his friends behind, so he still had some feelings for the Planet Aquamarine. As he left the planet, part of his heart was still in his home.

Even though he was not extremely close with people such as Bennett, Hila, and Aurora, they had great potential in their ability. Just from the perspective of benefits, Han Xiao hoped to see Hila and her sister grow stronger and provide assistance.

Staring at the planet that was slowly drifting away, he quietly murmured, “I will be back.”

The next moment, Han Xiao looked away from the planet and headed toward the hallways in the spaceship.

Whoosh!

The metal door that connected box-shaped cabin to the main spaceship split into four diamonds and retracted into the walls. Right through the door was a straight metal hallway that extended forward. The light on the side of the door turned from red to green, indicating that the passengers should follow the path.

“Come on, I need to get a drink,” Kerlodd urged.

“Why are you rushing? Your money is with me.”

Han Xiao waved his hand, and the professional players stopped their chit chat and pushed the payload forward.

Halfway through the tunnel was a mechanical arch door with a monitor on the side. It was used to detect the body condition and identify the species of the passengers to have a suitable arrangement. The group walked through the door, and the monitor showed that everything was normal. The floor suddenly opened up, and a transparent container popped up. Inside the container was a translator for passenger to use.

Han Xiao and others all put the translators on, and the monitor spoke with a digital woman’s voice.

“Welcome to the Short Horn Star Travel Agency. You originally reserved fifty seats, but we have detected more, please pay the additional fee of…”

With a few more people than originally planned, Han Xiao followed the instruction. The account still had a bit more than 700 Enas. The voice then said, “Payment confirmed. Class: Economy. Personal luggage storage function activated. Please store your luggage and move forward.”

The wall on side opened up, and inside was a moving conveyor belt that transported luggage to the warehouse. After putting in the supply boxes, the group kept on moving forward.

Finally, they reached the end of the hallway. It was a large elevator. After they stepped in, the elevator moved up and down, but it also moved sideways. The galactic commercial spaceship did not force the passenger to stay in one place—it was more like a cruise that had a lot of entertainment and resting spaces. Different sections of the ship had different environments to accommodate different life forms. For example, species similar to humans that needed oxygen and low gravity to live shared one large lobby. Species that needed special environmental conditions also had their own section, such as Aquatic Creatures and Anaerobic Organisms.

The elevator stopped abruptly. The door opened, and the bustling atmosphere crashed into the group.

In front of their eyes was a large empty space—the lobby for economy class. It was wide and open with all sorts of entertainment such as a place that was a mixture of a bar, a ballroom, and a party room as well as resting areas and personal rooms. One side of the lobby was a large window that could directly see the beautiful universe decorated with the stars.

All sorts of living creatures walked past them. They saw a bird talking to a lion that was wearing a suit. There was also a dwarf with a great big, bushy beard drinking beer with a beast with sharp teeth. Every one of them had different scents and voices, and they were mixing together in a small space, which gave the players a weird feeling, as it was their first contact with aliens.

“What kind of species is that? Their heads look like a hammer,” Second Prince said in surprise.

“You look like them.” Sun Eggplant laughed.

“Don’t bullying him so much,” King Admiral said. “Only I have the right to do so.”

Second Prince gave both of them a middle finger.

Rainy Kim stood by the window like a quiet, beautiful lady, enjoying the view of the night sky. Twinkle Fried Rice slowly moved up to her, and just as he wanted to flirt, Hao Tian pulled him back.

Hao Tian dragged Sleepy Winter and Twinkle Fried Rice and said in a serious tone, “Later, we will go find a chance to see if we can activate some missions… Fried Rice, why do you look so bitter?”

All the players opened their eyes and chatted about the new world. However, Han Xiao was not surprised.

He had already seen too many species after a lot of reading. A female member of staff wearing a uniform with a human shape walked up to the group. She had light-red skin and smiled at the group.

The staff member scanned through the group, then she directly walked up to Kerlodd and said with enthusiasm, “Respectable Godoran, your room is ready.”

In the Colton Star Cluster, Godoran was a well-known species with high standing. Commercial traveling groups were equivalent to public transport in space because it was the cheapest way to travel. So, it was rare to see a Godoran.

The staff member assumed that Kerlodd was the leader, and he ignored Han Xiao and the others.

Kerlodd was a bit surprised and looked at Han Xiao. He then replied, “Okay, I understand.”

The staff gave the room number and authorization to Kerlodd, then she gave him wink before leaving. It was obvious that she was interested in him. Godorans were the best species in the star cluster, and the woman, who was an Aqwax Species, would not mind if anything happened between Kerlodd and her. Some species could have a hybrid offspring, while others could use IVF. The relationships between different species in the universe were very open.

However, Kerlodd was insistent about being a pure blood, so he had no interest in females from other species. He handed everything to Han Xiao.

Han Xiao took the things. He found it funny that the Godoran was mistaken as a leader.

“We are on the ship and have finished the transaction,” Kerlodd said. “When can I contact the headquarters?”

“No worries, the final stop is Juberly Hub. You can head back by yourself from there. I won’t stop you.”

“That’s good.” Kerlodd rubbed his hand and added awkwardly, “I want to get a drink, so…”

“I only have that much. Don’t waste it all.” Han Xiao gave him ten Enas. Han Xiao thought to himself that he was such a kind person for giving pocket money to a person whom he had scammed.

After receiving the money, Kerlodd skipped toward the bar. He believed in hedonism, so most of his money was spent on drinks.

Han Xiao brought everyone to their room, and the players’ faces were filled with surprise. Bun-hit-dog excitedly recorded everything. Occasionally, other species looked at the group, but they withdrew their gazes rather quickly as Space Humans were really common. There were a lot of human species in the economy class lobby.

After reaching the door of the room, Han Xiao thought for a while and turned to the group. “You are free to do whatever you want. Also, try to get some information from other passengers.”

The players could not hold back their curiosity any longer. After hearing this, everyone scattered to the lobby. Players were useful intel gatherers, so there was no need for him to do that by himself. Also, players could earn some quests from other passengers and earn some Enas, and he could use some method to exchange goods with players. In the end, the players were essentially making money for Han Xiao.

Han Xiao smiled. I guess it will be the first time that the passengers have met such passionate people.

Chapter 320 - Development Plan and Scavengers

After getting rid of the others, Han Xiao walked into the room alone and let out a deep breath. He finally had the chance to be alone with the first step of entering the galaxy completed.

There were many opportunities in the universe and many plans for what to do next, so he needed to decide on one path to take.

Firstly, he was located in the Garton Galaxy of the Colton Star Cluster, and with his strength, this area was dangerous but just right for him to grow. As a LV 70 Mechanic, Grade C Super, he was considered at the middle level of the Supers in Colton Star Cluster.

The universe was divided into many Star Fields, and the Colton Star Cluster belonged to the ‘Shattered Star Ring’ Star Field. The Shattered Star Ring was located at the edge of the visible universe and considered rural. Its name came from its structure. This Star Field was like a broken, shattered ring of stars, every Star Cluster being part of this ‘ring’.

At the heart of the Shattered Star Ring was a dangerous place with an enormous cluster of wormholes, where the universe’s waste was being thrown out from numerous Star Fields, floating in the area and forming a waste dump. Because of this, scavenger groups were very active in the Shattered Star Ring.

There were quite a number of uncommon occupations in the galaxy, such as the Galaxy Pirates, Scavengers, mercenaries, Colony Explorers, and so on. The Shattered Star Ring did not have a single ruling authority, only scattered Star Clusters and galactic civilizations, so there were many areas with a worrying level of law and order.

The Shattered Star Ring was rightfully ruled by Westsandling, but this civilization only had their emissary reside at the local offices and hardly managed the area. Westsandling was the official name of the universal civilization ‘Federation of Light’.

The bigger the area, the more dangerous it was. Han Xiao remembered many opportunities, but according to the current situation, the best decision was to stay in the Colton Star Cluster and grow first. It was still Version 1.0, and he was not very familiar with the storyline in the galaxy since the players at this stage had yet to enter it in his previous life. However, some large missions were most likely still the same.

The first step is to get an information source. Juberly Hub is chaotic, and there are many agencies from different organizations here. I can try to attach to an organization and get some initial intelligence, Han Xiao thought. As long as he could get his hands on some information, he would be able to know which were the large storyline missions suitable for him.

The most important target was to become stronger. He was not restricted by the version and was always ahead of the players, so he had to maintain this lead in this world filled with danger. It was like riding a boat against the current—if he did not go forward, he would be going backward.

For now, Han Xiao’s main class was stuck at the class advancement mission. He had to first find a subclass, level up to LV 80, get enough attribute points, and increase his Intelligence to more than 400. He did not want to take this lightly. More and more experience would be required to level up, so he wanted to find a valuable, rare subclass.

From what he had earned during the Pro League, the amount of experience that he had in his interface was about 2,700,000,000, which would last him for quite some time without having to worry about experience expenses. The amount of resources and equipment that he had accumulated had the value of thousands of Enas, and the specific value depended on the buyer’s demand and the fluctuating value of machinery, which could not be determined before the deal.

The other class advancement requirement was to have five Mechanic class advancement knowledges. In the universe, there were comparatively more ways to get Super knowledge. Although the very high-level knowledge was controlled, class advancement knowledge were not difficult to get. Some financial groups and organizations were even selling class advancement knowledge, which meant that he could get them as long as he paid the money.

As long as he had enough money, he could even buy all the class advancement knowledges.

And in terms of earning money, not that Han Xiao was bragging, he was really not bad at it.

Players are equivalent to labor; I can get Enas through them indirectly, and they can also provide assistance to me. If I make them mercenaries, I can get paid while they do the missions… However, in order to make a large amount of profit, the best is to sell rare items, such as mining for some precious minerals, or get rewarded from some old wanted missions.

The existence of players was his advantage, and they could be of great help if he did things the right way, which was why he had chosen to bring the players along.

Growing and leveling up was the core target, but Han Xiao also had another target, which was to try to solve the Mutation Disaster in Planet Aquamarine of Version 2.0 in advance.

In Version 2.0, many planets in the Shattered Star Ring encountered the Mutation Disaster, and the origin of all that was the evil organization of Colton Star Cluster, DarkStar. The novice planets in other star fields would have different storylines.

DarkStar was a rebellion from the Godoran Civilization, and Han Xiao was very familiar with its history.

The origin of the DarkStar mostly came from the discrimination from Godora’s pure blood beliefs. Many of the DarkStar members were hybrid Godorans, discriminated against because of their bloodline, which led to their extreme mindset, wanting to overthrow the Godora government. They believed that Godora’s regulations were corrupted and that they were the ‘New Godora’ of the new era.

Every civilization had their own mindsets and traditions, and there was not any absolute evidence that inclusion was the more advanced choice. All civilizations had their unique qualities. To respect the traditions and habits of the other civilization, compromising with each other during contact yet not fully accepting them, was the norm of communication between species in the universe.

Of course, at the initial stage of universe exploration, cases of uncompromising conflict between civilizations occurring—due to their irreconcilable difference in beliefs, habits, and characteristics—were not the rarest. Such as the human race and species that fed on humans, there was almost zero possibility of these species communicating with each other, but these extreme civilizations only suffered in the progress, and as the super civilizations implanted their laws and regulations, even these species had to accept the existence of each other.

Godora originated from magic. Before they came into contact with the galaxy, all Godorans were pureblood—only after they mated with other intelligent species did hybrid Godorans appear. So, the pureblood belief had started to spread, emphasizing on the importance of their traditions. Those with authority were all pure blood; therefore, the pure blood and hybrids started to witness new class differences. As Godora grew, more and more hybrids were born, and the bloodline talent of Godorans was gradually diluted. Thus, they took more importance in the pureblood belief. The extreme ones of the pureblood believers did not even consider the hybrids as the same race.

The conflict became ever more intense, and finally, DarkStar was born, acting against Godora in almost every aspect with an extreme and evil style of doing things.

In order to solve the Mutation Disaster, I have to start with the Godoran Civilization…

The mutation virus had very strong latency. In his previous life, it had only been taken seriously after the disaster completely exploded, so all he could do for now was only prepare for the future.

These two targets were the key points for the current stage. He contemplated the details of the plan, turned on the communicator, browsed the interstellar channel, and focused on the information regarding the current situation and environment of the Colton Star Cluster.

At this time, an announcement was made from the broadcast. “Everyone, please return to your rooms. The ship is about to speed up and enter the Light Jump Tunnel. Turbulence might be experienced. If you suffer from dizziness, please do not panic—it’s a normal reaction.”

Rapid footsteps could be heard outside the doors. All of the passengers returned to their rooms, including Kerlodd and the players. Black safety belts came out of the wall. Safety measures like protective cabins were too much to expect with such low-grade travel agencies.

After buckling up the safety belt, the room doors locked automatically. A loud roar came from within the spaceship, and the metal walls and floors were trembling.

Right after, a force came from above and pressed everyone strongly into their seats. This was the reaction force even after being weakened many times by the various devices.

Short Horn Star shot out a blazing flame and sped up rapidly.

Streams of light suddenly appeared in the darkness outside the windows, like entering a tunnel of light.

Hum…

As the pressing force reached its peak, Short Horn Star flashed and turned into a stream of light.

The engine operated at its full capacity. After entering the tunnel, the reaction force rapidly weakened because of the internal stabilization devices.

“Next stop, Garton Galaxy Star Zone 5. Travel time: three days. Please enjoy your trip.”

…

In those three days, Han Xiao kept a low profile on the ship whereas the players were rather warm-hearted. They started conversations with the other passengers and asked to help them passionately. It was the first time that these passengers had seen such warm humans, and they realized the players had very limited knowledge after having conversations and assumed them to be natives.

Kerlodd was having a dark blue drink at the bar when a hybrid human with sharp ears and bony face walked up beside him, tossed an Enas coin, signifying that this cup was on him, and said with a smile, “You boarded from Planet Aquamarine, right? That low-class planet is just a low-class civilization, and the people you brought onto the ship are all natives, aren’t they?”

“What does that have to do with you?” Kerlodd looked at him sideways.

“Hehe, are you interested in a deal? My name is Cesoly. I do this…” This person was wearing gloves. He discreetly lifted up the gap and showed the tattoo on the back of his hand—a bird wrapped in chains. That was a label for a slavery trade organization, one of the many scavenger businesses.

Kerlodd waved impatiently and said, “F*ck off. I don’t want to waste my time with you.”

Public spaceships were rather chaotic with quite many hidden gray organizations looking for suckers. Therefore, people who had the choice all disdained traveling with galactic travel agencies. Kerlodd disliked being in contact with scavengers very much; it spoiled his mood so much that he even lost his interest in his favorite Dark Blue Star Bubbles.

“Don’t be so quick to reject. I can see all of the natives that you’ve brought along are Supers, so their prices will be quite good. Consider it, okay?”

At this time, Han Xiao’s cold voice appeared from behind the two. “I think it’s time for you to leave.”

Cesoly turned his head around and saw Han Xiao standing behind expressionless. He smiled without caring, ignored Han Xiao, and gave Kerlodd a slight bow before leaving.

Chapter 321 - The Green Knight, Boneless Bird

Cesoly blended into the crowd and started chatting with others again. It seemed like he did not care much about the failed deal this time.

“Slave trader…” Han Xiao frowned as he looked at Cesoly’s back.

“I might be short of money, but I have my integrity.” Kerlodd snorted, finished his drink, and said after a pause, “There are hundreds and thousands of scavenger organizations in the Shattered Star Ring, recognizable by their tattoos. Some scavengers also do other shady business, like robbery, kidnapping, and extortion. That Cesoly is the middle man for the slave trade, in charge of looking for targets. He belongs to the ‘Boneless Bird’ scavenger group, a tough criminal group wanted by many galactic civilizations in Godora.

“The slave trade specializes in capturing rare species and Supers, selling them to customers with demands for viewing or beast fighting.”

Supers were very common in the universe but far less common than normal people. In the eyes of the people in the galaxy, Supers were considered trained warriors or talented geniuses.

Supers had higher positions, and some normal people started to have thoughts about controlling Supers. Thus, gladiator shows appeared. It was like watching a higher-grade boxing competition. The audience enjoyed watching the Supers fight each other to death both visually and mentally. Some official arenas hired Supers with high salaries, and some underground arenas bought Supers slaves; therefore, the Supers were always quite popular in the slave market.

“You guys have been targeted, so it’s best to be careful, but scavengers won’t do things that will cost them a loss. You should be safe in the spaceship since I rejected him, and he won’t continue to try,” Kerlodd said.

“I feel that his target isn’t us ‘natives’.” Han Xiao thought about.

The spaceship suddenly shook and got out of the light jumping state. The window at the side of the hall showed the Short Horn Star closing in on a dark-gray planet. Its surface was covered with mountains, and there was not any hint of green. It was just a desolate rock, with dark and black streams formed from the dead rivers.

This was Star Zone 5, filled with dangerous places, and this planet was one such place. Its danger level in the Godora Star Map was ‘Medium-High’, which meant there was more than a forty percent chance that an investigator would die there. Planet Aquamarine’s danger evaluation in their database was only ‘Low’.

The spaceship entered the atmosphere, hovered high up in the sky, and let out its airdrop cabins to collect the new passengers on the ground. The public spaceships would fetch passengers on their way of the journey, and there was someone on this planet that had called for the Short Horn Star travel agency.

The passenger that had just boarded at the VIP entrance was covered in a ragged white cape. The body shape under the cape was tall and large, and a big bag was hanging across his body. His footsteps were very heavy, accompanied by the clunk of metal clashing.

Coming in front of the scanning gate, this person unbuttoned their cape and showed their real face—he was shockingly half man, half machine. A very large area on his body had gone through mechanical modifications. Pipes and wires were hidden between the gaps of the armor, indication lights flashed, and only his right arm was human of his four limbs. There was no modification above his neck. He looked cold and handsome, especially his sharp eyes, which gave off an unwelcoming aura.

The eyes of this person were light green, beautiful like emeralds. His skin was very pale, and his half-machine body was full of scars from battle.

After the scan was complete, a sound came out of the broadcast. “Welcome aboard Short Horn Star. You have reserved the business cabin. Your passenger identification number is… Please enjoy your journey.”

The business cabin hall was at another place. There were not as many passengers there as the economy cabin, so its environment was better and quieter.

This person had no intention of stopping. He walked past the hall and went straight back to his room, with the passengers in the hall looking at him with shock.

“Is that ‘The Green Knight’?”

“That’s him alright, one of the very few warriors of the Sunil Family, high-class mercenary of the Mercenary Alliance, a very strong guy.”

“How unexpected to see him here. Didn’t they say the Sunil Family migrated?”

The people chatted among themselves and subconsciously lowered their voices. It was like they feared that person and did not want him to hear.

…

Of course, Han Xiao did not know who had boarded the ship. The broadcast announced that the next stop was another star zone. There would still be a few more stops before they arrived at the Juberly Hub, but he was patient and not in a hurry.

He made use of the time to gather information from the passengers and the galactic channel on the communicator. The communicator also worked as a television. With advanced technology came psychological enjoyments—many channels were dedicated to playing all sorts of entertainment shows. Han Xiao found quite a lot of good stuff in one of Kerlodd’s files called ‘Investigator Work Documents’…

After looking at it for a while, Han Xiao turned it off in silence, his eyes burning.

“Godorans really know how to play.”

Kerlodd drank alcohol every day, and his allowance was finished very soon. He asked for more money from Han Xiao but came back to no result. Thus, he then slept in his room every day, totally lacking the attitude of one who had been kidnapped. In fact, Han Xiao was amused at how calm this Godoran was.

Life in the spaceship was simple and quiet; he just wanted to arrive at the destination peacefully.

However, change came without any warning.

In some area on the way of Short Horn Star’s route ahead, a few scavenger spaceships hovered in the universe quietly. Their designs were unique with signs of being modified unprofessionally. This was the unique style of scavengers. The ‘Boneless Bird’ logo was painted on the side of the spaceships.

In the main ship’s internal deck, scavengers from different species were having a party. The Boneless Bird Leader was sitting on the high chair, holding a barrel and chugging it down while laughing out loud.

The leader of Boneless Bird was called Serpent Braid. He was almost four meters tall and had the blood of Stone Giant. His muscles were bulging, his skin was stone, his face was covered with a beard, and a braid of hair on his head hanged down to his waist, thus his nickname.

Scavengers traveled around the gray areas. Their reason for making money was to enjoy themselves, so partying was their most common activity.

“Ding ding! New message!”

The interface on the main ship’s control panel flashed, and a line of words appeared. Its sender was Cesoly.

“Guys, the job is here.”

Serpent Braid threw away the barrel, and it shattered in the corner. He stood up, wiped away the alcohol on his beard, and said with a ferocious face, “The target this time is worth a lot of money!”

Hundreds of scavengers below growled in excitement.

…

“Pair of threes.”

“Four Kings.”

“Five twos.”

“Pass… Wait a minute, where did the other two come from?”

On Short Horn Star, a group of players squeezed into the room and played poker out of boredom.

After staying on the spaceship for so many days, there were no more missions for them to accept. Furthermore, combat was not allowed in the ship, and many areas were not open, so these players could only find enjoyment themselves. The journey could not be skipped, which had always received complaints. Some players went offline to rest, so only one third of the players were left online.

The online spot and reviving spot could be locked onto the transportation tool, so there were no worries of being lost in space.

Han Xiao sat to the side and looked at the time—there should be only a few more days till they arrived.

Short Horn Star had arrived at the Garton Galaxy Star Zone 2 at this time. The area started becoming more urban—quite a number of the planets here had civilizations, and it was an area where Godora paid a lot of attention to managing as it was closer, which meant it was easier to manage. The spaceship stopped the greatest number of times to fetch passenger here. As long as they arrived at Star Zone 1 and entered the stable wormhole gate, they would be able to reach the destination.

At this moment, the ground started to tremble unusually.

A piercing alarm sounded from the broadcast instantly after.

Han Xiao’s expression changed a little, and he instantly stood up. Kerlodd woke up from his sleep as well, and the two walked out of the room hastily. The players behind them were lost but knew that there must have been some accident, so they followed the two of them.

The hall was chaotic at this moment. All of the passengers walked out and looked outside the window, terrified.

Colorful explosions flashed outside, but there was no sound due to the lack of air.

The scavenger spaceships fired at the Short Horn Star. The Short Horn Star had already activated its high energy shield, and a light-yellow energy shield protected the spaceship like an eggshell. The scavenger spaceships were much smaller than Short Horn Star, but they were also much more agile because of that. They dodged the attacks and dashed around, but Short Horn Star could not dodge anything due to its large size—it could only endure the attacks with its shield.

Chapter 322 - Attack!

“This is the captain of Short Horn Star speaking. Passengers, we have encountered an attack from scavengers. We will start to turn our engine to its full capacity. As long as we enter the jump gate, we will be able to get rid of the enemies. Please do not worry, the enemy will definitely not be able to break the defense—we are very experienced in facing attacks.”

This time, the voice from the broadcast was no longer an electrically mixed voice—it was the firm and manly sound of the captain, comforting the passengers.

As a low-class travel agency, the Short Horn Star could not always avoid facing robberies from scavengers and space pirates, so Short Horn Star had gone through special modifications. Thus, its shield was very tough, easier to escape.

This isn’t good… Han Xiao had a heartache. He just wanted to arrive at the destination safely—why did it have to be so difficult? A space attacks was something that he could not deal with at his current strength. To a certain extent, he could only hope for the best.

More than a dozen scavenger spaceships surrounded and attacked—there was a total of three logos. Suddenly, Han Xiao recognizes one of the logos.

Boneless Bird‽

Han Xiao immediately thought of Cesoly from a few days ago, and he went to look for him in the crowd right after but could not find him. Cesoly had disappeared without a trace. Han Xiao frowned and pulled an attendant aside, described Cesoly looks, and asked, “Where did this person go?”

This attendant was the woman attendant who had tried to seduce Kerlodd back then when they just boarded the ship. She was horrified and said while stuttering, “Tha—that passenger changed to the first class yesterday…”

Kerlodd nervously walked over and said, “These are Boneless Bird scavengers—they were definitely called here by that middle man. I can’t believe they are attacking so publicly. If this spaceship can’t withstand it, we’re all done for. I haven’t lived long enough.”

“You don’t say… No one’s lived long enough.”

The attack was too sudden and could not be prevented in advance. Cesoly had a group behind him and could call for people, but Han Xiao did not have any galactic organization behind him, so there was nothing he could do, and he was at a very passive state. Furthermore, Han Xiao did not actually know how to read minds, so Cesoly’s moves and thoughts were unknown to him. If he started a fight in the spaceship first, he would be chased out instantly.

There was no use of thinking of these things now. Han Xiao calmed himself down and said, “Cesoly is their man, and he is on board this ship, which means that these scavengers will not destroy this ship—they will definitely try to board it. There are two possibilities—one is that they will attack the Short Horn Star till it can’t function, threaten to destroy the ship, and make us give in. The other is that if they can’t break through Short Horn Star’s defenses, they will then attack us from inside and board the ship. We can’t do anything about the former, but we can try to resist against the latter.”

“Then what can we do?”

“We only can counter attack if we have weapons.” Han Xiao thought quickly. The spaceship did not allow possession of destructive weapons except in special cases, such as implants that could not be removed.

“All of the luggage and equipment is stored in the warehouse of the spaceship.”

“Okay, don’t leave me here, I can fight too,” Kerlodd said.

Han Xiao grabbed the female attendant and yelled, “Where’s the warehouse‽”

The female attendant heard their conversation. She opened her eyes wide in surprise upon realizing that the Godoran was the follower and that this low-profile human was the leader instead. It seemed that she had been wrong all along. She regained her focus upon hearing Han Xiao’s yell and pointed the way, shivering.

Without saying a word, Han Xiao was going to dash out of the hall immediately, but the female attendant hurriedly said, “Wait, don’t leave. The spaceship had entered safe mode, so the exit to the hall is locked, and no one can get out…”

Bang!

The players used their strongest attacks one after another. With a loud bang and streams of light, the broken mechanical lock shattered, and the metal gate was blasted away. Han Xiao did not slow down—he led the group and charged out of the gate. The remaining passengers in the hall were left panicking and lost.

The scavengers and the Short Horn Star were still in a stalemate. Most of the passengers were watching in horror. Han Xiao was not acting on impulses—he just never liked to let others decide the outcome, always wanting to have the upper hand.

If the Short Horn Star could escape successfully, of course, that would be the best outcome, but if its defenses were broke through, these actions that he took now in advance would be crucial. If they only started to prepare themselves after they break in, it would be too late.

The group ran for about ten minutes. The tremors from the attacks never stopped. They could feel the Short Horn Star trying to speed up, but it just could not enter the wormhole tunnel. Han Xiao knew that something was wrong.

There was a lot of equipment that could stop spaceships from entering the wormhole tunnel, and since scavengers did robberies, they definitely possessed such equipment to prevent their prey from escaping.

Suddenly, the spaceship trembled tens of times harder than it did before with deafening sounds of explosions. The group staggered and almost fell.

Han Xiao’s expression turned very serious. The universe was a vacuum, so the sound of the explosion meant that the enemies had destroyed the shield and broken in.

This captain had jinxed it!

The moment that he heard the sound, a notification showed on his interface.

_____________________

You have triggered an emergency mission, [Protect Short Horn Star].

Mission Introduction: Due to certain reasons, some groups of scavengers have their eyes on Short Horn Star. They are preparing to board and attack all the passengers. Your fate is intertwined tightly with this spaceship.

Mission Requirements: Repel all the scavengers and protect Short Horn Star.

Reward: 350,000 Experience, 1,500 Enas, unlock area prestige.

_____________________

Looks like the scavengers chose the second method. There are two other scavenger groups other than Boneless Bird. The reason for them to work together and attack us is definitely more than just to capture a group of slaves…

Han Xiao turned around and saw the twenty or so players behind him standing in a daze, which meant that they were looking at their interface and had triggered the same mission. Fortunately for him, he would not have to spend his own quota.

Han Xiao opened the communicator and realized that there was no signal. There could only be one explanation for such a phenomenon—the scavengers had advanced equipment that could block the signal, which was definitely to prevent their prey from requesting help from nearby civilizations. It was clear that they were very well prepared and determined to catch their prey.

“The enemies have broken in,” Han Xiao said with a low voice. “We can’t rely on the guards of this spaceship, and I don’t want to give up fighting. We have to protect this spaceship. I have a plan. First, we’ll retrieve our weapons from the warehouse. Then, we’ll split up into three groups. One group will head toward the main control room, and another group will look for the captain and the cadres—they have authority to operate the spaceship, so the enemies will definitely head toward these two targets as well. There’s a very high possibility that we will get into combat, and we know nothing about how strong the enemies are, so act with caution.

“The last group will find the emergency escape ship. Such a large spaceship definitely has this kind of measure, so this will be the last resort.”

Players splitting up was very advantageous. They communicated with their interface, which would not be blocked, and Han Xiao could control the situation by talking to the players.

No one had any objections.

Without further ado, Han Xiao led the others onward and immediately headed toward the warehouse.

…

On the side of Short Horn Star, a hole had been created on the shield by the scavengers’ focus fire. Before the shield could recover, mechanical horns extended from seven scavenger spaceships and rammed into Short Horn Star. Thick smoke came out of the hole, and a large group of scavengers boarded the ship successfully, entering the interior.

Hundreds of scavengers equipped with various firearms battled the guards of Short Horn Star, shooting out beans and bullets, and people were screaming in agony as they fell.

Most of the soldiers were normal people of various races, and there were also a few supers.

One of the spaceship guards was an Insectman Pugilist with six arms who used the six swords style. Scavengers fell one after another under the cold blades.

Huuu!

Suddenly, a large shadow fell rapidly and shrouded this Insectman Pugilist.

The strong wind pressure was like a black hole, sucking away the air nearby, and the surrounding people felt suffocated.

“Buzz…” the Insectman Pugilist let out an angry buzz as he raised the six swords to block the attack.

Boom!

The Insectman disappeared in an instant. The floor suffered from the attack and sunk, but at the border of the impact, it protruded with edges like a ring of mountains!

An enormous war hammer rose up slowly, covered in the acidic, green blood of the Insectman, dripping down to the floor and making a sizzling sound.

One hit, and the Insectman had been flattened!

Serpent Braid placed the silver war hammer on his shoulder with one hand. It rubbed against his stone skin and clanked. He yelled, “Kill the guards quickly! Gazers, go to clean up the main control room; Beast Hoofs, get some hostages…”

Serpent Braid had invited two other scavenger groups for this job called ‘Gazers’ and ‘Beast Hoofs’.

“And the rest…” Serpent Braid swung his braid and smiled hideously. “Follow me to find that Godoran!”

Chapter 323 - Danger and Splitting Up

“Has the distress signal been sent out yet‽”

In the main control room, the captain was covered in sweat while the operator at the side was panicking.

“Our communications have been jammed; all signals are blocked.”

“Impossible, the communication device on Short Horn Star is a high-grade device brought from a galactic civilization. How do these scavengers have such high-grade equipment‽”

The captain was shocked and furious. Galactic long-range communicators had universality and diversity, causing signal blocking devices to be very expensive. Furthermore, the enemy had an ‘anti-jump’ device that could disrupt the space and prevent jumping.

The captain was devastated. These scavengers are way too well equipped!

The Short Horn Star was unable to escape or request help—it could only last for a short time with its shield and armor. There was still a chance to survive. If the high energy in the area was captured by the detectors Godora set up around the galaxy, security would rush to help.

In the populated Star Zones, the ruling civilization was the main security. The detectors were very sensitive, and some of them had fixed locations, monitoring a large area with artificial intelligence, like a secured perimeter.

At the time, Short Horn Star was flying toward the nearest detector. Since they could not space jump, it would take them about twenty to twenty-five minutes to reach the secured perimeter at full speed. The scavenger spaceships were small and agile but not very powerful in their attacks. The shield could barely last for this amount of time.

However, the enemies boarding the ship were the imminent threat. The guards in the ship were gradually losing, and their target was definitely the main control room.

If the main control room was taken, it would mean that Short Horn Star had lost. At that point, escaping would become a dream.

“Only one-third of the guards are left; they’re retreating and can’t stop the enemies… The scavengers are coming toward the main control room. Captain, what do we do now?” An assistant looked at the surveillance image and shivered nervously.

“Try to negotiate!” The captain clenched his teeth, turned on the broadcast, and with not much hope, expressed that they were willing to pay them ‘passage money’. However, the scavengers did not reply; it was clear that they wanted to take the entire ship.

The scavengers had only blocked the signals outside, so the internal broadcast in the ship could still function.

Guards fell one after another in the surveillance image, and the captain was getting desperate. Suddenly, his expression changed, and he asked, “Quickly, get the passenger list, see if there’s someone strong!”

Someone frantically filtered the passenger list, and a few people’s identities were displayed. All of them was slightly renowned combat personnel, and among them, the most famous one was the high-level mercenary ‘The Green Knight’.

“The Green Knight! It’s him! Great!”

The captain was overjoyed. He hastily announced through the broadcast, “Passengers, the situation right now is very urgent. The scavengers are heading toward the main control room. I hope the passengers with combat abilities can help us. This is saving yourselves, too, and I will pay a large monetary reward…”

The current situation was almost desperate. They would only have a chance to escape if the enemies on the ship could be defeated, so the passengers were his last hope.

The captain could only rely on the passengers, especially the renowned Green Knight.

…

Huuu!

The war hammer swung sideways and blew away a large group of the spaceship guards.

Serpent Braid swung the war hammer with one hand, covered in gray Pugilist flames. The bullets and low-level energy beams could only leave white marks on his stone skin—this was his race talent, making him very tough.

He was laughing insolently, charging forward with ease, and forced the guards away. The battle in the ship was heated—the shield outside was covered in explosions too. It was like a song of war.

“Where are we now?”

“Boss, first class is right ahead. Cesoly is waiting for you there.”

Not long after, the metal gate of the first class appeared in front—it was locked. Serpent Braid held onto the handle of the hammer with both hands this time, spun around twice, and bashed the gate. With a loud bang, the gate was blasted away.

Cesoly walked out with a smile and said, “You’re finally here.”

“Good job, where’s that Godoran?”

“In economy class.”

“Good!” Serpent Braid grinned, turned around, and saw a group of passengers freaking out. He then ordered, “Capture all of them as hostages. Some of you stay here to guard.”

A group of scavengers cuffed small black rings onto the passengers’ hands and feet, which then extended automatically into mechanical cuffs. They were very thick and tough, and even normal Supers could not escape them. All of those passengers were taken hostage.

There were a few Supers in these passengers, but the scavengers outnumbered them. After seeing Serpent Braid’s strength, any will to resist vanished.

Serpent Braid then headed toward the economy class hall and brought those passengers under control once again. They searched carefully, but there was no sign of the Godoran, which made him furious.

“I only moved to the first class yesterday, and the spaceship never made a stop,” Cesoly said hastily. “He is definitely still on the ship.”

Serpent Braid grabbed the head of a passenger and yelled, “Where’s that Godoran?”

“The—they broke through the door earlier and ran out,” the person answered hastily.

Bang!

His head was crushed. Blood splattered onto the faces of the other hostages, and they screamed.

Serpent Braid shook his hands and said angrily, “They actually ran away. Go, find them now…”

Before he could finish his sentence, the voice of the other group of scavengers came out of the communicator. “Request for backup! We met a strong Super on the way to the main control room and were stopped. Please help!”

“Boss, the target is in this spaceship and won’t be able to run away,” Cesoly said hurriedly. “We should take over the main control room first. As long as we have control of the spaceship, we will find the target sooner or later.”

Serpent Braid nodded and said, “Then let’s go to the main control room. Cesoly, you stay here with some people to keep these passengers under control.”

“No problem.”

The economy class passengers were cuffed and thrown aside. With the scavengers aiming their firearms at them, they were shivering and did not dare move.

Serpent Braid took some people and headed toward the main control room. The spaceship was rather large, so it took some time for them to finally arrive at the scene. Corpses of the scavengers were scattered all over the floor. Serpent Braid saw a flash and a green burst of light like a fountain at the end of the path. About a dozen scavengers were thrown against the wall. Their bodies were twisted, and their bones were broken.

The Green Knight stood at the path to the main control room with a cold face. Green streams of light covered his body like ripples. He was actually an Esper, able to control a special green energy that could be melded into various shapes, which could be used to attack and defend. It was considered a variant of force field type Esper power, and this was also how he had gotten his name.

“Look, Green Knight Lerden, a high-level mercenary, a remnant of the Sunil race.” Desire appeared in Serpent Braid’s eyes. He gripped his war hammer, walked toward him with excitement, and said, “Finally, someone strong.”

Lerden’s eyes were filled with coldness. He was a mercenary, so the reason he was helping was mostly because of the reward promised by the captain. Otherwise, he would have gone to find the escape ship long ago.

His left mechanical arm folded and transformed, showing a black cannon muzzle. Laser beams shot out at an extremely high speed, penetrating through the chest of a few scavengers, leaving a burnt hole behind.

The other scavengers looked for cover hastily and fought back. Serpent Braid was fearless. He charged forward with large strides—the lasers only left burn marks on his skin. He spun the war hammer covered in thick gray flames and bashed straight down on The Green Knight’s head!

Lerden raised his left arm. The green light formed a burning light shield and blocked his head.

Bang!

The impact rippled through the light shield, and green light splashed all over the place.

…

Ten minutes earlier…

In the Short Horn Star warehouse at the tail of the ship, far away from the battlefield, the sound of the battlefield could barely be heard. Han Xiao and the others were flipping through the warehouse.

“Found it.” Han Xiao finally found his box. He opened the password lock, and white and cold smoke billowed out. In it was the Amphiptere.

He quickly equipped it, activated the system, and was soon surrounded by the suit’s glow. Light from the energy core was shining bright, and blue energy flew through the pipes like blood.

With the equipment in hand, Han Xiao felt relieved. He brought along all of his weapons and suddenly remembered Kerlodd’s requests. After some consideration, he held onto ‘Wrath of Garrett’ and threw all of the remaining small golden spheres back to Kerlodd.

“Your equipment, take it. Don’t be a burden.”

Kerlodd was stunned for a moment. He grabbed the small spheres and said solemnly, “I will fight alongside you.”

Only half of the players were online, so it was only twenty or players who got their weapons back.

“We will split up into teams now,” Han Xiao said in a low voice.

As according to the plan, they divided into three groups. Frenzied Sword, Fried Eggplants with Fish, and another guild would be going to find and take control of the emergency escape ship. Temple of God and Dynasty would go to cut off the scavengers’ retreat route and stop the enemies from entering from the entrance they broke through. Kerlodd and the rest of the players would be following him to the main control room, which was the most important task.

At this moment, the announcement of the captain’s request for help came from the broadcast system.

Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled after he heard it.

Monetary reward…

Chapter 324 - Expanding Profit, Initiatives

The space in the spaceship was limited, so he could not wear the Bat Wings flying device. Han Xiao used his Electromagnetic Hover-boots and Mini Maneuvering Equipment to dash toward the main control room. The sliding speed was much faster than stepping on banana peels.

Han Xiao was experienced, so he knew that the main control room was extremely important, and to be able to make it in time for backup, he was moving at full speed. He could not afford to wait for Kerlodd and the others, who were temporarily left behind.

As he was rushing alone, he was also analyzing the enemy’s strength in his head.

They could not make Short Horn Star fall even after this long. There is definitely no grade B Super among the scavengers, or the spaceship would have been captured long ago. The strongest among them would be at most grade C or C+. With my equipment and talents, there is a very high chance I can match up to the enemy. However, the enemy definitely has a lot of subordinates. The standard equipment between the galaxies varies, and their attack damage will not be too low. It will be quite dangerous to get focus fired.

Han Xiao remained calm as he listed the factors that would affect the situation in his head. He knew full well how strong he was—he would not be overconfident, nor would he overestimate the enemy.

Although there were many Supers in the universe. Very strong ones were scarce—most were still at grade E and D, excluding those who had just become Supers.

Starting from grade C, one would be considered to be quite strong. In Shattered Star Ring, grade C Supers were considered to be the backbone level. Grade B was very strong and rare, and grade A would be extremely rare.

…

The sound of collision echoed through the tunnel, making the metal walls tremble.

The green light clashed with the war hammer once again—both of them took large steps backward.

Whoosh.

Steam shot out from behind Lerden’s back, releasing the overload pressure from his implanted body. He was breathing heavily, sweating, and his already very pale cheeks became paler.

Using power required energy, but his mechanical implanted body could not generate energy. The mechanical implants gave him dynamic weapons and a harder body, so he would not die so easily. However, that came with a price—he could not last long in battle.

At this time, the mechanical implant body had damage everywhere, releasing electric flames. Serpent Braid was very fierce and powerful, but Lerden was confident that he would not lose to him. However, this was not a one on one—hundreds of scavengers hid at the side and shot at him. He had to be aware of the stray bullets at all times, so a lot of energy was wasted in building the energy shield. His concentration was diverted too, and a lot of damage was caused by the other scavengers.

At the end of the tunnel behind Lerden was the door to the main control room. If he walked away, the main control room would be in danger, which had restricted his movements for a very large extent. He did not dare ignore Serpent Braid and deal with the scavenger sidekicks first.

The door of the main control room was closed tightly, and all the situation outside was shown on the monitor from the surveillance cameras. Everyone in the main control room was terrified. The captain wiped his sweat, pressed on the table, and murmured, “Twelve minutes till we arrive at the security perimeter. You have to hang on!”

The intense sound of gunfire sounded again. Lerden could only create the light shield to protect himself while Serpent Braid grinned ferociously. Not giving Lerden any time to catch his breath, he pounced again and slammed the war hammer down rapidly.

Lerden’s eyes were filled with blood, his face was cold, and he tried to hold on. However, the green light shield was turning dimmer at a visible speed.

Suddenly, the light shield burst, and the war hammer hit the left side of Lerden’s body without any hindrance.

Boom!

Half of Lerden’s body exploded. Parts splashed out like a blossoming flower, shooting onto the walls, and the oil splattered all over the ground!

Lerden flew out and hit the wall, but there was no pain on his face. His body was half implants, so the shattered mechanical body did not have a sense of pain. This technology was more mature and complete than what the Germinal Organization had. Of course, it would not damage one’s life.

Suddenly, flames shot out from under his feet. He flew up, jumped over Serpent Braid, and fled.

The reward was why he helped; his life was more important to him. Half of his body had shattered, and the situation was very critical, so he immediately fled without any hesitation. It was so rational it was almost too cold.

“This spaceship will definitely be lost. No matter what the scavengers want to do, I’m not their target. The security perimeter shouldn’t be far from here. I just have to take the emergency aircraft to escape—the scavengers will not chase me.”

Seeing that Lerden had fled, the captain lost all strength and plonked himself in a chair, his eyes shut in agony.

“It’s over. It’s all over.”

The Green Knight had run away, and the enemy was inches away from the main control room. What more hope was there?

Serpent Braid suppressed his desire to chase. He remembered the main mission and brought the rest toward the main control room door.

Panic and terror spread—the people were horrified. Every step that the scavengers took, the captain’s heart sunk deeper.

This situation was already hopeless. The captain could not think of anything that would reverse the situation. He could not help but think of his wife, his kid, and his mistress back home, and his heart filled with sorrow.

Just as Serpent Braid was about to hammer open the door, he suddenly heard an explosion, and a surge of heat rapidly approached from behind him. He hastily turned around, and a thick beam of scorching light rapidly expanded in his vision.

Serpent Braid hurriedly raised his war hammer before him, and the flames condensed into an invisible force field protection layer.

The beam hit right on target!

Bang!

The war hammer turned into burning-hot iron instantly. With a loud scream from Serpent Braid, the war hammer fell out of his hand, and he was blown away. The ember on his arms and chest was still burning.

“What‽” The captain’s expression suddenly changed.

At the other side of the tunnel, Han Xiao was holding a strange golden firearm, and smoke was still coming out of its muzzle.

‘Wrath of Garrett’ had 513 raw damage. With [Flaming Will] multiplying it by 2.7 times, plus two times critical from stealth attack, plus [Steady Aim] increasing damage by thirty percent, after damage reduction, this shot dealt 2,124 damage!

“Unfortunately, the True Damage from Lethal Shot did not trigger.” Han Xiao glanced at the scene, as he said, “Looks like I’m just in time.”

Serpent Braid struggled and stood up. He picked up the war hammer, letting it burn his hands, and stared daggers at Han Xiao. “Another one! Kill him!”

Other scavengers turned around and focus fired him—bullets and beams were everywhere. The tunnel was narrow, so there was nowhere to dodge. With one thought, the Hovering Shield Shuttle flew out, forming into an electromagnetic shield before Han Xiao, and the rain of bullets rippled the shield.

Serpent Braid spun the war hammer, not to attack Han Xiao but the main control room door.

With a loud bang, the door fell, and the main control room was exposed. The people inside hastily backed away from the door, and the captain banged into a chair while going backward, falling onto the ground. He looked up at the tall Serpent Braid with horror on his face.

Just as Serpent Braid was about to enter the main control room, at this time, a dark red stream of light appeared between Han Xiao’s eyebrows, a sexy outline of a lady appeared behind him, her red long hair was floating like seaweed.

[Character Summon Card—Hila]!

Without any hesitation, Han Xiao used all three psychic impacts on Serpent Braid. Having just seen from the combat information that Serpent Braid was a LV 70 Pugilist, Han Xiao knew that since the Stone Giant blood gave him very strong physical resistance, correspondingly, his mind was his weakness.

Serpent Braid stopped in place. The next second, thick blood shot out from his nose and mouth, and he felt like his brain had exploded. The world was spinning, and he lost control of his body, fell before the main control room door, and could not get up.

Han Xiao endured being hit multiple times and dashed through the scavengers’ blockade. His biological muscles expanded as he grabbed Serpent Braid’s braid and threw him to the other side.

Their positions had swapped. Now, Han Xiao was blocking the door.

These actions had resolved the crisis of the main control room. The captain felt like he was toeing the line of life and death. He gulped nervously and said, “Are you a passenger, too?”

The captain could not express what he actually meant because he was so nervous. What he actually meant was, this mysterious mechanical suit warrior seemed to have even stronger combat power than the slightly renowned Green Knight, but why was he not on the passenger list earlier?

The captain had originally thought it was hopeless, but Han Xiao’s appearance made him see the dawn once again.

This time, Han Xiao turned around and said, “I heard you’ll pay a reward.”

Although his face was covered by the mechanical suit, his tone was also calm. However, due to some reason, the captain felt like he could faintly see a profiteering smile on the man’s face.

Probably my imagination…

After the disappointment from Green Knight earlier, the captain did not dare hesitate at all. He had to grab onto this life-saving rope at all costs, so he hastily exclaimed, “That’s right! I can give you a lot of money! You must stop them!”

A notification appeared on the interface.

_____________________

You have triggered the mission [Captain’s Request].

Mission Introduction: The Short Horn Star’s captain has decided to hire you to protect the spaceship and his safety.

Mission Requirements: Successfully protect Short Horn Star and keep the captain alive.

Reward: 8,000 Enas

_____________________

8,000? That’s quite a lot.

Enas had a very high purchasing power. Not mentioning Han Xiao’s knowledge, Kerlodd’s salary as an investigator was only 4,000 Enas annually, excluding the benefits that he received, and this guy splurged on entertainment and night activities, yet he could still save 800 plus Enas.

Han Xiao was very satisfied. Within the same matter, he could take initiative and reap more money from different people. Back when he was running his power levelling business, he had already become very familiar with this method. Many players had this habit as well. When they knew that they were going to a certain place, they would accept all the missions regarding that place in advance and complete them at once, getting a greater profit.

This new mission had only been given to him, and the other players did not have it.

Chapter 325 - This Was Completely on Purpose

Although the mission requirements were not easy to complete, Han Xiao instantly felt more motivated after receiving the private assignment. The scavengers were currently in control of the passageways, and Han Xiao’s job was to keep all the enemies outside the doors of the main control room.

Tuk tuk tuk!

Bullets and energy beams rained down on Han Xiao, but his Electromagnetic Plates blocked most of the attacks, while the few that made it through were stopped by his thick body armor. Most of these scavengers were normal people with weak physical bodies. However, they were armed with deadly weapons. Some were even equipped with electromagnetic and beam weapons. Although these weapons were only infantry weapons, they were still able to cause Han Xiao some trouble if they concentrated their fire on him.

Serpent Braid struggled to get himself back up due to the stunned status effect. The three hits that landed on him did not shave off much of his health, but they had given a bunch of headache-inducing debuffs. He had underestimated his opponent. Never would Serpent Braid have thought that Han Xiao, with a body covered in mechanic gear, was able to use spiritual attacks… Not that he would have been able to block it anyway.

However, Serpent Braid believed that he now had a clear understanding of Han Xiao’s strength. He was a tough opponent that was no weaker than the Green Knight!

Serpent Braid welcomed these kinds of blood-boiling fights, yet as he was about to join the fray, Cesoly’s voice suddenly sounded over the communicator.

“Boss! This ship’s approaching the patrol zone, and we don’t have much time left. Be careful of spending too much time on strong enemies, and go straight for the control room!”

Serpent Braid frowned, but he still managed to calm himself down and gave out the necessary command. “Concentrate fire!”

The lackeys then went all out with their attacks, putting Han Xiao under even more pressure.

Serpent Braid lifted his hammer and wanted to use this opportunity to circle around Han Xiao.

Once he captured the main control room, he would be able to shut off the ship’s shields, allowing the scavengers outside to directly destroy the ship. Once that was done, the ship’s personnel would most likely surrender as it was either that or utter destruction.

Han Xiao was pinned down by heavy fire and could not get out quickly. However, his eyes flashed, and four Sonic Spheres flew out, blocking Serpent Braid’s path while they gave off faint shockwaves in the air.

To protect the control room, Han Xiao had to basically plant himself in front of the door, and this meant that he could not counterattack. Yet, Han Xiao did not panic—he knew that Kerlodd and the players were already on their way. It was only a matter of time before his helpers arrived, and he would then be able to take care of Serpent Braid himself.

Serpent Braid was not a pushover, and Han Xiao could not just ignore him. However, turning his full attention onto Serpent Braid would mean leaving the path open to the other scavengers. The only other option was to activate that ability, but it had a seven-day cooldown period.

The current situation was not that desperate yet, so Han Xiao did not want to reveal this trump card. He decided to keep on delaying the enemies while waiting for reinforcements.

The control system of his machinery was directly connected to his nerves, and this allowed him to fight on multiple fronts at once.

The Sonic Spheres and the Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades danced through the air like butterflies. They were like a group of annoying wasps to Serpent Braid, as not only did they hurt a lot, Serpent Braid could not seem to get his hands on them. He had also tried to just rush through; however, he was blocked by Han Xiao despite the heavy fire from the scavengers.

Serpent Braid was furious, and he swung his hammer around, finally destroying a couple of the machines.

Boom boom boom!

Time ticked by, and Amphiptere’s durability was constantly going down. Han Xiao did not really mind this as he had made sure to bring along enough spare parts and repair materials. He planted himself in front of the scavengers and entered full defensive mode. With Amphiptere’s defensive capabilities, he was like an immovable steel wall.

“Boss, time is running out. We can’t take over the main control room!” Cesoly’s voice sounded once again.

“Shut up!”

Serpent Braid got even angrier, and he bashed his hammer all over the place. When he saw that Han Xiao’s suit seemed to be getting more and more damaged, he started to think that he was close to beating his opponent.

“Boss, calm down. Our objective is the Godoran. We don’t have much time left, and the ship’s loot isn’t worth it anymore. Let’s give up on the control room and go look for the Godoran instead. We will be able to earn much more money from our client if we can hand him the Godoran!”

“Aren’t Beast Hoof and his men looking for the target‽”

“They have already searched half the ship, but they still couldn’t find the Godoran. The ship is too big, and they don’t have enough men!”

Serpent Braid furiously cursed before picking up his hammer and backing off. “Let’s go. Don’t mind the control room anymore. We will go capture the Godoran!”

The scavengers hurriedly retreated, and Serpent Braid had to give up on the control room that was right in front of his eyes.

Han Xiao then finally realized the scavengers’ goal.

The scavengers’ target is Kerlodd?

Han Xiao felt like there had to be more behind this!

“Send out the message. The plan has changed. Everyone is to now give up on all other tasks and look for the Godoran. Cesoly, take the hostages back to our ship. These hostages will still be worth some cash. Everyone else, look for the target!”

Seeing that their chance of capturing Short Horn Star was close to none, the scavengers decided to change their strategy and go for their target instead. Once they have gotten hold of the target, they could then escape with the scavenger ship that was still flying right by Short Horn Star.

After giving out his orders, Serpent Braid glared at Han Xiao, as if telling Han Xiao that he was letting him go this time.

At that moment, the other side of the passageway exploded in a burst of yellow, and the shadow of a spear danced through the air as it pierced through multiple scavengers. The scavengers that got hit all fell on the ground.

Kerlodd had finally arrived. He held the Godoran battle spear in one hand while holding a golden energy shield on the other, standing in the scavengers’ path.

With Han Xiao behind them, the scavengers were pincered between the two.

“Godoran!” Serpent Braid could not have been happier. He never would have expected the prey to show up all by himself.

Serpent Braid quickly took stock of the situation, and as if realizing something, he turned back to look at Han Xiao. “So, you’re with the Godoran. Do you think just you two are enough to take us on? I will have to thank you first for handing me my target on a platter!”

This development was just what Serpent Braid wanted. He no longer had to waste time searching through the ship—all he had to do was defeat the Godoran and take him with them.

Serpent Braid roared and ran to Kerlodd with his war hammer in hand.

Boom!

Kerlodd held up his shield to block. However, he appeared incapable of withstanding Serpent Braid’s brute force and had to take a few steps back after the impact.

Just as Serpent Braid was about to follow up with another blow, over a dozen players suddenly appeared behind Kerlodd. They were all filled with energy, and it was obvious that they were all battle-ready Supers. The scavengers suddenly lost their numerical advantage as that number of Super could easily destroy them!

Serpent Braid’s expression underwent a drastic change, as the rage was suddenly replaced with shock and despair.

How were there so many Supers travelling on this low-level spaceship‽

The scavengers had already made a rough estimate of the Short Horn Star’s fighting strength before they made the ambush, and there should only have been a couple of grade C Supers on-board. This was because any of the stronger Supers would usually either travel using their own ship. Even if they wanted to save money, they still would not go for this cheap civilian transport. A ship like the Short Horn Star was like a public bus while the more expensive travel agencies were like high-speed railways.

The Green Knight was already surprising enough, let alone the sudden appearance of this group of grade C Supers.

Which rock did these Supers even spring out from? They’re even teaming up!

What a disaster!

Han Xiao chuckled and said, “I also have helpers.”

However, the smile disappeared from his face the next instance, and he said in a cold voice, “Go!”

Han Xiao and Kerlodd’s group rushed toward the scavengers, who were stuck in the passageway, and began the one-sided massacre.

The situation suddenly turned around!

Cr*p! Boss is screwed! Cesoly shuddered, as if a gust of cold wind went up his spine. He was currently taking the group of the hostages back to the scavengers’ ship.

What do we do now? We can’t save the boss. Let’s return to our ship first!

Cesoly felt that things had gotten way out of control, and he was also extremely worried. His only concern at that moment was getting back onto his ship safely. He also was not exactly betraying his boss as his original order was to escort the hostages back onto their ship.

However, the thought of reinforcing Serpent Braid not once crossed his mind. Scavengers were a selfish bunch, and loyalty was basically non-existent among them. The only thing that Cesoly cared about was getting himself out of harm’s way.

“The boss wants me to take the hostages back to our ship. Move faster…” Cesoly tried to hurry his underlings along.

Just as he was getting to the middle of his sentence, he suddenly stopped and stared at the corner of the main hall.

In the corner that had been empty just a few moments ago now stood over a dozen people. Hao Tian, Sleepy Winter, Rainy Kim, Bun-hit-dog, and several other players who had promised each other to play some Galaxy after finishing dinner had come online together.

The players were flabbergasted as they took in the drastically different surroundings.

Hey hey hey! What’s the situation‽ Why have the passengers been taken hostage? Who are those people pointing their guns at us? Why is the spaceship shaking nonstop? There are even sounds of gunshot from far away. Are we under attack‽

The scavengers in the main hall all had their tongues tied to the back of their throats as they stared at the newcomers.

They had already carefully checked all the rooms when capturing the passengers. Where did these people come from? Were they ghosts‽

The two sides stared at each other with widened eyes for a moment.

As more and more of the scavengers pointed their guns at the players, Hao Tian and the others finally understood the situation.

What were they still waiting for? Kill!

Energy burst forth from the group of players as they released their abilities, crushing the scavengers under their feet in a matter of seconds.

Cesoly completely lost his cool.

“How despicable! You would even resort to ambushing‽”

Chapter 326 - The Secret Buyer

Frenzied Sword and a group of other players stood guard at the door to the launch bay for the escape pods while chatting with each other out of boredom.

“Everyone else is fighting while we’re just sitting here doing nothing. It’s not fair,” complained Perfumed Bear. He was part of Fried Eggplants with Fish’s trio, and he was a cute little kid.

“Our mission is also very important. We’re guarding the escape path…” Frenzied Sword tried to console the group, but then he also said in a depressed manner, “But it does kinda suck…”

Sun Eggplant scratched the back of his head and said to Frenzied Sword, “I don’t think that we have properly met before. The dark horse of the Pro League and China’s number one Mechanical Pugilist—that’s quite a name you’ve got.”

Frenzied Sword was feeling a bit embarrassed and humbly replied, “You don’t have to praise me that much. I just got lucky.”

The big names in the esports scene were always interested in meeting the new blood. As long as they had the results to back themself up, it did not matter if they were only a newcomer. The group of people seemed to get along quite well.

After a few more lines back and forth, Dancing Fish Dragon, who had remained silent for the most part, said, “Are you interested in signing with Fried Eggplants with Fish?”

Frenzied Sword hurriedly gestured with his hands, “I really like Fried Eggplants with Fish, but Rivervale has been good to me. They are even in the process of building a new team around me.”

“Oh…” Dancing Fish Dragon replied and went back to not saying anything again.

After chatting for a while more, the sound of footsteps suddenly arose from the far side of the launch bay. Frenzied Sword and the others immediately stopped talking and looked toward the source the footsteps.

Lerden showed up, and he frowned at the players. “You aren’t scavengers. Who are you lot?”

“Who are you?” retorted Frenzied Sword.

Lerden did not answer the question. He could tell that the players were not scavengers from their gear, and he suddenly felt alarmed as he did not know whether they were friend or foe or why they were guarding the escape pods.

“Are you… passengers?” Lerden’s eyes flashed.

“Uh, sort of.”

“Are you also trying to escape?” Lerden pointed at the dozen ships and said in a deep voice, “If you’re willing to pay, I promise to protect you on your way.”

Even when at death’s door, Lerden did not stop thinking about making more money.

“We aren’t trying to escape. Black… cough cough . Someone told us to watch over here. The others are currently fighting the scavengers back on the ship, and things are looking good. Why would we run?”

There are still people fighting back? Lerden’s eyes gave away his surprise, and he asked, “How many more companions do you have?”

“About thirty or forty.”

Lerden had thought that the main control room was certainly lost without him defending it. However, the sound of fighting and what this group of people had just told him clearly proved otherwise. He finally realized that he was not the only one trying to fight back against the scavengers.

These people seemed quite capable, and the situation at the main control room seemed to be under control. So, there was no reason to escape anymore.

I can still go back to help now and earn some money from the captain.

Lerden had a change of mind and gave up on running away. He said in a deep voice, “I’m a mercenary. My code name is The Green Knight. Where are your friends fighting? I can lend them some help.”

Frenzied Sword and the other players looked back and forth between themselves for a moment before they decided to point out where the others were engaging in combat with the scavengers.

After getting this information, Lerden turned and was determined to kill his way back.

…

Following the last anguished scream, Serpent Braid became the last scavenger standing in the passageway. His shaky form and his body full of wounds, along with his uneven breaths, made him look like a beast on its last leg.

Kerlodd fought alongside the players and had cleared away the other scavengers. Serpent Braid realized that the situation was getting bad and decided to break away from the fight. However, Han Xiao never gave him a chance.

In a one-on-one, Han Xiao completely suppressed Serpent Braid. Han Xiao might as well have just hung him up and beaten him with a stick. Serpent Braid’s health was already nearing zero, and he could barely hold up his hammer.

“Still want to struggle?” Han Xiao’s voice sounded over his suit’s communicator while the Sonic Spheres span behind his back. “Keep fighting, and you’re dead for sure. A scavenger leader like you will definitely have a decent bounty on your head. Let go of your weapon, and I will let you go to jail peacefully. There’s no point in losing one or more body parts now.”

The scavengers’ mission to capture Kerlodd had piqued Han Xiao’s interest. The Godorans’ influence in the Colton Star Cluster was considerably big, and although a random Godoran would not be worth that much, Han Xiao believed that there must have been some hidden motive behind this.

Clank!

Serpent Braid let of the hammer and allowed it to fall to the floor. The sudden change in weight caused him to lose balance, and he also crashed to the ground. He was out of breath, and his expression looked deathly. Serpent Braid felt that this should be enough to show his surrender.

Although Serpent Braid was often a hot-headed person, he was no fool. At least he would still be alive in jail.

Serpent Braid was thoroughly tied up. However, even while in a sitting position, the man’s upper body was over two meters high. A thought suddenly occurred to Han Xiao when he saw this.

It seems like this fellow is a hybrid between a Stone Giant and a human. With that huge of a different in body size, it would be to be his human parent… regardless of their gender…

Han Xiao instantly pressed on the brakes in case he accidentally thought up some horrifying scenes.

Aren’t these people a bit too free… It’s not like it’s a same-sex relationship… They’re not even the same species!

Hmm… but who am I to assume that the reproduction part involved true love and not some weird fetish?

This world is too scary…

Han Xiao calmed himself down and threw away all the nonsensical thoughts from his mind. “Tell me, who hired you? Why are you trying to kidnap the Godoran?”

Serpent Braid let out an angry snort before saying, “Don’t even think that I will tell you that. Those in our line of work do not sell out our clients!”

Han Xiao smiled coldly and threatened, “Although we can get a bounty for turning you in, that doesn’t mean that we have to turn everything in completely. Give me the information before I start taking parts off of you.”

“My client is DarkStar,” Serpent Braid answered almost instantly.

Han Xiao smirked. A scavenger talking about loyalty. Ha ha.

Kerlodd, who stood to the side, immediately turned serious. “DarkStar‽”

After Kerlodd’s reaction, Han Xiao finally remembered that DarkStar and Godora were sworn enemies.

Serpent Braid started to explain everything from the beginning.

“DarkStar has been buying pure blooded Godorans in secret… for a blood sacrifice or something. The starting prices for captured Godorans were very high. We thought that it was a godly opportunity when we found a Godoran aboard a low-end commercial space ship, so we contacted DarkStar to make some good money. We agreed on a deal, and our job was to capture the Godoran… That’s pretty much it.”

Pure-blooded Godorans were very high up the hierarchy, and most of the Godoran Observers would travel around in their own spaceships. Kerlodd was truly unlucky to have been found by a random group of scavengers who were then hired by DarkStar. Han Xiao wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. So, obviously, the enemies were not on the hunt for some ‘natives’ like themselves.

The low security level on this ship gave the scavengers the courage to make the move. This was why Han Xiao wanted to travel with some higher-end travel companies, but Kerlodd was just too much of a poor b*stard.

Money could not do everything, but one could not do anything without money.

“So, this all happened because of your poor *ss,” complained Han Xiao.

Kerlodd felt extremely wronged. He was actually being accused of being poor by the man who robbed him. Was there still justice in this world‽

Although he was not the target, he still got in a little bit of danger this time. Han Xiao said under his breath, “DarkStar… This group had quite a bit to do with the Mutation Disaster. Never thought that we would get in contact so soon.”

After resolving the danger of the main control room, Han Xiao asked the players around him to contact the rest of their group. The players’ communication through their interface could disregard range and physical barriers, and they were able to find out the situation with the other teams. Short Horn Star was about to enter the patrol zone, and most of the surviving scavengers were trying to run back to their own ship. The players from Dynasty and Temple of God were the ones who had been sent to intercept the runaways, and it seemed like they were experiencing quite a fierce battle.

That group of scavengers was led by another one of the scavenger’s leaders, and he was about as strong as Serpent Braid, which basically made him a mini Boss. The players from Dynasty and Temple of God were having a hard time taking him out.

Just as Han Xiao was about to walk over to reinforce those players, the ship’s captain walked over. “Thank goodness! The main control room is alright. This is all thanks to you. As long as you stand guard here, this ship will be safe…”

Han Xiao interrupted him and said, “My companions are trying to stop the enemies from running away. I will be going to help. This Godoran will stay here with the others to protect the control room.”

“You aren’t staying‽” The captain was paranoid, and it was obvious from his face that he did not want Han Xiao to go. “You don’t have to care about those scavengers who are already running away. As long as we’re okay…”

The captain did not feel safe at all, and he did not care at all about the scavengers getting away. He only wanted Han Xiao to stay and protect him so that he could feel a sense of security.

Chapter 327 - Enemy Slain

Han Xiao did not want to stay either. Then, the operator in the main control room shouted with surprised, “We are in The Magic Eye energy radar’s effective range. The data shows that there is a Godoran police station nearby. It’s going to take twenty minutes at most for them to show up.”

The captain let out a sigh and announced the good news on public announcement to calm the passengers.

Seeing what was happening, Han Xiao gave Kerlodd a message and left alone to help.

…

Cesoly panicked as he ran to the spaceship by himself as all of his men were captured by Hao Tian and others. He was the only one that saw the situation was bad and ran as soon as he could, and that was why he had not been caught, or else no one would have survived from the attack.

Reaching the section where the scavengers had docked, he heard sounds of battle in front. Cesoly stopped abruptly and cautiously looked forward. He saw a group Supers fighting intensely with the scavengers. He recognized these Supers, who was the partners of the Godoran, some very powerful natives.

The fight was intense and could not break apart. The Gazers’ chieftain stayed back at the spaceship with his troops to fight against players from Dynasty and Temple of God.

The chieftain of the Gazers was a birdman sorcerer with wings and an eagle’s head. He was an expert in mental attacks, and he was the most troublesome enemy that the players had to deal with. The players had low resistance against mental attacks, so they constantly got stunned in the fight. He could single handedly deal with all the players by himself.

Cesoly ran over and shouted, “Let me help!”

The scavengers moved to open up a path. The chieftain turned around, grabbed Cesoly by his collar, and demanded, “Where’s the hostage?”

“I don’t have him. I got tricked!”

The chieftain roared in anger. The operation had failed if they did not capture the Godoran, and they did not even get the hostage. On top of that, they had wasted so many resources and manpower—even Serpent Braid, the boss of Boneless Bird, was captured.

“Serpent Braid, that b*stard, calling us back when we still haven’t finish investigating this spaceship. This is not a good business. After Beast Hoof and his men come back, we’ll retreat. Get inside!” The chieftain kicked Cesoly in the spaceship.

After a while, another group of scavengers returned, and players from Dynasty and Temple of God were in a tougher situation. The chieftain of The Gazers then commanded his troops to slowly retreat into the spaceship and leave the Short Horn Star. The players had no power to stop them.

Then, from far away, a series of laser beams flew by and killed a number of scavengers. Lerden finally arrived at the scene. His face was cold and calm. Even though his left mechanical arm had been shot off, he still had a secret barrel near his crotch firing laser beams.

The scavengers quickly ran up to the bridge and tried to get back on the ship. Lerden’s eyes flickered a green light, and he released a deep roar. He swiped his arm and created a green light barrier in front of the entrance, stopping the scavengers from getting in.

“Don’t just stare at them! Attack! I can’t hold this for long,” Lerden shouted at the players as sweat dripped down his face. After the fight against Serpent Braid, he had used up a considerable amount of energy, and to maintain a green light barrier required focus of energy by the user. If there was not another group to help, he would not have used this skill.

If they could delay them just a bit longer, they would not be able to run away once the police force came.

“Green Knight!” the chieftain of The Gazers roared, and his psychic power exploded as if there was a tornado spinning around his body. A dense wave of mental power rushed toward Lerden.

Lerden coughed as blood started dripping from his nose. However, he did not collapse, and the barrier stayed up.

The scavengers then tried to attack the green barrier, but the barrier only vibrated. Some of the scavengers charged toward Lerden. The only way to bring down the barrier was to get rid of the Green Knight. The players quickly reacted and intercept the scavengers.

Light beams shot all over the place, and the sound of destruction continued. The battlefield was in chaos.

Cesoly, who was in the spaceship, was extremely worried. As time passed, he just wanted to leave everyone and fly off by himself.

Soon, Han Xiao arrived at the scene. After looking around, he understood the situation and came up with one simple and brutal solution—the enemy was done for one the chieftain was out of the way.

“Sorcerer? His level should be lower than Serpent Braid, a classic glass cannon.”

Han Xiao had a high intelligence status, so his mental resistance was adequate. The cool down for Flaming Will had already finished, and without any word, he pulled out the Wrath of Garrett and shot the first bullet.

Hong!

The gun barrel fired out a light beam. The Chieftain noticed the attack and quickly built a psychic shield. However, it was shattered in an instant. The light beam consumed a small part on the side, and it was burnt black like coal. The white psychic power in his eyes faded, and he collapsed on the floor and screamed in pain.

This attack triggered the special effect of [Lethal Shot]. The first shot against the enemy had a twelve to twenty-five percent chance of dealing true damage.

In the vision of Han Xiao, the health of the chieftain went from eighty percent down to twenty percent.

With such a heavy attack, the chieftain gained the exhausted and crippled statuses. Han Xiao took the chance and charged forward, knocking down the scavengers in the way. In the middle of the enemy, Han Xiao controlled the chieftain who had no way to fight back. This series of actions happened in an instant and took down the enemy that the players had troubled with.

Even though it was a sneak attack, the efficiency of the method was shocking. Lerden squinted and stared at Han Xiao.

What a powerful man. He also seems to be a mercenary…

The chieftain was as powerful as Serpent Braid, but they had different statuses. Han Xiao’s explosive power was suitable for enemies who are glass cannons. In comparison, it would take more work to take down fighters like Serpent Braid. Moreover, Han Xiao triggered true damage this time, so he looked overly powerful.

Without the chieftain, the group of scavengers turned into chaos. Cesoly did not care about the rest of the scavengers and instantly turned to the pilot’s seat to start the engine.

Cesoly shut the door down, but he suddenly heard the sound of metal being torn apart. Han Xiao walked in and threw Cesoly out of the spaceship.

“Hello again.” Han Xiao opened up his mask and smiled at Cesoly, but all Cesoly could see was a face scarier than a tiger, and a sense of danger creeped into this heart.

“It’s you! Don’t… don’t you dare kill me! I still have a lot of things, and I know a lot of intel…” Cesoly lost his cool, and his face was filled with fear. He only wanted to live.

Bang!

An electromagnetic needle pierced through Cesoly’s skull and exploded the back of his head, covering the floor with his blood.

Han Xiao put back his Ghost sniper rifle and did not even spare a glance at Cesoly’s corpse. He turned to the players and said, “I’ll leave the rest to you.”

The rest of the scavengers did not stand a chance against the players, and none of them escaped. Suddenly, the spaceship’s shaking stopped. Han Xiao looked out the window and saw that the scavengers’ spaceships had been shot down, and some of them had run away.

It was only then that the battle ended.

It’s finally over. Luckily everything is fine.

Han Xiao let out a sigh.

Encountering an enemy in space meant death for everyone on the spaceship. This episode did make Han Xiao sweat a little, but this reminded him of the tension that he felt during space combat. After staying on Planet Aquamarine for so long, the familiarity of space combat was slowly coming back to him.

After the battle, Han Xiao concluded that he did utilize the advantages of players and controlled the situation well. The sudden group of players that went online was also a lucky incident. Overall, he graded himself eighty-two points out of one hundred.

At this time, Han Xiao then noticed Lerden on the side. Seeing the broken mechanical body, his eyes flickered.

“Mechanical implant body… Um, this should be a class advancement improvement, and there’s also transformation function…” With his mechanical background, Han Xiao quickly analyzed the technology.

Even though Lerden was also interested in Han Xiao, he was rather cold and quiet as he stood by without showing any intention of befriending Han Xiao.

Seems like he’s a lone warrior, Han Xiao thought to himself. He looked at Lerden’s crotch and laughed in his heart. Never mind, he is a shameless warrior.

Chapter 328 - The First Job and the Reputation System

When the Godoran patrol team finally arrived and floated alongside Short Horn Star, the emergency barrier around Short Horn Star was already off, and they could receive communications again.

Before the mission was completed, another objective popped up, asking him to head to the ship’s captain for the reward.

Han Xiao came to the main control room, followed by all the players, and he found that the captain was explaining the incident to the patrol team. The patrol team realized that the scavengers had already been neutralized, so they questioned the captain for the details.

A scavenger raid was only a minor security issue to begin with, and since the passengers were all safe and sound, the patrol team only had to go through some formalities and record the event into their system.

Although he got close to meeting his kinsmen, Kerlodd did not act out and only stood beside Han Xiao while playing around with his armor.

After their conversation over the communication link, the captain broadcasted the current situation to the whole ship. “The threat has been neutralized. I apologize for scaring any of you. Short Horn Star will now head directly to the Juberly Hub for docking and repairs.”

Sounds of celebrations and shouts could be then be heard all over the ship as the surviving passengers hugged each other, glad that they were alive.

After turning off the broadcast, the captain turned around to thank Han Xiao and the players. His face was full of emotions as he asked, “Please allow me to express my deepest gratitude. Could I know your name?”

“Han Xiao.”

The captain repeated this to himself a few times to make sure that he did not hear incorrectly. He was sure that this was not the name of a famous warrior nor a mercenary.

“I will keep my promise and reward the each of you for protecting the ship.”

Lerden, who was standing to the side, coughed lightly.

The captain hesitated for a second before saying, “Green Knight, you will also not be missing out on the reward.”

Although the captain knew that Lerden had run away half-way through the raid, he did still fight and contribute to their victory.

Lerden nodded.

Han Xiao raised his eyebrow because the name ‘Green Knight’ reminded him of a very distant memory. He frowned as he tried to remember the bits and pieces of information from his past.

Normally, any detail that he bothered to remember would often be meaningful information.

“Green Knight… of the Sunil tribe?” muttered Han Xiao in a small voice.

This tribe… had quite the storyline.

The captain rewarded them directly through transfers. All the players who accepted the mission were able to get a cut. After they each registered their own accounts, they were each able to receive 1,500 Enas from the captain. That amount of money was just shy of Kerlodd’s pay for half of year and was worth quite a lot. Hao Tian and some other players, however, were not able to receive the reward as they had not been online when the raid started and thus could not accept the mission. They were so frustrated that one could almost see smoke coming off the tops of their heads.

Although Short Horn Star relatively low-end, it was still owned by a financial group. This reward was taken straight out of the financial group’s pocket.

Han Xiao had also received an additional 8,000 Enas. This extra reward had been given to him personally by the captain.

Han Xiao’s savings instantly broke past 10,000 Enas, and his heart tingled with happiness. This was the first payment that he had gotten after coming to space, and the amount was pretty good. He now had a pretty decent starting fund. He was also glad that the players had gotten their pay because this meant that they would finally be able to contribute to the economy! All he had to do was look for opportunities to sell them things, and Enas would start rolling into his account.

If he had been the only one doing the mission, he would only have been able to earn a fixed amount. However, with the players’ participation, that amount potentially increased several dozen times. The players were like Han Xiao’s mini bank accounts.

_____________________

[Protect Short Horn Star] completed.

[The Captain’s Favor] completed.

Area Reputation Unlocked!

Location: Colton Star Cluster – Garton Galaxy

Renown: 2

Level: Some random mob

_____________________

The Area Reputation System was a new feature that players could unlock after venturing into space. The universe was wide, and from participating in all kinds of activities and missions, one could earn achievements as well as renown in their area. One’s reputation points in the area was directly related to one’s Legend status. Earning reputation points was a must-do in order to become a Legend in space.

The larger the area, the harder it was to acquire Renown. Protecting Short Horn Star had helped Han Xiao build a good impression with the ship’s backing financial group, allowing him to be written into their records.

Area Renown points were useful. Whenever one interacted with the different factions and tried to accept missions from them, the number or level of missions that could be accepted as well as the reward often depended on one’s Renown.

The Reputation System was a crucial feature, and players in Han Xiao’s past had often been willing to do anything and everything to earn Renown.

One of Han Xiao’s side jobs in his past life was actually to grind Renown for others. However, most of his clients did not know that his work motto was ‘breaking was easier than building’. Whenever he was done with a job, although his clients’ characters would have a considerable amount of Renown in the area, they would also have a bounty on them and be hunted by half the area’s forces. Of course, he did not offer returns.

After receiving his cut of the reward, Lerden was about to turn and leave, but Han Xiao’s eyes flashed, and he took big steps, blocking Lerden.

“What is it?” Lerden stopped. Han Xiao had made quite a deep impression on him, and he was a bit alarmed at why the other would try to stop him.

Han Xiao’s eyes darted around before he coughed and said, “I caught the Boneless Bird’s leader, Serpent Braid, and was about to be on my way to turn in his bounty. However, it seems like I would have to go to a decently faraway galaxy for that. I don’t really feel like going that far right now. How about I sell this bounty to you?”

Lerden paused for a second before replying, “Sure, that’s fine.”

“Snake’s bounty is 3,500 Enas. You can transfer the money.”

Lerden frowned. “You don’t expect me to pay you in full, right? It will cost a considerable amount to travel to another galaxy. Why would I do this if there’s nothing in it for me?”

“How much do you want to pay?”

“1,500.”

Why don’t you go rob a store instead‽ Han Xiao smelled something… It smelled like someone who was one of his own. His eyes immediately focused, and he said slowly, “3,000.”

“1800.”

“At least 2,900.”

“2,000.”

The two went back and forth for quite a while. Lerden barely budged when it came to money, and he was not willing to let go of even the tiniest profit. Although he looked like a cold person, he was now arguing until his face was red for the sake of a few hundred Enas.

After arguing the good half of the day way, the two finally agreed on a price. Lerden will be paying 2,501 Enas in exchange for Serpent Braid. Han Xiao considered it his victory for the single extra Enas.

After making the deal, Han Xiao felt like he had gotten somewhat closer to Lerden. His eyes flashed and asked, “Do you know the reason behind this raid?”

Lerden shook his head and said in return, “But it seems like you do.”

Han Xiao smiled faintly while staring at Lerden’s face as he explained, “This group of scavengers were paid to act on the behalf of DarkStar. They were ordered to capture that Godoran over there. How unlucky, right?”

When Lerden heard ‘DarkStar’, his pupils immediately contracted, and his eyes gave of a glint of pain and hatred, as if he suddenly remembered a painful memory from the past.

“Oh. I see.” Lerden finally took a deep breath and calmed down. He then bade farewell and left with an emotionless expression.

Han Xiao chuckled and pointed at Lerden’s armor. “I’m a mechanic. If you don’t mind, I can do some repairs for you.”

Lerden stopped in his tracks and asked, “For free?”

“Hehe, we’re not that close yet, but I only need a little fee for it. I will fix your gear for 5 Enas.”

“Then it’s fine… Glad to meet you. Bye.”

He turned and left without another word.

Han Xiao felt helpless and clicked his tongue. “Won’t even spend 5 Enas? How stingy.”

Kerlodd strolled over to his side and let out a sigh while shaking his head. “Sigh. He’s one of the Sunils, right? His ‘greed’ is understandable.”

“I know.” Han Xiao nodded and made some calculations in his mind.

He had initiated a conversation with Lerden on purpose. Aside from turning over Serpent Braid, he had also wanted to introduce himself to Lerden. He was able to come up with a new plan from their conversation.

The Sunil tribe was a tribe that lived in the Garton Galaxy. They had a pretty awesome storyline. Although it should only have been available in a later version, Han Xiao was able to confirm that the storyline was already in effect from his previous conversation with Lerden.

He remembered that the Sunil Storyline would offer the opportunity to earn a very rare subclass. Han Xiao was currently stuck because of the Class change requirement and was in need of a new subclass.

Moreover, this storyline had a pretty important main character. Han Xiao was very interested in important main characters, and this particular main character was quite crucial to the next steps of his plans.

The reason to venture off into the stars was basically to get stronger. That, coupled with the important main character, made Han Xiao believe that the storyline would be very beneficial to his growth. Moreover, the Sunils had quite the backstory to them.

They were a small civilization in the Garton Galaxy. Although they started out as a rather peaceful people who lived fulfilling lives, one day, DarkStar commenced an invasion on a massive scale that decimated their home planets. The survivors of the Sunil civilization migrated until they eventually received the Godoran’s protection. They were given a piece of land on some random backwater planet and were allowed to live.

But, just barely.

Their civilization had suffered enormously from the war and the migration, and it was on the brink of collapse. This was why Lerden was furious at the mere mention of DarkStar.

The hate that Sunils had toward DarkStar was one that arose from the near-extinction of their entire race

Chapter 329 - The Juberly Hub!

After the scavenger attack, Short Horn Star headed straight for the Juberly Hub without making any stops.

After several days, a massive fortress that floated in space appeared outside the windows of their ship. The Juberly Hub looked like something straight out of a sci-fi movie, with its futuristic steel structures standing out in the backdrop of countless distant stars. It looked both intimidating and mysterious at the same time.

Spaceships came and went through its docks in an unceasing manner, and their massive engines left behind lines of multi-colored light in space. Thousands of these lines surrounded the space station, and even though there was no sound in space, it was as if a magnificent firework show was being held.

Such was the beauty of civilization.

After turning on their communications channel, they started receiving signals from countless sources. Each space ship was in the process of gaining entry to the hub, and voices of all languages and accents mixed with the robotic voices formed a unique cacophony of sounds.

The bustling hub was in sharp contrast to the stillness of space.

Short Horn Star started to slow down its speed as it approached the Juberly Hub.

The space station grew larger and larger in their ship's windows before it soon took up the entirety of their view. It was then that the people on-board finally realized the scale of this gigantic space fortress. Short Horn Star, which was only comparable to a small city in size, was like a tiny pea next to a watermelon when put next to the Juberly Hub.

The players, who had never seen this before, had looks of awe on their faces. They were shocked to the core. One would truly feel insignificant when in front of a space station such as that.

"So… so big!"

"It's basically a small planet."

"So, this is Galaxy."

The players could not hold their excitement back, and soon, they even fell in love with the sight in front of them.

The shimmering stars in space would remain to be a wonder for all who looked up at their skies. The players were no different. Bun-hit-dog made sure to record everything, and he hated that he could not use more cameras to capture this moment.

Han Xiao, on the other hand, remained calm as he stroked his chin. The glint in his eyes suggested that he was in deep thought.

Entering the Juberly Hub was the first step in their journey in space. The Juberly Hub was a middle point—a massive hub where countless forces interacted with each other on a daily basis. Information from all over the Colton Star Cluster passed through the hub. It could basically be treated as a 'main city', as it offered many features such as rooms for rent.

To Han Xiao, the Juberly Hub would be an important place for the first part of his plan. Most of his future activities would start out from the hub. If he was to map out his future movements in the Colton Star Cluster, it would look like a spider web with the Juberly Hub at the center.

Han Xiao believed that the most important objective right now was to make a breakthrough in his strength. LV 70 meant nothing in space. He already had an astronomical amount of experience, 27 million. So, all he had to do was find a way to turn all that experience into actual combat strength. In other words, he needed to complete his class change requirements, find a subclass, and look for advanced knowledge.

Juberly Hub was a great place for trading advanced knowledge. The Enas that he had earned earlier would be put to great use soon. Han Xiao currently already possess two pieces of advanced knowledge, and he needed a total of five to class change. Based on his memory, however, the Enas that he had was not enough. Advanced knowledge was always expensive to acquire.

Yet, compared to Planet Aquamarine, the process of acquiring advanced knowledge was ten times easier. As long as he had enough money, he would not even have to worry about getting into a good relationship with the buyers.

Earning money was an important objective.

Just then, the captain's voice sounded over the ship's broadcast system.

"We're about to enter and dock in port 273. All passengers, please head to the waiting area near the ship's bridge to wait for landing. Allow me to once again express my gratitude for choosing our travel company as well as my deepest apologies for the earlier incident. Thank you for your cooperation on-board."

Short Horn Star entered a large docking area, and the bottom of the ship locked on to the docking rails. After the ship was secured, the port's metallic gates opened, and the ship was led in on the rails before the gates closed again.

The passengers on spaceship then headed toward the bridge to wait to disembark while carrying their luggage. The players were all carrying Han Xiao's material boxes. The large packs of materials and equipment looked rather suspicious and easily grabbed the attention of the surrounding onlookers. However, the passengers all knew that Han Xiao was the one who had protected the ship from the scavengers, and they looked at Han Xiao's group with kindness in their eyes… Not that Han Xiao and the players understood what a kind expression would look like when it was on the face on another species. To the players, these warm looks were as good as threatening glares, and they were in a constant state of worry for their own lives.

"I'm finally free!" Kerlodd was emotional as he stretched out his arms, as if trying to embrace the sky.

"Calm down. It's not like I treated you badly. I didn't torture you." Han Xiao gave him a sidelong glance before saying, "You even earned 1,500 Enas because of me. I feel like you should be thanking me instead."

"I would… if you would just return my equipment to me."

"Wow, why is it so noisy here? Sorry, what did you say?"

Kerlodd felt helpless about this. He knew Han Xiao well enough that probably only if God Gal himself showed up would Han Xiao be willing to give back what he had taken. He shook his head and got serious.

"I need to go back to work, and I need to submit a report. I won't go back on our promise, and I will make sure to not trouble you with my report. Even if you don't trust my words, you should be aware that due to the dangerous nature of the Observers' job, what you did wasn't nearly enough to warrant a bounty on your head. You can rest assured that no one will trouble you due to this."

"Sounds good." Han Xiao chuckled as he silently put away his gun.

"I will count it as my bad luck for meeting you," Kerlodd said dejectedly.

"I'm pretty happy though," Han Xiao replied happily.

The spaceship shook once before it finally came to a stop. The exit slowly opened up, revealing a white platform in front of them. The dock was as massive as a city square, and there were bright lights all over the place. The ceilings must have been at least a few hundred meters high to be able to fit the entire Short Horn Star inside. At the end of the platform was the entrance into the space station.

When Han Xiao brought the players off the ship, he was able to catch a glimpse of Lerden, who hurriedly dragged along his bounty and was walking at the front of the group.

After the attack, Han Xiao did not get another opportunity to converse with Lerden, and their relationship did not progress any further, but that was fine for Han Xiao.

We should be able to meet again as long as I interact with the Sunil Storyline.

After walking through a long, winding passageway, they finally arrived inside the Juberly Hub, and the space around them suddenly opened up. They were currently at the Hub Center of the space station. However, although it was called a center, the place was more like a city and measured several dozens of kilometers in length.

At the edge of the Hub Center was a gigantic, arched French window through which they could see the vastness of space that was just outside. The group had walked into through an entrance near the French window.

The Hub Center's ceiling was also extremely tall, and the top was over a thousand meters away from where they stood. At the very middle was a white tower that was built right through the ceiling. Countless buildings surrounded this tower, forming rings upon rings of structures. The buildings were all built with drastically different designs, and each building took up a large amount of space. Each floor was a huge platform on its own, built with all kinds of facilities and areas. There were also bridges that connected these tall buildings with one another. The dizzying number of bridges and walkways between the buildings formed a maze-like megastructure, while many public air transport vehicles darted through the open spaces.

The ground was also dotted with a variety of massive infrastructures such as gyms, theaters, and public parks. This was a place where countless different species interacted with each other. Transport could be seen flying around the air at all times. The players almost felt like this was all too much for their eyes to take in. It was like they had entered an unimaginable world, and everything that had only been a figment of their imagination in the past had become reality.

Basically, they were speechless and really excited.

The Hub Center offers many features.

Han Xiao's memories all started to come back to him.

It can be divided into approximately ten or so areas, and there are all kinds of restaurants, equipment shops, and entertainment centers such as bars and race tracks of all kinds of species.

There are also training grounds designed for Supers, which offer gravity training rooms, combat simulators, meditation rooms, mechanical workshops, as well as offices that offer jobs and employment for Supers.

There are powerful entities such as the Mercenary Alliance and the Mage's Organization; there are also financial groups and other forces that are interested in hiring Supers. There's also the trading center, which allows one to trade with people from all over the cluster, and there are also shipyards that specialized in building and repairing spaceships…

Essentially, this place would be able to meet all his needs for a while.

Juberly Hub would be a long-term base for his plans in the future.

Chapter 330 - Happiness of the Poor

"Can I go now?" Kerlodd asked.

Naturally, there was no need for Han Xiao to break the promised of allowing Kerlodd to leave after reaching Juberly Hub. Han Xiao suddenly had an idea. Kerlodd was an investigator that had landed on Planet Aquamarine, and maybe Han Xiao could hint about the Mutation Disaster since he was a citizen from Planet Aquamarine.

"There's something I need to tell you; I hope you can put it down in the report."

"Before you say anything, I respect my work as an investigator, so don't bother telling me to write fake news," Kerlodd said with a confused expression.

If you respect your work, then pigs can also fly!

After Han Xiao went speechless for a second, he continued speaking with a serious tone. "Planet Aquamarine is now covered in a mist of shadow. I believe that there will be a disaster that could wipe out the entire planet. I hope that you can emphasize this point on your report, and if the department has plans to investigate Planet Aquamarine again, I suggest that they look for clues about the disaster."

Kerlodd did not really pay much attention, but he said, "I'll put it in the report."

Han Xiao was not sure whether the Mutation Disaster had begun. It would not be a disaster that could shake the entire version if the cause was easy to find. The probability that the Godoran Investigation Department would listen to his suggestion was ridiculously slim, but Han Xiao's purpose was not actually to get Godora to find some clues. This action was to prevent problems in the future.

If Mutation Disaster did happen on Planet Aquamarine, then Godora would remember this report, and he could build up a proper relationship with Godora. Kerlodd would be a middleman facilitating the communication.

"Okay, that's it. You can go now. Hope we'll meet again." Han Xiao then suddenly said, "Remember to take your first step with your left foot."

"Huh?"

Kerlodd was extremely confused. He waved as he said goodbye. After some thought, he stepped out with his right leg and disappeared into the distance.

"Hehe, he's so obedient," Han Xiao muttered with a smile.

After the farewell against Kerlodd, Han Xiao needed to deal with proper business.

Juberly Hub had a lot of opportunities, and Han Xiao still remembered the majority of them. However, the most urgent matter was to rent a resting space and store the supply boxes. He would have to stay in Juberly Hub for a considerable amount of time, so he had to get a room so that the players would know where to meet up. Moreover, the resting room could be set as a save point for players to go on and offline.

The registration office for the resting room was in the central white tower. Han Xiao and the others hopped on a small public flying device and reached the destination.

The flying device was used to replace walking. It was easy to use, and the design was similar to a small UFO. There were four holes on the bottom that were an anti-gravitational device, which was releasing a dark-blue light. Han Xiao was used to this, but this was a new and exciting experience for the players, as if they were babies exploring the outside world.

The third level of the tall tower was the registration office. A lot of people were lining up, and Han Xiao was one of them. He slowly inched forward with the line.

After half an hour, Han Xiao saw a group of people cut through the line and stand in the VIP channel. The staff of the hub appeared and respectfully welcomed the group.

The group was wearing pure-white battle mechanical suits that looked like normal plated armor. On each of their chests was an upside-down triangle with different colors. Three thin pipes were extended from the three angles of the triangle. Two of them went across each shoulder, and the other pipe covered the crouch. The three lines then intersect at the back of the suit, the position of intersection point was directly behind the triangle.

"Why don't they have to line up?" Maple Moon asked curiously.

Han Xiao recalled the sign and said, "They are people from 'Sky Ring', and they are also called the Sky Ring Army. There are tens of thousands of members in the army. This organization comes from the Gelock Star Cluster and does not belong to any civilization. They are free mercenaries who are famous in the Shattered Star Ring. They are hired to be bodyguards, soldiers, explorers, and directors to start a colony. They even take jobs to fight in wars. They have a famous reputation, so they get the VIP treatment."

The Gelock and Colton Star Clusters were neighboring Star Clusters in the Shattered Star Ring. The Sky Ring members probably got some mission in Colton. This showed that the market for the Sky Ring was extremely large since they got requests from another Star Cluster.

The Sky Ring had created a huge name for themselves, so the members had all sorts of benefits across the Shattered Star Ring. Reputation in the universe was an important factor, and this scene just showed that if one was famous, one could go through the VIP channel with ease, while the rest of the common travelers yawned in line, waiting their turn.

Han Xiao could not help but remember that he had the same special treatment in Planet Aquamarine. Now, in the universe, he had to build everything from the bottom up. However, Han Xiao did not miss the benefits that he had on Planet Aquamarine. Han Xiao had an adventurous trait in his genes. If one never left one's comfort zone, one would only remain in the same position and never improve.

After waiting in line for what felt like an eternity, it was finally Han Xiao's turn. There were all sorts of rooms, and since Han Xiao still had money, he rented a middle level resting room with a storage room. The room was large enough to fit in a dozen of people, and it only cost forty Enas per month.

The resting room was located in a building nearby. Han Xiao looked at the door number and quickly found the front door for the room. He opened up the lock with his authorization, and the heavy metal door slid open, revealing the room inside. The room was simple, and space was large enough.

Everyone rushed into the room and pushed the supply crates into the warehouse. Han Xiao coughed purposefully, and everyone looked at him. He then said, "We will stay in the Juberly Hub for a while. This will be our base for now. Since this is the first time that you have all left the planet, take some time to adapt to the new environment."

No one had any objections as they were still in the state of confusion in the new world.

"Why are you so familiar with all of this?" Maple Moon asked. "Isn't this the first time you have left the planet as well?"

The things that Han Xiao had done on Planet Aquamarine had only given the players the impression that Han Xiao was a local. However, after stepping into the universe, Han Xiao acted like it was his home. No one paid attention to this except Maple Moon.

Han Xiao thought for a while and said, "You all know that I can see the future. Even though this is the first time that I have physically traveled into space, I can see things far away. More importantly, I have this."

Han Xiao took out his communicator.

Maple Moon suddenly felt that she had asked a stupid question. She pouted and looked upset.

Han Xiao took out a book containing all the rules on Juberly Hub. "Read the regulations first. Don't break the rules, or else you will be captured by the security team. I need to do something first, so you all stay here and don't leave the room."

Juberly Hub had a security team to facilitate safety and peace. They would instantly catch anyone committed a crime or broke the rules. The players all gathered around and read the regulations.

Han Xiao left the resting room alone and headed to the exchange center. With the money that he had left, he first had to buy some class advancement knowledge.

The exchange center was separated into small individual rooms with a control interface. Han Xiao walked into a room and opened up a trading list. Countless items filled the screen. With the name, introduction, price, seller, and delivery time, the interface looked a lot like websites for online shopping.

The regional online exchange center aggregated all the items for sale in the stellar area. Sellers just posted the items that they wanted to sell, and the variety of options made it more convenient for buyers to purchase. The items were all verified, so it was impossible for anyone to buy a fake item.

Han Xiao directly chose mechanic Super knowledge. Colton Star Cluster did not have a lot of sellers for knowledge, and there was no knowledge that was in a complete set. From the three branches and fifteen knowledges in total, only eight were on sale. All the prices for the items were more than ten thousand Enas. Knowledge like [Advanced Mechanic Power] and [Advanced Energy Theory] were sold up to fifty thousand Enas.

The reason that the knowledge was this expensive was probably that the major organizations did not have to share the information, and people did not want to build relationships with camps, so they could only spend a fortune to buy the knowledge.

However, this was not a problem for Han Xiao. He could make a few copies of class advancement knowledge and sell it to the players, so he could easily earn back the money. To make the players buy the knowledge from him, the price had to be a bit lower, but this could also build a better bond between him and the players and perhaps gain even greater benefits.

Unfortunately, it was just an ideal dream. The restriction that he faced was demand for the market, and for Han Xiao, the players were the only market that he had. However, each player only had 1,500 Enas, so he had to put the idea aside. Even though he did not have much money, Han Xiao would never auction the knowledge to the players. To let the players easily get this knowledge did not fit Han Xiao's vision.

So, not only did he have to make himself rich, but he also had to make the players rich. He had to build up a small society and foster everyone for a better life.

After searching through the list, he could buy a class advancement knowledge that was barely useful. It was [Advanced Radar Technology] with the price tag of eleven thousand Enas. The knowledge was more utility based, where it focused on detection and scouting using methods such as radiation, waves, and light spectrum.

At least it's better than nothing.Han Xiao sighed and confirmed the payment. He connected the personal communicator and uploaded the information to the interface. The personal account balances started rolling, and in an instant, the balance was left with only two thousand Enas.

Han Xiao felt tears running in his eyes.

It's back!

Everything is back!

It's this feeling! The excitement of a mechanic!

Every time I spend money, my blood pressure skyrockets!

The happiness of the poor…

Happy my ass!

Chapter 331 - Black Star: The Beginning (1)

_____________________

Advanced Mechanic Control-type Knowledge detected: [Advanced Radar Technology]. Learn in exchange for 2 Potential points?

Learning… 15%… 74%…

Knowledge successfully learned! You have learned [Advanced Radar Technology]!

_____________________

The new knowledge had been imprinted his mind, and his Potential points dropped two points from the previous fifty-five points.

Potential points were used to learn and level up knowledge. Although it did not seem like much—as all fifteen advanced knowledges could be learned in exchange for thirty points—one would keep running out of points the moment they tried to max out those knowledges. Han Xiao had run into this problem in the past, which was why he was extra careful about spending his Potential points this time around. He rarely spent his Potential points unless necessary.

Due to the limit of the Potential points, Mechanic players were forced to branch out in specific paths; it was impossible to be a master of all. Aside from earning a Potential point upon leveling up, players could also earn a Potential point from raising their mastery of an ability to the max. So, players could further their knowledge and thus increase their strength even after they had already reached the maximum level.

Mechanic just so happened to be a class that never ran out of new abilities. Each new blueprint counted as a new skill, and all they needed was experience points.

Han Xiao had a massive advantage when it came to experience, and the amount that he had amassed was far beyond what the players imagined to be possible in the current Version. He had the luxury of branching off in several directions, giving him a huge edge over the players.

_____________________

You have acquired a new blueprint: Simple Multi-function Detector!

_____________________

This was the basic blueprint that came with learning the radar knowledge.

Most players would come to find radar technology very helpful. It could be used for making observations at long distances as well as scanning the electromagnetic radiation in the surroundings. Although it could not directly improve their strength, it was still an important blueprint to have. As the players leveled up in the later Versions, combat became much more dimensioned, and without sufficient radar technology, one was as good as blind. However, the majority of the players opted for the store-bought detection tools, and only the large gaming and merchant guilds would have access to such knowledge.

It’s actually not a bad knowledge. It suits my needs quite well. I can sell the detectors to the players after producing them en masse. This kind of supportive equipment could be viewed as absolutely necessary by many players.

He had now obtained three advanced knowledges and was only in need of two more to meet one of his class change requirements. Now, the problem was money. However, Han Xiao’s motto was to get rich together with the players, expand their market, and earn the NPC’s money with the players.

Han Xiao had the advantage of knowing about the Storylines already. Although this part of the game was kind of a gray area in his memories, he could still remember enough bits and pieces to matter. For example, he knew where to find the long-term mercenary contracts that could get him quite a lot of money.

After he returned to waiting room, he found that most of the players were waiting there patiently. However, after scanning the room, he realized that Li Ge and the Temple of God players were nowhere to be found.

Han Xiao frowned and asked, “Where are the others?”

“They said that they wanted to take a look outside to familiarize with the environment and would be back in a moment,” Bun-hit-dog explained.

Han Xiao narrowed his eyes.

Bullsh*t. Do they think I don’t understand how their minds work? They’re just excited about entering a new environment and couldn’t wait to interact with the new NPCs and trigger missions, thus ignoring my instructions.

Most players were selfish. This was an indisputable point. It was even more so for the pro players. But really? Could they not even wait there for a few minutes? Clearly, the allure of the shiny new world had gotten to them.

This was also one of the things that Han Xiao worried about. As new opportunities popped up one after another, the players would start getting ideas of their own and would have less reason to always stick with him. They would also be interested in joining a more powerful organization.

To ensure that the players never left him, Han Xiao had long since prepared a plan, and it was about time to implement that plan.

“Follow me. It’s time for work.”

Han Xiao turned and walked out the doors with the players following right behind him.

The group of people arrived in front of a huge building with a main hall that was similar in size to a town square. People of different species could be seen throughout the building, going about their business. Some sat, some were walking around, and some conversed with each other. However, all of these people were fully clad in battle gear, and pretty much all of them were Supers.

“What is this place?” the players asked as they looked left and right.

“The Mercenary Alliance,” Han Xiao said slowly. “A powerful neutral organization that offers swords for hire. This organization’s business can be seen in all corners of the universe. It was founded by the three big Civilizations in space. They maintain absolute neutrality, and all intelligent lifeforms can register to become one of their mercenaries. The Alliance ranks their mercenaries with different levels, and the difficulty of a mission, the value of reward, operation funds, and other benefits all depend on your level. The Mercenary Alliance is an ancient organization, and like the Intergalactic Bank, they never interfere in matters in space. It also pays great attention to protecting the rights of both the clients and the mercenaries. Mercenaries would never be forced into doing missions. It serves as a fair platform.”

He also knew that the original intention for the founding of the Mercenary Alliance was to give the Supers something to do. Being able to earn money and make a living with their power meant that they would have less time and energy to cause trouble everywhere. The effect that the founding of the Mercenary Alliance brought was evident. Not only did it make good use of the Supers’ abilities, it also contributed to maintaining the security in an area.

But the players did not need to know about that.

The players were stunned, and for a while, it was as if light was coming out of their eyes. They had come to space so that they could take higher-level missions, and they could not wait to head into the building right now. However, everyone stood still as they saw that Han Xiao was not making a move yet.

Multiple fist-sized metal balls could be seen floating around the great hall of the Mercenary Alliance. These balls would fly toward players with a wave from their hands, forming a virtual screen upon contact. This was a kind of an automatic management system that allowed the mercenaries to take on jobs on their own.

Han Xiao retrieved a ball and opened up the virtual interface.

“Please enter your mercenary account username to proceed.” A robotic voice sounded out of the small ball.

Han Xiao directly selected the ‘register’ option, and the screen changed. After entering his identification information, his account could not be connected to his bank account.

Han Xiao entered the information for his own bank account, and with a flash, the screen refreshed and displayed his basic information. There was only a name and a single entry in his resume—Protecting Short Horn Star. This ‘resume’ would automatically record his official accomplishments, and as he had only entered space not too long ago, it was still as blank as a sheet of paper.

These accomplishments were basically the physical record of his renown, but the accomplishments that were made with no witnesses around would likely not be recorded. However, the renown on the player interface was different. Even without someone spreading the news, the renown points would still increase on its on whenever a player did something big.

Han Xiao needed a mercenary nickname. He was called “Black Phantom” on Planet Aquamarine, but he felt like that name wasn’t domineering enough. He decided to use a new name to to also pique the players’ interests.

After a bit of thinking, Han Xiao said slowly, “Then let’s call myself… Black Star.”

Black Phantom was a name for a killer and felt a little bit edgy. He felt that the new name sounded much more ‘righteous’ and fitted his image quite well. The Great Mechanic Han was pleased with himself.

He chose the color black because he felt a connection to this color. He had liked to wear black clothing even in his past life, not because he thought it looked cool, but because he was too lazy to wash his clothes.

After entering a bunch more information, the little ball revealed a small probe and reminded, “If you’re a Super, please release your energy toward this probe. The system will analyze your class for you, and this will determine the difficulty of the missions that will be matched to you.”

Han Xiao held the probe and sent sparks of energy out of his fingertips. He used about eighty percent of his power, and C class was displayed on the screen.

“Data collection complete. Creating file…”

_____________________

Mercenary Codename: Black Star

Credibility Rating: 10 (Starting Value)

Strength Level: C

Class: Mechanic

Certificates and Badges: None

Faction or Group: None

Summary: Mercenary Recruit

_____________________

“File creation complete. Data has been entered into the system. Black Star, welcome to the Mercenary Alliance.”

Chapter 332 - Black Star: The Beginning (2)

The Colton Star Cluster had quite a few opportunities, and the Mercenary Alliance’s dataset was the easiest way to find the missions. Han Xiao picked some of the missions that he knew.

To be a free mercenary was a very good choice. One could earn a lot of money while networking with major organizations. It was a free path of promotion to the higher status.

But Han Xiao’s plan did not stop there. The next action was the most crucial.

Mercenaries identity interface had an option ‘Create a Mercenary Group’. Han Xiao clicked in without hesitation.

“Are you sure that you want to create a mercenary group?”

A mercenary group was a team made out of mercenaries that could accept people’s missions. A mercenary group also had rating system, and all their actions would be recorded in the system.

Even a member who finished a mission by themself would be recorded in the ratings of the mercenary group. At the same time, if a member left a bad record, it would also influence the rating of mercenary group. Han Xiao’s record for his mercenary missions was still blank, and the same went for this group.

Sky Ring Army was another large-scale mercenary group that took missions all over the place. They had a wide market with new members joining every day. Their reputation was well known.

If one did not have an extremely bad history, anyone could start a mercenary group. One person could only make one mercenary group. One could not create a new group unless the previous one was disbanded.

“Please enter the name of your mercenary group.”

After some thought, Han Xiao directly used his code name and called it ‘Black Star Mercenary Group’. He confirmed the name, and the interface suddenly changed from a personal one to a mercenary group interface.

The target members for this group were clearly the players as they were there to provide hard labor. Ah that’s not right, they’re warriors.

Life as a mercenary was extremely dangerous, but players could always revive, so there would not be any loss. This job perfectly suited the players’ natural advantage, and with the players, developing a new empire was twice as easy.

Let the players join my mercenary group, then we can start a new base.

Han Xiao’s eyes looked deep as he smirked.

Building a base was one core components of his plan. It could tie the players as a beneficiary on his tank, and the players would be more concentrated together while decreasing the chance of players leaving. This was the plan that Han Xiao had finally come up with after pulling his hair out.

At the same time, he could build a closer bond with the players, and their relationship could move from one purely out of benefits to comrades.

Think about it, building a mercenary group by himself with professional players as the initial players of the organization would create a lot of news in the world and attract even more players’ attention. He could then use rewards to lure in other skillful players and strengthen his mercenary group. They would think that it was the result of their hard work.

Emphasizing the players’ contributions could incentivize the growth of the faction, and players could find meaning in fighting for their own organization and view the faction’s achievement as their own. In the end, this sense of belonging and pride could create satisfaction and fulfillment in the players.

One could not underestimate the power of social belonging. This romanticism of social belonging could spread roots of feelings into players hearts, and the power of romanticism could nurture soldiers that would die for their country.

For majority of the players, games were just entertainment. The element of role playing and the option for players to choose a faction could further strength the vision and ideology of the faction. On top of that, this setting would attract even more players to join! Everyone’s heart would be filled with passion and loyalty. The emotion of sacrificing one’s life for an organization, which was unbelievable in the real world, could now be released in a video game without any repercussions. Han Xiao wanted to lure out this romanticism in players’ hearts for the sake of his faction.

Han Xiao just wanted to make his faction into the hope of the players, and he was the perfect leader to win the players’ heart. Along with the growth of his faction, Han Xiao could earn more benefits and obtain better items, all while rewarding the players’ contributions. The whole process would be a virtuous cycle, and through this, Han Xiao could aggregate the power of the players to assist him to his goals.

Building a mercenary group was the first stage of his plan, and through Bun-hit-dog’s show, he could keep refreshing his presence. Once the future version was updated, Han Xiao could simply wave his hand, and all the players would rush to him to join the faction.

Of course, it was just an outline of the plan. The actual execution was complicated, and it would take a lot of time and resources to reach the end stage. However, once the plan succeeded, it would be revolutionary for the players, just like the alliances and the Hordes in World of Warcraft.

This was the blueprint of Han Xiao’s new empire!

“You all have the requirement to register as a mercenary. Join my mercenary group, and I will take care of you all,” Han Xiao said in a seductive voice.

Frenzied Sword did not hesitate and was the first to register. He only had two rules. First, he could eat well if he followed Han Xiao. Second, Han Xiao was always right.

The other players slowly joined, and Han Xiao smiled as he watched the whole process, as if he was seeing all the seeds buried into the soil, waiting for them to grow.

The display quickly switched to a new interface.

_____________________

Black Star Mercenary group

Credibility: 10

Scale: 47 members

Class C: 37 members

Missions Completed: 0

Active Region: None

Records: None

Creator: Black Star—Han Xiao

Creation date: Galaxy Calendar 2 October 688

Summary: Trainee mercenary group, small scale, abilities are similar among the members, no obvious strength.

_____________________

As the mercenary group had just started, they had no information. There were three criteria to rate a mercenary group: scale, strength, and credibility. The first two were requirements to determine which missions the organization could apply. For credibility, it was the ‘level’ of a mercenary group. The points for credibility could be gained after missions were completed. The credibility was the core representation of the reputation.

Many employers had standards for the credibility of the mercenaries. If the credibility score was too low, then the employer would reject the application of the mercenaries.

Credibility was also equivalent to popularity. Of course, in the formal document, it wouldn’t use such an informal word. But in the reputation system, it quantified the reputation system of the mercenary group, and only Han Xiao could see it.

Li Ge and Temple of God were not in the scene and ran around by themselves, so they were the only two groups that did not join the mercenary group. Han Xiao was irritated.

At this time, Han Xiao’s interface popped out a hint.

_____________________

Faction formed: Black Star Mercenary Group

Faction Management Function activated.

_____________________

The NPC model added a new option named [Faction Management], which was located to the side of [Dungeon Creation].

I knew it! Han Xiao was excited.

After he succeeded in dungeon creation, he had been wondering what other functions the NPC model had. He had expected a faction option to be one of the functions, but he had never activated it. He figured that, since he had belonged to the Dark Net, which Bennett was the boss of, the functions had never been needed before.

He had been pretty confident that only by creating a faction himself would the function be activated.

And he was right.

If the interface did not work, he probably would have given up, but now, with the management interface, it simplified the whole process.

Han Xiao quickly clicked into [Faction Management] and experimented with things, getting more excited as he looked on.

There was only one way describe this function.

You could do anything you want!

Chapter 333 - Black Star: The Beginning (3)

[Faction Management] was the most complicated among all the NPC interfaces. There was a dizzying number of options and information. Through this interface, Han Xiao had access to all the faction-related features a player would have, and he could also give out faction missions, albeit a limited amount.

The level of reward that he could give out was dependent on his own level, faction rank, faction influence, and legendary points.

_____________________

Faction Reward Limit: 92,000

Faction Leader Level: 70 (+56,000 reward limit)

Officers: None (NPC)

Faction Size: 47 (+20,000 reward limit)

Renown: 2 (+4,000 reward limit)

Faction Leader Legendary Points: 3 (+15% reward limit)

Allies and Enemies: None

_____________________

92,000 was the limit for a single mission, but the daily total limit was twenty times that amount, far more than the limit for individual members, which was only five times more. Moreover, the other factors such as the faction officers and renown would all add on to that limit. With everything added up, their faction’s currently daily total limit was twenty-six times the base amount.

This meant that he could reward the players in his faction with a total of 2.4 million experience every day, but as there were currently fifty or so players, each player could only receive around 50,000 experience. This was not really a lot of experience for the players at their level.

The reward limit mainly controls the speed at which a faction can grow. This is only the base limit, so there’s still a lot of room for growth.

He made some calculations, and putting aside his leadership level, his own character level also contributed to the reward limit. Recruiting strong NPC officers to their faction would also greatly increase their reward limit. This convinced him of the need to start interacting with main storyline characters. The faction size was also separated into different stages, with the next cutoff being a hundred members. Renown was basically the same as the reputation system with a small difference. Faction renown was the aggregate of all area reputation points. For example, ten points of renown in the Garton Galaxy and five points in the Gelock Star Cluster would add up to a total of fifteen faction renown.

Legendary Points gave a percentage increase to the reward limit, and this increase was calculated after all the other factors such as leadership points were accounted for. The “Allies and Enemies” was basically the faction’s foreign relations.

Aside from faction missions, the system also allowed him to manage and monitor the player-faction relationship, as well individual players’ level of contribution. Overall, Han Xiao was very pleased with this new interface, and it could help him attract more players.

After Han Xiao established his faction, the other players also received notifications on their interface.

_____________________

You have joined [Black Star Mercenary Group].

Current relationship: Cold (0/300)

_____________________

The players were not surprised, as something like a faction notification was everyday business to them.

Han Xiao’s Faction Management system started listing out the names of the member players. His eyes flashed, and he gave out another notification.

_____________________

You are the Black Star Mercenary Group’s first batch of recruits. You have gained 300 contribution points. Current relationship status: Neutral (300/1000)

_____________________

“There’s something like this?”

“We got the neutral status directly.”

The players were overjoyed, and they hurriedly studied the faction interface. They wanted to find out what benefits they could get out of earning contribution points.

Once they entered the faction reward page, an assortment of items was displayed in front of them. Most of these items were originally in Han Xiao’s personal NPC shop, and he simply moved them over to the faction page. Moreover, he also threw in some good stuff that was not available from his shop. There were the Ranger 2.5 robots, each costing 1,500 contribution points to exchange; mini mobile turrets, each costing 1,200 points; and the original Python mechanical suit, which cost 6,000 points.

The equipment and items instantly caused a reaction from the players.

“Good stuff!”

“God-tier gear!”

The players were moved. These items had previously been unavailable to purchase no matter how much money they had.

“The mercenary group is newly established, and the credibility rating is still quite low,” Han Xiao said. “Only by raising our credibility rating can we take on higher level missions. We’re all comrades-in-arms now. Let’s work hard together for the future of the mercenary group.”

Immediately after, he made the faction size information visible to all the players in the interface. He wanted to use this as a reminder for them that they could take on jobs with better pay once they raised their rating. Moreover, he wanted the players to feel like they could directly contribute to the faction’s growth with their own actions.

The players were taking a while to process all this information.

Then, Han Xiao turned his attention to finding missions or job notices given by the Sunil tribe for his subclass. He quickly found several available missions; however, their faction’s credibility rating needed to be at least 120.

120 points? Han Xiao thought as he touched his chin. If he did things normally, he would be able to acquire 120 points after taking several outbound combat missions. However, he decided to take those menial labor missions that awarded at least one credibility point per mission. These daily missions were safe and easy, and they could be completed within the hub. Although it would take more missions, was this not what the players were for?”

He immediately used the newly gained interface to issue a faction mission.

_____________________

Faction Mission [Credibility Standard]

Mission Introduction: Black Star Mercenary Group has decided to take on an outbound assignment. However, the minimum credibility rating must first be met. (Note: This is the prerequisite of the first outbound assignment taken on by the faction.)

Mission requirement: Complete the daily missions and jobs at the Hub Center until the Black Star Mercenary Group has acquired 120 credibility points.

Reward: 45,000 experience and 300 faction contribution points

Remark: The three top contributors to meeting the credibility rating minimum will receive additional benefits.

_____________________

“There isn’t much experience awarded, but the contribution points rewarded are not bad.”

“Did you not see? This is only the first part. We will be able to take on the combat assignment later on. That’s where we’ll be able to get the experience.”

“This is a team mission, right? It’s asking for everyone to contribute to the 120 points total.”

“Hoho. You even get benefits for being the top three.”

Frenzied Sword, Hao Tian, and the others got excited and could not sit still after seeing the reward. They knew better than anyone that Han Xiao’s ‘benefits’ would definitely not be ordinary.

The mission only required taking on the daily missions in the hub. These missions usually only had to do with cleaning and some other utility-related work. The good thing was that they did not have to go through the trouble of leaving the hub. If the fifty players worked together, they would be able to meet the credibility rating requirement very fast. Han Xiao was not worried at all. Moreover, the players had only been getting benefits ever since they joined the faction. So, they naturally had no reason to refuse the faction invitation.

After receiving Han Xiao’s orders, the players spread out and left to take on the daily missions. With this group of helpers, Han Xiao was able to clear out a lot of time for himself to deal with some other business. After he returned to the resting room, he decided to make some preparations as well as think through his future plans.

A few hours later, Li Ge and the others returned to the resting room. They had been walking around outside for quite a while. Li Ge had left for space because he wanted to trigger all those new missions. With so many new NPCs at the Hub Center, he could not wait to explore around and see what missions he could accept. However, he found out that most people there were travelers, and they all laughed Li Ge and the others away when they tried to offer help. The NPCs asked them why they did not just go to the Mercenary Alliance if they wanted to take on jobs.

Although they could not receive any missions, they were able to get a new piece of information. After heading to the Mercenary Alliance and busying themselves for half the day, they finally registered themselves as mercenaries. Seeing the countless listings of jobs and missions convinced them that they had made the right choice in coming to space.

Furthermore, Li Ge believed that acting by themselves was the right action to take, as they had gained a lead on the other players.

The group of people chatted as they walked to the room’s entrance.

“We have gained an advantage this time. Do you think we should tell others about this mercenary thing?”

Li Ge shook his head. “This is an opportunity that we found. We’re all competing against each other here. There’s no need to tell them straight away.”

“But should we tell them if they were to ask?”

Li Ge thought about this, and he appeared to be troubled. Hiding away information like this after being asked would cause trouble easily. Just as he was trying to decide what to do, the group opened the door to the room. However, they realized that not a single player was in the room.

“Hmm.” A Temple of God player was confused and asked, “Where did the others go?”

“No idea.” Li Ge was glad and secretly let out a deep breath. He no longer had to be afraid of being questioned by the other players.

Chapter 334 - Black Star: The Beginning (4)

They all turned around, but they only saw Han Xiao alone in the room playing with the communicator. He quietly said, “You guys are finally back. You are the only ones left.”

“What do you mean?” Li Ge asked.

“All the other players have already joined my Mercenary Group. How about you?”

Li Ge froze.

Does that mean that everyone else has already become mercenaries? Then what was the point of all our hard work‽

And what’s a Mercenary Group?

A bad feeling slowly arose in their hearts.

“We’ve already registered as mercenaries,” Li Ge replied honestly.

Han Xiao raised his brows and announced a mission to join the Black Star Mercenary Group. Li Ge had nowhere else to go, so they quickly accepted the mission, went to the Mercenary Lobby, and joined the Mercenary Group.

Right after that, they activated the mission that other players had begun a while ago. Seeing the Faction Introduction and the mission requirement, Li Ge and others could not believe their eyes.

Li Ge was upset. This was supposed to be their treatment, but because they had moved on their own, they were behind in process compared to the other players. Just before they got back, they had been feeling pleased with themselves, but now, Li Ge only felt embarrassed. He had wasted so much time and energy wandering around, and he had not achieved anything other than lagging behind in progress.

After talking with the other players, Li Ge also found out that the other group of players had gotten a reward of 300 Contribution Points.

His mood was extremely poor. He regretted that he did not stay put and instead ran around like a monkey. Why did they think that they knew more about the universe than Han Xiao?

The other players soon heard about Li Ge’s anguish and laughed. At the same time, they had more faith in Han Xiao—Han Xiao was the only beam of light that they should follow. If they followed Han Xiao, they could get the most benefits rather than trying their luck outside.

…

With the hard work of the players, the Mercenary Group’s Credibility Rating increased little by little.

Han Xiao rented a machinery modification room and tried to make a new battle helmet using the new knowledge that he had gained and the resources that he had brought from Planet Aquamarine. He called it [SIN – Type-A Carbon Life Form Radar (Helmet)]. It had multiple layers of detection and could detect living creatures within several kilometers. It also had a strong radar function and strong life support systems such as air filtration. Han Xiao made a dozen of them and prepared to sell them to the players. The helmet was essential equipment for missions in space.

After a few days, Bun-hit-dog finally released the first episode of his space adventure, and the forums seemed to only discuss the topic.

[Galaxy Exploration Diary: Black Star (1)]

The title of this episode indicated that it was the start of a new series. The editing of the opening of the show changed to the view of Short Horn Star, Juberly Hub, and an alien creature with a weird shape. A few minutes had passed, and viewers flooded the channel in an instant. Bun-hit-dog’s Black Phantom show had built a solid, loyal fan base.

This trailer for the new series also garnered a lot of attention. It was the first show about space, and not only the players from Planet Aquamarine, even foreign players from other new planets were excited about the show. The view count rose exponentially, and within a few minutes, it almost broke the record for the highest view count in the past shows.

Bun-hit-dog was showered with attention, and his popularity was boosted once more; he was undoubtedly the top figure in the Galaxy film industry.

“What? There’s actually an update!”

“What the hell! There are three million and two hundred people watching right now! Am I seeing this correctly?”

“I’m so excited!”

“Let me see what you’ve got, you foreign friend!”

Bun-hit-dog’s large face then showed up on the screen. He used his disgusting voice and started the show. “Welcome to the Galaxy Exploration Diary. I am Bun-hit-dog. You might be wondering if something is missing. That’s right, since I haven’t had enough time, there won’t be a poem to start off this episode.”

Bullet comments instantly covered the screen.

“One can never be too careful.”

“This host doesn’t have any dignity.”

“Screw your family.”

For the first episode of the Black Star Series, Bun-hit-dog used a different editing method, which did not follow the previous format where he focused on informative content. He filmed the entire process of Han Xiao leading the players up to the Short Horn Star and then on to Juberly Hub, then he edited the video in the style of a movie. It gave up the informative tone that the previous show focused on. For this new show, there was barely any narration, and with some adjustment to the color of the scene, the audience had a new experience as if they were watching a TV series.

Because there was too much materials to use, Bun-hit-dog could not edit the size down. So, he directly changed the show to a video with a story, and the video was an hour long. After the success of his Black Phantom Series, Bun-hit-dog had become more motivated about trying new styles of film that had more artistic value, rather than limiting himself to informative content with a sarcastic tone. The change was evident, and he achieved great success.

As the video went on, the scene of space unfolded in front of audiences’ eyes. In the unfathomable depths of space with all sorts of spaceships zooming around, the show was like a black hole, sucking in all the attention in to this beautiful scene. When Han Xiao appeared on the screen, the bullet comments went on a rampage again.

“Han Xiao finally showed up!”

“Suck everything out of Black Phantom!”

“Hugging Black Phantom is just a 100-meter sprint!”

“Han Xiao is my husbando, don’t you dare touch my love!”

“Oh my. Black Phantom is now up in the heavens. There are no more boxes for me to open. I still need to gamble! I need to prove my true lineage!”

“Bro, just go sleep. You can find anything in your dreams.”

The text on the bullet comments flew by, and there were quiet some fan girls in there, but it was unclear how many old uncles were in there as well.

Bun-hit-dog also edited in some interactions of the professional players. Of course, he had gotten their approval to use the footage first. These players had gotten to know each other as the days passed, and their relationship had become closer and closer. Their interactions were funny and entertaining, which also attracted a lot of fans to watch the show. Quite a number of fans of the professional players also sent out bullet comments.

Suddenly, the scavengers showed up, and Han Xiao and the players protected the spaceship. The bullet comments flooded the screen again, and all sorts of messages were there.

“Holy cow. In this new simulation of space travel, you can also kill monsters and get experience.”

“Black Phantom is still so strong. He still owned the aliens like it was nothing.”

“Seeing that Han Xiao is still wrecking everyone, I can now drop my worries.”

In the journey to the Juberly Hub, the large space station made the viewers’ jaws dropped. The video also came to an end there. In the last scene, Han Xiao led the players to the Mercenary Alliance, and everyone registered as a mercenary. As the camera zoomed in, it looked on the words ‘Black Star Mercenary Group’ and froze the frame for three seconds! The audience also stared at those words.

Then the screen turned black with three words—To be continued.

Bun-hit-dog had decided to cut the video there because he saw that there would be great potential for the Faction. Other than the leader, all the other members were players. The journey of an NPC leading the players to the world of adventure would definitely lure the interest of the audience.

And he was right. When the video ended, the audience was greatly unsatisfied, wanting to see more of the show, feeling the emptiness of not being able to watch a new episode.

The last three seconds of the show created great interest and curiosity of the name ‘Black Star’ in the hearts of the audience.

Of course, this episode hinted at the great potential storyline in the future.

“I can’t wait for another episode!”

“I won’t go anywhere until I see the next episode!”

“Ahhhh. I want to lock Bun-hit-dog in my basement as my slave to pump out more shows.”

“Um… I think he would like that.”

“Hey, what are you thinking? I’m ashamed of you dirty minded creatures.”

The view count of this episode skyrocketed to an unprecedented level. The audience cheered, and the players who had not been chosen by Han Xiao were drowned in jealousy, hating themselves for not being able to last thirty seconds. The influence that this episode brought made the Galaxy Times add another section to their new show.

“A long time ago, we deduced that the storyline character had its own limit, where once they finished their storyline, they would turn into a nobody. However, this incident shows that we were completely wrong. [Black Phantom] Han Xiao… Oh, I mean [Black Star] Han Xiao proved us wrong. His activity was not limited by the level of the civilization. He headed deep into space and became the first man from Planet Aquamarine to explore the universe. This is his new arc!

“We thought that Han Xiao was only a character on Planet Aquamarine. From what we have seen now, everyone guessed wrong. He did not have only one war storyline. He has another more advanced main storyline on space exploration. Compared to other beginner planets, Planet Aquamarine’s potential was limited, but after the rise of Han Xiao, he has opened a path to explore new territory and storylines.

“Black Star Han Xiao was not the main character of this planet!”

[Galaxy Times] was brave in recognizing its base mistake, and its honest attitude garnered a positive reaction from the viewers. The segment also boosted the popularity of Han Xiao and promoted his status to a level above the ‘main character of a planet’ to something even higher. This raised another question from the players.

How far could he go?

Han Xiao also saw the show, and the effect achieved what he wanted. The players looked up to him even more, which meant that Han Xiao was accepted at a deeper level in their hearts.

Thousands of players discussed frantically on the forums, and the heat of the topic did not stop.

However, no one would think that Bun-hit-dog’s episode was not only popular for a short period of time. The show stayed relevant for much longer than people had thought. In the future, countless people would go back to this episode, which became known as…

The beginning of Black Star.

Chapter 335 - Cheap Bait

The daily missions were the low-level missions. Once a faction’s credibility rating had reached a certain level, daily hiring missions could no longer be used to gain credibility points. This ensured that faction’s credibility rating reflected their actual capability.

120 points happened to be the first cutoff. This was the minimum to become an ‘official’ mercenary group, one that would actually attract potential clients.

The pro players had great efficiency. Their faction was able to gain 120 credibility points in two short days. Han Xiao then released the faction mission reward, with King Admiral, Hao Tian, and the Berserkers team captain, Yan Ran, being the top three contributors. The players whom Han Xiao had recruited were not just limited to the four big guilds, and he had also made sure to get people from the top-ranking gaming clubs and teams from the tournament, such as Thunder Storm and the Berserkers. Thunder Storm was alright. They even had the beauty, Rainy Kim, and was thus getting a decent amount of attention. The Berserkers, on the other hand, despite being a top-class battle team, did not have much of a presence. To be honest, Han Xiao would have completely forgotten about them had Yan Ran not made it to the top three this time.

Han Xiao gave those three additional rewards and also re-emphasized to the players that contributing to the faction would net them a lot of benefits. The additional reward was his newly produced [SIN – Type-A Carbon Life Form Radar (Helmet)]. It was something that could only be exchanged with 800 faction points and immediately invited the other players’ envy.

Then, Han Xiao announced, “This helmet can greatly enhance your sight and function in many extreme environments…”

He explained the helmet’s functions in a way that implied the necessity of this helmet for the future outbound missions.

The three winners quickly put on the helmet to test its features for themselves. The internal screen displayed all kinds of analyzed information of their surroundings such as energy density. They could even adjust the display themselves. The function of this item was clear to see, and it also gave decent protection for the head. It was an item that suited all player classes.

Frenzied Sword was close to Hao Tian, and he was able to borrow the helmet to test it out himself. After putting it on, he could not help but say, “It really is a good item.”

After the others saw this, they also took turns putting on the helmet to see for themselves. They were then convinced that they had to earn this item in the future.

With the reward given for being the first batch of recruits along with the previous faction mission reward, all… most of the players had already accumulated 600 contributions points and were only 200 short of the helmet.

Han Xiao had set the price of the helmet to 800 points on purpose to bait the players’ frustrated feelings. Being just short of being able to obtain the item would make them want to either do more missions or even give up their own items or even money in exchange for it.

Although it seemed like the players had been able to easily gain 600 contribution points, it was all just a strategy that Han Xiao had long been implementing whenever he dealt with the players. He converted the players’ desire for an item into something of a physical value. The items that were available in his shop were cheap and reliable, and in combination with the allure of faction points, it meant that Han Xiao would be the go-to place whenever players wanted to spend their money.

The exchange rate of Enas to Faction contribution points that he had decided on for now was 50:100 for those with a Neutral status—which was 0 – 1,000 contribution points. So, in the players’ mind, the helmet’s value was 400 Enas. Now that they could buy it at twenty-five percent of the original price after using their contribution points to pay the rest, they felt like they were getting a huge bargain.

Half of the players had earned 1,500 Enas from the Short Horn Star raid and were itching to spend their money on something. The other half did not have a lot as they had only been doing some daily jobs. However, most of them decided to borrow from the other half out of desperation.

“We’re all in the same line of work here. It’s just a hundred. Are you actually not going to lend me that little money?”

“You’re not gonna? Are you looking down on me‽”

“Ayyy c’mon, we’re all buddies here. We will definitely make more money in the future. You don’t have to worry about me not paying you back. Where could I even run off to here? I will owe you a favor if you lend me some money.”

After a chaotic scene, the last group of players was able to obtain their own helmets after getting into debt.

Of course, the Temple of God players were the most in debt, making Li Ge feel very bad.

With fifty or so customers, Han Xiao was able to make over 6,000 Enas in one go for all the helmets that he had made, so he was feeling very pleased with himself.

These helmets had been made with materials from Planet Aquamarine and actually cost next to nothing. The profit margin here was practically insane.

…

After their group of people arrived at the lobby of the Mercenary Alliance, Han Xiao got ready to open the interface to accept the jobs offered by the Sunil tribe. However, he realized that the lobby was a little odd today. A crowd of mercenaries was making a ruckus at one corner of the lobby.

Han Xiao was a curious person, so he walked over, only to see a short blue-skinned person get surrounded by the group of people. The person was wearing a fancy loose-fitting dress and had hard nail like hair, pointy ears, and no nose. The two eyes were shaped into a tight slit while the mouth was curved upside down with a naturally upset expression. This person was a Blue-Ni, and his appearance was akin to an emoji.

The impression that the other species had of the Blue-Nis was that they were very selfish, an opportunistic people. This particular Blue-Ni was some financial group’s materials investigation member. He was there in person to hire mercenaries in order to save on the tiny processing fee that he would have had to pay if he had gone through the proper hiring channels.

This Blue-Ni was called Martin, and he was in the middle of introducing his job offer. “I am from a Materials Investigation team that is on its way to Planet Garton-791 for a three-day on-site investigation. We’re looking to hire bodyguards. Each person will be paid 400 Enas, and you will be responsible of protecting our team members. You will have to clear out the investigation grounds of any beasts as well as perform reconnaissance in any dangerous areas. We’re looking for groups with a credibility rating of at least 120…”

The surrounding mercenaries only showed cold faces at that. 400 Enas was not a very attractive reward. Moreover, this deal would be made in private instead of going through the official Mercenary Alliance channel. This meant that no records would be made in the system, and they would not be able to gain credibility points for completed the job. None of the surrounding mercenaries were bothered enough to take on the job.

Han Xiao’s eyes flashed, and he checked his star map. Garton-791 is close to the Sunil’s home base. We could earn some cash on the way. Although the reward is only 400 Enas, if each of our fifty people can get it, it’s still not too bad.

It was only a lifeless planet, hence the name with the code. It was basically a planet exclusively for resource excavation.

Han Xiao pushed through the crowd, walked up to the Blue-Ni, and said, “Black Star Mercenary Group. Fifty people. Only group assignments for now.”

“Let me check your credibility rating.” Martin gave Han Xiao a quick scan with his eyes and was quite happy. He had finally found someone who would take up his offer after shouting there for half the day.

Han Xiao pulled up his mercenary information page and passed it to Martin.

When Martin saw that this mercenary group had reached the credibility rating requirement, he was overjoyed. However, his expression changed immediately when he scrolled further down the page. “You’ve never accepted any combat assignments?”

Black Star Mercenary Group’s resume was filled with the daily jobs that could be completed in the hub. Many were cleaning missions. Normally, mercenaries would not even bother themselves with such jobs.

This resume gave Martin quite a shock. He had never seen such a noob ‘mercenary group’.

Chapter 336: A Mechanic’s Paradise

Han Xiao raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong here? We meet the Credibility Rating requirement, right?”

“I want warrior bodyguards, and all your records were filled with daily routines in Juberly Hub as if you are the janitor here,” Martin said in a condescending tone. “Are you really qualified as a mercenary?”

Han Xiao frowned. “What do you mean?”

“You are not qualified for my job hiring.” Martin waved his hand with annoyance. Even though he was very cheap, he did not lower his standards and wanted the best warrior that he could find with the cheapest price. The Blue-Ni’s personality was always like this, cheap and greedy. Although the average rating of the strength for the Black Star Mercenary Group was class C, he did not trust their ability after reading through the records. If he spent money on useless mercenaries, the research team would be in great danger.

The mercenaries around all mocked Martin.

“You are offering only 400 Enas, such a choosing beggar.”

“Have you never heard that you get what you pay for?”

“Ha, Blue-Ni.”

Han Xiao ground his teeth. Sigh, what are they blabbering about? It feels like they are helping Martin instead of me!

Martin saw the opportunity and quickly pressured the price. “With this record, I can only offer 200 Enas per person.”

“Farewell.”

Han Xiao left without looking back. Martin’s attitude irritated Han Xiao, and the Great Mechanic Han would never let others pressure him. It was fine if they did not take that job since there were so many other opportunities, so there was no need to beg in front of an annoying man.

He opened the Mercenary interface and found a few hiring requests from Sunils, all about the same event.

The homeland of Sunil had been destroyed. With the help of Godora, the civilization had moved to another planet filled with nature and forests. It had been renamed Planet Sunil.

Planet Sunil had a lot of wild beasts roaming around the planet. Most of the time, the beasts were passive. However, there was a stone that contained evil spirit deep below the ground of Planet Sunil, and it would turn the beasts on rampage once in every few years. Sunil’s villages and cities would all be affected. Every time, during this period, the warriors of Sunil working away from the planet would all return and protect their homeland while gathering more helpers.

The Sunils were a sad race. Originally, it had just been a civilization without interaction with other planets. It had been peaceful, and it had tried to develop into a better society. Unfortunately, they had been attacked by DarkStar. The Sunils had no way to fight back as the fleets from DarkStar repeatedly fired missiles and lasers at the land. The land was filled with screams and fire, which even drowned the desperation that people had.

DarkStar was a mortal enemy of Godora, and it was an active civilization in the Garton Galaxy. DarkStar had found a weakness in Godora’s management and attacked the planets under the rule of Godora. Godora had no choice but to exhaust more resources to help the lower civilizations. If Godora ignored the suffering of those civilizations, then they would have lost the public’s trust in their ability to control the Garton Galaxy.

As an evil faction, DarkStar had broken the intergalactic treaty [Space Civilization Constitution] long ago by attacking a less developed civilizations. Moreover, Shattered Star Ring was on the far end compared to other star systems. So, after destroying the worlds, DarkStar would always disappear in their region for a long time and avoid the declarations of war from other civilizations. DarkStar was like a shadow that slowly consumed the Garton Galaxy.

When the Godoran fleet arrived, the original planet of Sunil had already perished. The land was covered in lava, and the ground was cracked and destroyed. The ecosystem was lost, and only ten percent of the population survived. The technology of the Sunils was cut off from the past generations, and it had yet to be restored. The refugees had been moved to Planet Sunil with the help of Godora, and in the beginning, Godora had helped building the cities. It was only after living there for a few years that the people found out about the raging beasts.

Moving to another planet would take too much work. The first time that Godora offered help was because of moral reasons, but if the Sunils asked Godora for help again, they would feel that they were owing too much to Godora, so they could not ask them for help with this matter. Therefore, they decided to stay on the planet and fight off the monsters.

It was the period where the beasts became active again. These missions were requesting help to protect the homeland. The difficulty of the mission increased as the list went on, and there was no one who applied for the most dangerous mission. As for the easiest mission, they needed 120 Credibility Rating.

Han Xiao could only select the easiest mission, so he submitted the application. A short moment later, he got the reply and his application was successfully.

_____________________

Mercenary Mission—[Defend the Forest City]

Mission Introduction: Another wave of the Catastrophe is looming over the Sunils. You have accepted the mission, and your duty is to protect the Forest City.

Mission requirement: Defend the Forest City.

Failing Condition: Fail to protect the Forest City.

Punishment of Failed Mission: -60 Credibility Rating

Reward: 500,000 experience, 1,800 Enas, +34 Credibility Rating, +3 Area Renown

Time Until Activation: 12 days

_____________________

The Sunils called the period of beast attacks the ‘Catastrophe’, and the Forest City was the main city of the Sunils.

This was just a normal mission, but it was not all Han Xiao had in mind. The reason that he had accepted the mission was so that he could approach the Sunils with an appropriate identity. He had to activate the storyline mission by himself.

As one of the members, the players also got the mission in the mercenary group. Han Xiao put out the reward of the mission onto the reward for the faction mission. The players felt like they were getting double reward.

It was the first time that Black Star Mercenary Group had selected a battle-type mission, so the players were excited.

Han Xiao waved his arm.

“Let’s go.”

…

After three days, the group took a spaceship and arrived at Planet Sunil. From the universe, the planet was covered in green with white clouds floating above.

The spaceship shook violently as it descended into the atmosphere, following the directed path and heading toward the forest. Han Xiao then saw an empty plain, and a city was located in the center. That was the new homeland of Sunil—Forest City.

The spaceship threw down the cabin. Han Xiao felt a bit of weightless for a second, and landed safely on the ground.

Whoosh!

The door slid open, and they were in a military base. Han Xiao stepped out of the door, and he quickly noticed teams of Sunil soldiers and armored trucks protecting the base.

[Sunil—Defensive Soldier Armor] was the armor that Sunil soldiers wore. The armor was dark gray, and the armor plate was extremely thick, which could block heavy bullets from machine guns. In matching armor, the soldiers looked like a true unit. The armor suit’s weight was almost a ton, and it had equipment that supported the movement. There were also machine guns with large caliber, small rocket launchers on the shoulder, and other melee weapons.

Sunil was a pure technology civilization, and after a technological civilization reached a certain stage, they would always create armor for individual soldiers. Different civilizations had different styles of armor. For the Sunils, the armor was categorized into Private class and Corporal class. It was also separated into defense style, offense style, scouting style, etc.

In fact, Han Xiao knew that Sunil armor had an even more powerful class called ‘Commander Class Armor’. However, it had been destroyed back in the attack, and the technology was lost forever.

Other than the armor technology, there were large mechanical weapons, vehicles, and a few light spaceships.

With all the machinery lying around, Han Xiao’s eyes were shining, and he was looking forward to this place. A civilization that leaned toward pure technological progress was the best foundation for mechanic class, and this was one of the reasons that he wanted to come to Planet Sunil. The technological level of Sunil could bring great benefits to Han Xiao.

Han Xiao was attracted to the subclass of Sunil, and it was related to machinery. It was a rare subclass could dramatically improve the progress of Han Xiao’s main class! For Han Xiao, this was the best choice for him to complete his class.

The players also gawked at the scene around them. Han Xiao had described the tragedy of the Sunils to them, so they had thought that it was a civilization on the brink of destruction. They had been expecting nothing but poor conditions and lagging technology, but the scene of this iron forest proved them wrong.

Dong, dong, dong!

The sound of heavy metal got louder as a soldier with heavy armor approach to the group. His armor was certainly better than that of normal troops. It was also covered in red and white, which symbolized that this was Corporal class armor. The approaching Sunil seemed to be an officer as his face was stone cold, sending the aura of a soldier.

“I am B12 Defense Team Captain Neville. I have already read through your information. Black Star, you will be the 1,432th mercenary to join us. I hereby represent the Sunil people in welcoming you to our world. The Catastrophe has not started yet, so please follow me to the mercenary resting area. Then I will assign you a specific mission.”

Chapter 337 - Green Knight, the Warrior who Had Returned Home

Neville kept quiet the entire way. Sunil soldiers were not known for their words, and everyone had on a grave expression, as if they did not even have time for idle chatter. They were all focused on their own missions. The metallic smell of the soldiers’ armor filled the air, accompanied by an air of silence. The only sound that could be heard was the tanks that passed by occasionally.

Sunils used to be known as a civilization that embraced life; their people loved art and culture. However, everything had changed when the disaster struck. The survivors had been forced to throw away their previous identities and harden themselves. This change was also reflected in the structures they built. Orderly fortress-like steel buildings lined the side of the road that they travelled on. It was as if they were living on a grid.

With Neville leading them, Han Xiao’s group arrived at the resting area, where a large number of mercenaries had gathered, stirring up a ruckus.

Before the Catastrophe waves struck, the mercenaries were all required to get a detailed briefing.

Neville stepped onto a platform and explained in a grave voice, “The forward scouts have discovered increasing signs of the rampaging beasts. You’re here as our hired mercenaries, and we hope that you can all work together to help us overcome this obstacle.”

After a short speech, Neville got straight to the main point. “This planet’s underground contains pockets of Prophecy Stones. Prophecy Stones can corrupt the souls of those around them, and the entire planet’s mineral veins have been altered by these stones. This is the reason behind the beasts’ berserk and extremely aggressive nature. However, this isn’t the main problem of the Catastrophe. The energy contained within the Prophecy Stones will be released once every year in ‘waves’. This is the root problem behind the beasts’ sudden outburst.

“For unknown reason, this year’s wave has arrived half a year earlier. Our specialized observation department predicts that the Catastrophe waves will explode out in full force in around seven to thirteen days. Our enemy is every single beast on this planet. During the waves in the past, we only had to deal with smaller beasts during the initial three to six days. Then, as the battle reached the tenth day or so, the frequency and intensity of the beast raids would increase. The last five days would be the most dangerous period during the wave. By then, most of our vehicles and equipment would be damaged, and most our troops depleted. The beasts we would face then were also the strongest ever, which had been attracted from far away by the dense smell of blood due to the days of bloody battles…”

At this moment, a mercenary interrupted him and said, “You have tanks, airplanes, and even space battleships. Wouldn’t killing these beasts be more like a slaughter?”

Neville gave the man a cold glance. “You will understand when the wave comes.”

Soon after, Neville turned on the projector and started introducing the different beast types one by one. After a few short glances, Han Xiao was already able to tell that the beasts on Planet Sunil were leagues stronger than the ones on Planet Aquamarine. The Prophecy Stones had already been on this planet for countless years, and the energy that they have accumulated was enough to even affect the beasts’ evolution over the years. The beasts on Planet Sunil were abnormally bloodthirsty, and they pushed the rule of ‘survival of the fittest’ to an extreme.

Maple Moon was curious. “Since the beasts are the enemies, why couldn’t they just kill all of the beasts before they get stronger from the Catastrophe?”

“Maybe it’s to maintain the ecosystem,” said Frenzied Sword hesitantly.

Shaking his head, Bun-hit-dog disagreed. “But this is threatening even the continuity of their people. Why would they care about the ecosystem at this point?”

“Can they even completely exterminate the beasts?”

The players started discussing the topic among themselves. They each had their own opinions toward the Sunils’ crisis.

After going through over a hundred types of beasts, Neville sent out this information to each of the mercenaries. The mercenaries were then assigned combat roles depending on the job assignment that they had taken on beforehand.

The Sunils kept a lot of mining and other resource collecting outposts in the wild. However, all of the Sunil people would abandon those locations and return to Forest City during the Catastrophe. They grouped all their forces into a single area to decrease the chance of getting sneak-attacked by the beasts.

With the main city as the final barrier, Forest City had a total of five walls that circled the city. Han Xiao and the others were stationed at the second last wall and were tasked with protecting scout planes and the larger battleships from the ground. They also served as a rapid-response reinforcement group for the frontlines.

Forest City was decked out with defensive infrastructure, and building everything around a main city was only a tactical decision. It was not meant to be a place for a last stand or anything of the sort, as the underground of the city was riddled with escape tunnels. The Sunil people could flee through the tunnels or even be evacuated by the air transports at a sign of danger, and this meant that it was impossible for to them ‘lose’ the main city. However, there were many powerful beasts in both the sky and under the ground, so this would only be a last resort.

The two most dangerous jobs were the forward reconnaissance units and frontline combat troops. Sunil was a planet that was covered by dense forests, resulting in many blind spots for observation from air , which made reconnaissance on the ground crucial. However, the dangers of venturing outside the city walls during a Catastrophe was obvious. On the other hand, the frontline troops’ task was to kill or wound as many beasts as they could before the horde reached the city walls. Their survival rate was close to nil.

That was why those two jobs were never taken on by the mercenaries. All of the frontline combat assignments were taken on by the Sunil warriors.

The individual mercenaries were led away by an officer to reinforce his position. Neville brought along Han Xiao’s group of people to walk them through and familiarize them with the defensive layout of the area.

Time quickly passed, and soon, dusk came.

The mercenaries were provided with accommodation in the military base. However, Han Xiao needed to enter the city to complete the subclass requirements. He found Neville by himself and said, “I want to register to enter the city.”

“Why would you enter the city?” Neville raised an eyebrow.

“I have some private matters to deal with. I have a friend in town to visit.”

“No.” Neville straightforwardly declined. To prevent any unwanted accidents, mercenaries are never allowed into the city; you are only allowed to stay in the base outside of combat.

“You cannot use this reason to enter the city. However, your friend can come out to visit you.”

Han Xiao was not sure what to do. The Storyline character whom he wanted to meet did not know him at all. There was no way that he would come out to visit him.

Did he really have to sneak in?

He had the face-disguising tool and his Night Stalker subclass. The chances of sneaking in successfully were quite high… right?

Huuu!

Just then, a gust of wind descended from the sky, and several beams of light landed on the ground. An airship hovered some distance in midair and released down a spiraling set of stairs. One Sunil Super after another walked down from the ship. They were all Sunil mercenaries who had been working hard to earn money away from the planet and had all returned to fulfil their duties to defend their home on the eve of the Catastrophe.

The Sunil soldiers who were on the ground all raised their heads and looked at these returning warriors with reverence and gratitude. They even performed a perfectly coordinated military salute.

Every time the Sunil warriors returned home, they would be welcomed back and treated as homecoming heroes.

Han Xiao focused his eyes and saw a familiar face. He then shouted, “Hey! Lerden!”

‘Green Knight’ Lerden was among the disembarking crowd, and he turned over after hearing his name called. It took him a while, but Lerden remembered that the other person was someone whom he had fought with. With his body supported in midair with blue flames that were shooting out of his feet, he landed in front of Han Xiao and asked skeptically, “Why are you here?”

“Black Star is one of the mercenaries that we recruited.” Neville gave a salute and hurriedly answered for Han Xiao.

“So, you’re a mercenary too.” Lerden suddenly realized that fact.

“Yeah, I only registered recently. I hurried over when I heard that your people were facing a crisis. I never thought that I would be fighting alongside you.” Han Xiao made sure to make good use of this opportunity. “I have friend in town that I would like to visit. Could you do help me?”

“If he’s your friend, then there’s no problem,” Neville added.

Lerden thought that as the two had already fought alongside each other once, even though he did not really know him, he felt like Han Xiao was not a bad person. Also, he was quite powerful. There was no harm in doing him this favor. Lerden then nodded and said, “Sure. I will accompany you into town.”

“Thanks.” Han Xiao smiled. It sure was convenient to have met someone that he was familiar with. One sentence, and the problem was solved. He no longer had to worry about taking the risk to sneak in.

…

It had been a while since they saw each other, and Lerden’s bionic body parts had already been repaired. Han Xiao passed the security station with Lerden, along with the other Sunil Supers, who also wanted return to the city after returning to the planet. Han Xiao and Lerden followed behind this group of people.

Huuu!

Sounds of cheers suddenly exploded from both sides of the road. There were posters of the Sunil Supers that still adorned the walls of the city, and the Sunil people rushed out to welcome their heroes home.

Chapter 338 - The Ordnance Engineer

The upcoming Catastrophe instilled horror in people’s hearts, but the people on the street currently had broad smiles on their faces, as if the Supers had driven off their fear.

“Under regulation, I need escort you into the city, ” Lerden said.

“It seems like your civilization really worships the Supers,” Han Xiao commented.

“It’s more like gratitude rather than worship,” Lerden replied calmly. “After our race faced sudden changed and migrated to this planet, we still don’t have enough power to stand on our own. The efficiency of resource gathering is too slow for us to sustain our consumption, and we needed to purchase a lot of materials from the galaxy. Therefore, our expenses are greater than our production.

“In order for us to survive, Supers that are strong enough will head into the universe and become mercenaries. Most of their rewards are sent home, and it is the main source of economic income. There was no way for this civilization to build enough weapons to fight the Catastrophe.”

Han Xiao had a better understanding of the situation. The Sunil was a civilization in crisis. They could only temporarily rely on strong individuals, such as the Supers, to support the entire economy of the race. That was why the people treated the Supers like heroes, and one held great honor if one was a super.

Han Xiao still remembered that Lerden was extremely cheap. In reality, Lerden gave all his income to the race, so he tried to spend as little as possible, all to contribute more to the race.

“It will bring disastrous effects if this civilization keeps on relying on the Supers.”

Lerden nodded. “That is indeed true, but we do not have any other choice. In the end, it is all because of the Catastrophe, which is slowing down our recovery. We have to split significant portions of our funds to build weapons and military equipment to defend against the Catastrophe. Our development in infrastructure and industries has been held back because of all the extra expenses that won’t help the economy.

“If we don’t solve problem of the Catastrophe, we cannot break away from this vicious cycle, and our civilization would always suffer till the end of time.

“We tried a lot of ways to solve the problems, and we even considered killing all the beasts, but that is worst option. Not only is it impossible to deal with, once the food chain is destroyed, the entire planet will face an inevitable death. Thus, we chose another way—trying to excavate the Prophecy Stones and deal with the cause of Catastrophe once and for all. The project has been going on for years, and we are cleansing the stones bit by bit. One day, the Psychic Current will disappear, and the race will never have to face the tragedy of the Catastrophe again…”

Lerden’s face let out a sense of hope. “There’s always light at the end of the tunnel.”

Han Xiao had a decent impression of the Sunils. They were a resilient race with the Supers carrying more and more responsibility in order for the civilization to live on. They had no complaints.

What a pity… Han Xiao sighed as he remembered the fate of the Sunils in the previous world.

The Supers spread out after they reached the city and went back to their home. The crowd also slowly scattered.

Han Xiao used his distorted memories and finally reached an alleyway after circling around. He stopped in front of a black narrow door, and a wine glass was hung on the sign.

“A bar? The person you want to visit is here?” Lerden frowned.

“Do you have problem with that?”

“… No.”

Lerden remained expressionless. He looked down on people who spent their money for leisure as he thought that it was being wasteful of their money and their life.

After all, he had lost his right to enjoy his life.

They pushed open the door and walked into the bar. The bar was dim, and there were not any customers. The city was in an emergency state, so no one had to guts to get drunk in a bar. Han Xiao walked in front of the counter, and a soft snore came from the back of the counter.

The Great Mechanic Han looked over and saw a man sleeping with his head on the counter. He was well asleep alongside a pile of empty bottles.

Bang!

Han Xiao smacked the counter as hard as he could and shouted, “Customer is here! Wake up!”

The man’s fingers moved at first, and he let out a long breath from his nose. He then finally stood up with the stench of alcohol oozing from his body. His eyes were lifeless, and he looked like he was only half awake. The man then asked, “What do you want?”

“Two signatures.”

“One is enough,” Lerden interjected.

The man yawned. “Pay first.”

Han Xiao took out his communicator and prepared to pay. The man suddenly laughed out loud and said, “My dear, you are not trying to pay with Enas, right? This is a small business, so we only accept local currencies.”

Lerden frowned. He usually spent his time in the galaxy, so the Sunil currency was not worth much for him. He reached for his pocket and wanted to pay for Han Xiao, but at the same time, Han Xiao laughed. “I don’t have Sunil currency, can I use another method of payment?”

The man did not look at Han Xiao and reached for another bottle. “Like what?”

“A name.”

The man frowned, looking annoyed. He glared at Han Xiao and replied, “I don’t have time for a game. Get out if you are not paying.”

“Delvis,” Han Xiao said in a calm voice, but it was as loud as thunder in the ears of the man.

The man froze as he tried to take a sip from the bottle. The relaxed atmosphere vanished, and he became expressionless, as if he was not drunk at all. The dizziness in his eyes disappeared instantly, and he stared right in Han Xiao’s eyes.

He quietly put down the bottle and said, “Wait for a moment, I need to wash my face.”

The man walked away from the counter and went to the bathroom.

Only Han Xiao and Lerden were in the bar, and Lerden said, “You don’t even know him, so you are not visiting someone you’ve met before.”

“I know his brother, that’s why I decided to visit him,” Han Xiao explained.

The drunk man was Herlous, and Delvis was his older brother. The subclass that Han Xiao was interested in was called [Ordnance Engineer]. For players, this subclass was extremely rare, and there was a method among the Sunils to change his class. The item for activation was called [Delvis’ Journal].

Delvis was a famous ordnance engineer before the Sunil race was attacked. He created a lot of inventions for military equipment, and he wrote all his thoughts in his journal. After DarkStar attacked, Delvis died in the battle, and the journal was handed to Herlous.

Han Xiao wanted to borrow the journal from Herlous to change his class.

After a while, Herlous got back to the counter with his head washed. He was a middle-aged Sunil. His skin was light blue, and there were a few wrinkles on the side of his forehead, far fewer than one might expect of a hundred-and-fifty-year-old. Other than that, he was almost the same as a Super.

Herlous opened up a bottle and brought it to Han Xiao. “I don’t know how you found me, but my brother’s name is worth a bottle. I brew this myself.”

The bottle was covered with white smoke, and the smell of alcohol penetrated their noses. Alcohol made by Sunils was usually made from the leaves of a certain tree, which had a bitter taste. After a sip, Han Xiao felt the spiciness on his tongue.

“I am just a mechanic. I have heard your brother’s name, and I want to borrow his journal.”

“Is that it?” Herlous raised his eyebrows and tried to get more information.

“That’s it for now.” Han Xiao laughed and glanced at Lerden. “Do you think I have another purpose?”

Herlous heard the obscure response and asked in a cold voice, “Do you think this is threatening?”

“No, no. I am being friendly.” Han Xiao smiled. “But for a nice person like yourself, you won’t reject this small request, right?”

On the side, Lerden did not understand what was happening. Were they still speaking with a real language? Why could he not understand?

Herlous hesitated for a while, but his expression showed that he had given up. He went into the house and came out after a while with the journal in his hand. He slammed it on the desk and said, “Leave when you are done.”

Han Xiao touched the journal, and the interface popped out a hint.

_____________________

You obtained [Delvis’s Journal].

_____________________

He had finally obtained it! Han Xiao suppressed his excitement as he opened the diary. He acted like he understood everything, but the journal was written in the Sunil language, which looked like cursive English. However, it did not matter if he don’t know the language. The interface showed a progress bar, and as long as he finished ‘reading’ the book, he could change his class.

Through the normal mission, one needed to be extraordinarily lucky to obtain the journal. The procedure to obtain the journal was complex, since no one knew the identity of Herlous. Most people would not think that a stranger working in a bar was that man. Most of the time, the players would only find out about the journal by becoming friends with Herlous and drinking with him. Only then would Herlous would start talking about his brother when he was drunk.

However, Han Xiao knew the information, so he directly cut to the end without going through the complicated procedure.

Lerden was surprised and asked, “Can you read Sunil?”

Han Xiao closed the book and said, “I can’t”

“Then why are you reading it‽” Herlous stared at Han Xiao with his eyes wide open.

“Just think of it as me paying my respects to your brother. Thanks for the drink.”

Han Xiao put down the journal and smiled as he turned away.

“What a weird guy. Don’t disturb me again!” Herlous shouted from behind Han Xiao.

“Maybe I will.” Han Xiao looked back playfully.

After walking out of the bar, Han Xiao opened up the interface and looked at the new hint. He was in a good mood. He had finally gotten the subclass, and the explosive amount of experience points could finally be used!

_____________________

You obtained the class [Ordnance Engineer].

Chapter 339 - The Rush Strat

_____________________

[Ordnance Engineer] Level1

+1 Endurance, +3 Intelligence, +1.5% Machinery Affinity, +2 Free Attribute points, +1 Potential point.

You acquired the skill [War-machinery Mastery].

You acquired the skill [Quick War-machinery Repairs].

_____________________

There was a chain of effect between Ordnance Engineer and Mechanic class. The skills and attributes perfectly fit with the Mechanic class, and this subclass was equivalent to half of the main class. The levels used for this type of subclass were used at their maximum potential value.

Engineer-type classes focused on intelligence, and they did not provide any combat abilities. However, being an Engineer was more valuable compared to having some additional combat skills. Ordnance meant war machinery such as turrets, armor, shields, and so on. This subclass would provide additional buffs when creating and using war machinery.

Han Xiao pulled out the stack of experience that he had accumulated and spent it all on those two skills.

_____________________

[War-machinery Mastery] Level10: When using war machinery, get an additional 18% attack and defense bonus.

[Quick War-machinery Repairs] Level10: When repairing war machinery, the efficiency increases by 24%. During the repairing process, randomly restore 3% – 6% durability. The chances depend on Intelligence. No maximum occurrence.

_____________________

The effects on these two skills were simple yet brutal, and they were extremely useful for the current Han Xiao. However, the main reason that he wanted to obtain the subclass was the ability unlocked after maxing it out.

He directly used 90 million experience points to max out the subclass.

_____________________

[Ordnance Engineer] has reached Level10 (Max.).

+1 Endurance, +3 Intelligence, +1.5% Machinery Affinity, + 2 Free Attribute points, +1 Potential point.

_____________________

In total, this class gave him 10 Endurance points, 30 Intelligence points, 15% Machinery Affinity, 20 Free Attribute points, and 10 Potential points. There would also be additional Potential points, including the reward, after maxing out the levels of the skills.

Currently, Han Xiao’s intelligence attributes reached 391. If he used all his Free Attribute points, it would surpass the requirement of his class change—400.

Ordnance Engineer was maxed out, and just like the Night Stalker, he also got a new ability.

_____________________

You acquire the skill [Military Modification].

You acquire the ability [Military Machinery Enlightenment].

[Military Modification] Level10: When creating or modifying war machinery, the status of equipment increases by 8% – 14%. (Note: The buff is based on the original status and does not include statuses from other buffs.)

_____________________

This is the same as having another power boost for the machinery. Han Xiao nodded and looked at the other ability, which he valued the most.

_____________________

[Military Machinery Enlightenment]: You have been enlightened. When building new war machinery, +30% success rate when building a new production line, +10% Quality of Production Line, -18% resource costs, and +20% speed of production.

_____________________

Productivity was the essence of this subclass.

A mechanic had multiple stages in their development, and each of them was indicated by certain benchmarks. One of them was fast building while fighting, which was one of the reasons the mechanic became powerful in Version 3.0. As for the assembly line, it was the mark of the later stages. Mass production was a vital step to develop the most explosive, most brutal, and most costly tactic, which was known as the Rush Strat.

For normal mechanics, they would use the best weapons made out of the best materials. For mass production, the equipment created had low quality. Although the difference in quality would increase between normal Mechanics and Mechanics that used mass production, the latter could stack up an uncountable amount of machinery and suppress the enemy with numbers.

Mechanics and Mages were two powerful classes in the later stage. The Rush Strat from the Mechanic and the Summon Rush Strat could turn a one-on-one battle to survival against a zombie horde. These two battle styles ruined the game experience as exceedingly few players could win against them.

However, even though these two strategies were strong, the cost was obscene. The cost of building one single army was detrimental to the players. Moreover, at the later stages of the game, all players had the ability to fight against an army. So, although the Rush Strat could overpower the opponent, there would also be an unneglectable cost in their own army. If they joined the competitive scene, with matches after matches, the combat ability of the army would also decrease, and after ten or twenty matches, the player would use up everything they had.

And if two used the Rust Strat, then everything became simple. With one team-fight between two armies, both sides would lose all their forces in one match.

Therefore, in the previous world, the Rush Strat was seen as a myth. One hardly found these players. So, if anyone was such a player, they would treasure that moment, since the meta could change at any time.

Han Xiao had analyzed the situation. Because the players were in a weaker stage, he could deal with them with ease. However, the players would be deadlier in the later stage, and different sorts of powers would arise. So, Han Xiao did not want to take risk, and the Rush Strat was the obvious choice.

What, the Rush Strat was costly‽

In the eyes of the Great Mechanic Han, money was not a problem.

Especially since he had obtained the ability to reduce cost, Han Xiao had no worries about costs and money in the future.

Han Xiao had a long-term plan for his development. Even though he had not learned the knowledge to create assembly lines, he had gotten all the important abilities.

Level 80 would mark another class change, and the class advancement mission required 60 million experience. Han Xiao let out a sigh—it was a piece of cake for him.

In Version 2.0, the maximum level was 90, but that of the current version was level 60. Players in Version 1.0 did not know anything about class advancement missions. Because they could not break the barrier, the players had to experience two class advancement missions at level 60 and level 80. The class advancement at level 60 would make a huge, but not so much for the one at level 80.

The ‘piece of cake’ was just in the standards of the Great Mechanic Han. The players would have to spend an enormous amount of time to accumulated 60 million experience points. Han Xiao spent 90 million experience to go from level 70 to level 80, while the players had nothing in their pocket, so they could only grind level by level.

On top of that, the class advancement did not give back anything after paying the experience, so the players all wanted to quit.

Han Xiao was in a good mood, and he thought to himself, I only need two more class advancement knowledges. If I can get enough money from this mission, then I should just head back home, settle down, find a nice wife, and have kids… Yikes. That sure sounds boring. Well, I can change class and get a new main class.

After leaving the bar, Han Xiao and Lerden wandered in the Forest City.

The sky was filled with stars, and the gentle light from the stars rested on their shoulders. Even though this planet was a dangerous place, it had magnificent views.

The green mountains and forests loomed far away, the rustling sound of leaves echoed as the wind passed by, and the galaxy that was hanging on the night sky glowed. Han Xiao could see why the Sunils might choose this planet for their new environment.

With a shake of his head, Han Xiao recalled a quote. The most dangerous things often has the most beautiful appearance.

“Where are you going?” Lerden asked.

“Just walking around.”

“Then let’s get out of here and head to the base.”

“Is there nothing for you to do here?” Han Xiao asked. “Like going back home?”

Lerden shook his head. “I don’t have a family.”

Han Xiao stroke his shin and said, “What mission do you have?”

“Frontline combat.”

“That’s the most dangerous job. You Supers had already given your money earned from your blood, sweat, and tears to the race, and you still have to go on such a dangerous mission. No wonder you are viewed as heroes.”

Lerden’s eyes leaked his confused emotion. He was about to open his mouth, but he stopped himself and shook his head.

Han Xiao saw everything in his eyes. He was glad that he had gotten the information that he wanted.

I didn’t guess it wrong. The storyline for Sunil already exists…

The mercenary job was not the main goal for this trip; Han Xiao had another goal.

Chapter 340 - The Catastrophe Has Arrived

Lerden left to join the forward reconnaissance forces on his own, and Han Xiao could only sit and wait inside the military base. However, he had already met his objective for the subclass, so there was no longer any need to enter the city again for now.

As the date of the Catastrophe approached, the effect of the waves became more and more apparent to everyone on the planet. A blurry voice would suddenly speak out from the back of people’s minds. The voice somehow sounded foreign and familiar at the same time. However, whenever one tried hard to understand what the voice was saying, it would immediately disappear like it had never been there in the first place.

When the frequency of the spiritual whispers started to match the wavelength of a living being’s brain, it would cause a ripple of emotions through their mind. The mercenaries were no exception and were all getting aggravated due to this phenomenon. The Sunil soldiers, on the other hand, treated this like any other day and carried about their business with their usual determination.

That was the mental disruption that the Prophecy Stones were capable of. More intelligent creatures would have a better chance of suppressing it and not being affected much by it. However, whenever the ‘waves’ exploded, the intensity of these disruptions would increase, and everyone would be able to experience what the beasts had been going through every day. Living in such conditions all the time meant that a tiny push would be more than enough to nudge one over the line of sanity. In other words, the ‘waves’ were the spark that would bring about the Catastrophe.

Woo! Woo!

That day, ear-piercing sirens sounded throughout every single corner of the base. Everyone was already familiar with what that sound signified—enemies had attacked!

The atmosphere in the base suddenly grew tense. The Sunil soldiers ran back to their respective positions in uniform steps, and the mercenaries were also able to quickly find their way back into their groups due to the previous days’ training.

Different kinds of tanks and armored vehicles were all started up, and a dizzying number of anti-gravity turrets floated into the air.

Hum!

Nine Galactic-class battleships slowly took off into the sky, causing ripples of sand and wind to spread around the area. They were like nine fortresses in the air that guarded the skies above Forest City, each facing a different direction.

Han Xiao suddenly lowered his head as he noticed that a few small rocks were starting to jump around on the ground.

The ground only slightly shook at first, but the intensity grew stronger and stronger until, eventually, the sound of massive footsteps reverberated throughout the base. One could hear the bone-chilling roars and shrieks of different beasts from every single part of the surrounding forests.

Trees were being parted by the beast hordes as if giant snakes were slithering toward them, and they were about to make contact with the border of the plains around the city.

Something was about charge out. Countless people were so nervous that they could not only gulp in fear, their sweat constantly dripping down their foreheads.

“Roar!”

The beasts’ roars were like thunder, and the trees toppled in swaths to reveal beast hordes as far as the eye could see!

The beasts trampled over each other and charged over as if they had gone mad. It was as if a tide of darkness was washing toward them, quickly filling up their vision.

Just this scene alone terrified the hearts of many of those who were present.

“Open fire!” an officer desperately yelled.

Boom!

At the next moment, the countless artillery installations around the defensive circle all opened fire at once, causing ear-shattering explosions all over.

The Catastrophe had arrived!

…

Forest City had a total of five main defensive walls. The first consisted of massive numbers of mines and automated turrets. According to the battle plan, this section would coordinate with the supporting fire from the back to disperse the monster hordes. The second consisted of many fortresses, ditches, traps, and electric walls, all to slow down the movements of the beasts, allowing the anti-gravity turrets, main batteries, as well as the battleships to deal significant damages to the beast hordes.

The third was the iron defense line. Squadron after squadron of armored vehicles and defense teams lined this section. When the beasts entered this part of the defenses, the battle would enter its close-quarter stages, and the defense teams would unleash the fury of their metal weapons on the beasts here. This was also where Neville was stationed.

The last two sections were full of artillery formations. Its purpose was to provide supporting fire for the frontline forces. The rapid-response troops and other reinforcements were also stationed at the second last section. During the calmer periods in the Catastrophe, personnel from the last section would carry out repairs and first-aid work for the troops.

Black Star Mercenary Group was stationed at the second last section. They were assigned to a long-range heavy armored division, with the code name G7. Three Fortress-class main battle tanks served as the core firepower of the formation. These tanks could attach themselves onto the ground and transform into a single gigantic turret. They were also equipped with eighteen mobile heavy artilleries and a decent number of ground troops that moved with the tanks.

As a mechanic, Han Xiao’s job was to control one of those heavy artilleries. He had only one mission—fire the canon! Most people with the mechanic class were assigned to similar roles in the base. With their special affinity and machinery-related abilities, they could increase the damage output of these weapons. Han Xiao was of no exception. With a crisis-level event such as the Catastrophe, it was basically impossible for individuals to influence the battle by themselves, with only a few exceptions.

Boom!

Artillery shells drew arcs over the multiple perimeters and covered the sky before they smashed into the distant beasts, causing red mist to bloom all over the hordes. Flesh and bones of the beasts were blown apart, causing a horrifying scene.

The black tide was momentarily stopped. However, the beasts in the back were not afraid at all and charged over the broken bodies of their brethren, forcing their way through the storm of artillery shells and explosions.

The smell of gunpowder and gore mixed together and wafted into the military formations with a gust of hot wind due to the many explosions.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Han Xiao could feel the tremendous recoil every time that he opened fire with his artillery cannon. He fired shot after shot as he watched the shells drew a blazing arc before landing in the middle of the beasts thousands of meters away, blooming like an orange flower in the middle of the black tide.

He was starting to feel the thrill of freely firing this massive piece of artillery!

Line and line of notifications kept popping on his interface, notifying Han Xiao of all the experience points that he was gaining from the battle. Although using borrowed Sunil weaponry would automatically cause some experience to be reduced, Han Xiao was doing this mainly to calculate how much experience the players would be able to get out of this battle. Moreover, being able to participate in a battle of this scale excited the players to no end. It made them feel like they were part of a historic moment, and they contributed as best as they could.

The black tide was stopped short at the first perimeter. The blanket of covering fire from the back covered every single inch of ground that the beasts were on, and they could hardly advance without leaving behind rivers of their own blood.

A newbie mercenary, who was firing his assigned artillery next to Han Xiao, said casually, “So, the Catastrophe isn’t a big deal. The beasts can’t even get in.”

Han Xiao gave him a glance, but he did not say anything. This greenhorn most likely did not pay attention to when the Sunils briefed them on the beast hordes. This was only the first wave and only consisted of the smaller-sized beasts. The largest ones right now were not even taller than ten meters. Based on the information that they had been given, these beasts were only the appetizers. The nightmare was still to come.

The artillery bombardment lasted four whole hours before slowing. The support troops quickly rushed through the battlefield to resupply the combat troops. Flamethrower units were also sent out to burn away all the blood and gore on the plains to prevent any disease or sickness from spreading. The soldiers were also replaced by a new shift. Each position had a pre-assigned shift cycle. It was impossible for any soldier to last through a high-intensity battle such as this one without rest.

As Han Xiao also walked away from his artillery platform to rest, engines could be heard above his head. A new squadron of scout planes had taken off. The forward reconnaissance and combat troops had long gone into the dense forests. The dangers that they faced were many times higher than the defensive troops around the city, and their operations would be carried out under the constant threat of death. They were all alone like a tiny ship floating on the ocean during a tsunami.

Not long after, the forward reconnaissance sent back information. The next wave of beasts was about the arrive. The new shift of soldiers got ready in their positions in wait for the enemy.

The previous scene replayed itself. However, the black tide was able to inch ever closer to the outer perimeter this time. Just then, the fighter planes took off and blanketed the plains with explosions from their guided missiles. Fire and explosions once again engulfed the hordes. The Sunil fighters were small and agile. The propellers on the fighters’ wings had a similar design to the Amphiptere’s flight assistance propellers. Han Xiao was able to tell at a glance that these fighters were extremely suitable for fast-paced air combat.

The enemies were still far away, and although the waves seemed like they reached all the way to the horizon, the surrounding troops did not appear to be frightened. The distance between them and the beasts along with the steel fortresses around them gave them a false sense of security.

The Sunil soldiers, on the other hand, had faces full of worry and doubt.

At this moment, a few dark dots appeared above the horizon. The flying beasts were quickly approaching. There were smaller beasts that were not even a meter long as well as medium size beasts that had a wingspan of several meters among them. They looked ferocious and were not like anything the mercenaries had ever seen. Some of the beasts looked like giant cockroaches.

The information they gave us stated that flying beasts wouldn’t appear until three days into the Catastrophe. It seems like they had arrived early.

Just as this thought flashed across Han Xiao’s mind, the G7 commander shouted out a new command.

“Switch to flak shells and adjust your aim. Fire at the sky!”

The artillery squadrons followed the order and blew open the sky in the distant, causing bloody bodies to rain down.

The fighter planes flew to a higher elevation to shake of the aerial beasts and launched missiles that drew orange arcs through the air.

The fighter planes were equipped with a simple energy barrier. The first wave of aerial beasts was only capable of using their sharp claws and teeth and were unable to do much other than make screeching noises as they scratched at the barriers. The fighter planes dashed in and out of the beast swarms, looking like medieval knights that charged through infantry units.

This battle was already on the scale of a massive surface battle. Time seemed to pass by quickly amid all the intense fighting.

At first, the mercenaries fought in a laid-back manner. However, after three short days, as the beasts increased in number and size, they could not laugh anymore. The continuous fighting had started to draw out the fatigue from everyone.

Han Xiao did his best to fulfil his own responsibilities and played the role of a gear in a giant war machine.

On the fourth day, enemies that could threaten the safety of the inner perimeters appeared.

The surface of the ground rocked around like waves, as a group of beasts that could dig and maneuver around underground smashed into the reinforced steel wall of the third section and broke out of the ground. This was the first time that the rear troops had ever seen the beasts at such close distance.

The ground-burrowing beasts’ appearance signaled the start of the close-quarters combat. The Supers who had been waiting behind the third perimeter could finally make use of their powers.

The wall of steel and machinery at the third perimeter finally unleashed their fury.

Chapter 341 - Battlefield Repairs, Target Blueprint

Beasts crawled out of the ground and bared their fangs, rampaging toward the defense line.

Dong! Dong!

The sound of firing from the guns of the Sunil soldiers sounded like cannons, with more than one meter of flames leaping out from their muzzles. It was like an invisible enormous hand had sent the burrowing beasts flying, falling onto the ground and getting focus fired, screaming in agony. Their carapace and flesh became mud, splattered across the ground, leaving slimy marks on the dry dirt.

“Hold your positions!”

Neville’s tone was harsh and cold, ordering the B12 Defense Team under his command from the communicator in his NCO Class armor. He had thirty soldiers under his command, and their crossfire had stopped the beasts in this area from stepping in.

During the gaps between firing, Neville looked around. This wave of burrowing beasts did not cause much trouble—some armor had been damaged, but no one had died or been injured.

Boom!

Two black burrowing beasts suddenly dashed out of the ground near B12 Defense Team. Their large mouths suddenly bit toward Neville and another soldier.

Before the other members of the defense team could turn their gun around, Neville had already reacted. He threw down his firearm, reached out his metal hands in a blink of an eye, and accurately grabbed onto the opened maw of the beast, not letting its fangs penetrate through his helmet. In an instant, a stream of gas shot out from the mechanical arm. All the joints became locked, stopping the strong biting power of the beast. The next second, a spinning saw bounced out from his wrist, cutting away half of the beast’s huge mouth.

Neville withstood the beast’s claw attacks out of agony, positioned himself, and tackled the beast, throwing it to the ground. He then stepped onto its throat with his huge metal feet, like a needle, pressing the struggling beast. From his wrists, he quickly drew out two electromagnetic handguns and shot through the beast’s skull.

Blood poured all over his armor, and a part of the tactical screen was blocked by slime.

This string of actions was quick and smooth, showing no signs of the bulkiness from wearing heavy armor.

The other soldier who was attacked was not as strong; his helmet was twisted and deformed, almost flattened, and blood splashed onto the ground from the gaps of the helmet as he fell to the ground.

This was the first death.

He had fired many shots into the beast’s belly before dying, fulfilling his duty till the last moment of his life. He had even worried about Neville, wanting to help the captain before he fell. His muzzle had already turned toward his captain, but he did not have the strength to pull the trigger anymore.

The Enlistee Class Sunil armor increased the combat capabilities of a normal soldier, enough for the soldiers to match up to strong beasts. Neville’s NCO Class Armor had even higher capabilities. Even if the wearer was not a Super, with the performance of the armor and his experience as a veteran, he would not lose to most Super mercenaries.

Neville picked up the machine gun, fired, and killed this beast with his comrades. He briefly looked at the corpse of his subordinate, and without any change to his voice, he yelled, “Leave him, don’t break the formation.”

After more than ten years in the army, he had already lost count of how many times he had donned this armor.

In his long military service career, he had taken part in the DarkStar disaster, experienced the planetary migration, and brought the scouting team to carry out the early stage exploration of Planet Sunil. With every Catastrophe that he went through, there were dead comrades, the number of veterans became fewer and fewer, and his old friends disappeared one after another.

Neville’s team had been refilled multiple times. His current subordinates were all new recruits that were only in the army for a few years. He always led the team to carry out dangerous missions, so the damage suffered was always heavy, including many friends that he had known for many years… Regret? This word was not in his vocabulary. Neville did not care about the death of his subordinates. In order to protect the entire race, sacrifices were unavoidable—this had always been his creed.

In the eyes of others, there was no doubt that Neville was a very cold-blooded commander.

After defeating this wave of beasts, the scouting team sent back a message saying that there would be a gap between the attacks. Neville immediately requested repairs. An equipment truck drove beside the camp, a group of maintenance men with all sorts of devices and metal plates started to repair the defense team’s armor. Neville was surrounded by a group of maintenance men with electric welding devices, and at this time, he saw Han Xiao walking over.

Because of Lerden, Neville had an impression of Han Xiao. He said in a low voice, “Mercenary, return to your position!”

“I want to request for the change of mission,” Han Xiao said.

“There’s no mission safer than what you’re doing now.” Neville’s tone was very harsh. He had seen many mercenaries requesting to change mission on the spot because they were terrified by the Catastrophe and did not want to stay in the dangerous front lines.

The Sunils would not force the mercenaries to take part in dangerous battles; they would only deduct a certain amount of credibility points and reward. Of course, Neville would usually get rid of them as soon as possible. He felt that even saying a single word to them was a waste of energy, so he would rather use that time to close his eyes, rest, and recover some energy.

However, the safest job that these mercenaries could request for was what Han Xiao was doing right now. Neville did not know what this Black Star’s issue was. Was he just too afraid of death and wanted an even safer job? No, he was Lerden’s friend; he did not look like such a person.

Neville suppressed his impatience and asked, “What request do you have?”

“My team wants to join the scouting team.”

As soon as he said that, the resting soldiers and mercenaries looked over in surprise.

Neville thought that he had misheard. This was the most dangerous mission, one that mercenaries would practically avoid at all costs. This was the first time that someone had requested to take on the scouting mission.

Neville was a man of few words, but even so, he could not help but ask, “Why?”

“My members have some special abilities; they are most suitable to performing dangerous missions,” Han Xiao bluffed. “Also, Lerden is my friend… Even so, I still need to be paid; that’s my principle.”

“… I will request it to above.” Neville’s tone was not as cold anymore, and the surrounding soldiers showed their respect. No matter what reason they had, these mercenaries were willing to put themselves in danger for the Sunil race despite being strangers, and this action was more than enough for the people of Sunil to appreciate them.

The mercenaries chatted among themselves; they were curious about Han Xiao’s team.

“What Mercenary Group are they?”

“Think it’s called Black Star.”

“Never heard before, probably new. They sure are hardworking, but why? It’s not worth if they die anyway.”

Not long after, a new mission popped up on the interface—Scouting the Wild. The reward was 8,000 Enas, and since it was a mission given to the entire mercenary group, the other players triggered it as well.

The sight of the mission on the interface satisfied Han Xiao. Due to not having enough Credibility Points in the Mercenary Hall of Juberly Hub, they could not take on other missions. However, they could negotiate once they were on Planet Sunil. Although this type of private hire would not add on to the Credibility Points, it did not lack reward and could earn them renown.

Scouting the wild was indeed dangerous, so Han Xiao was not planning to go himself. Instead, he made the players carry it out. They would not die anyway, so they were most suitable to act as scouts, and he could still get the reward while the players did the mission.

The players were surprised. Although it was safe to stay in the camp, it was also boring. Now that they were motivated by the reward, they were looking forward to carrying it out—the players did not care about the danger of scouting the wild at all.

“One more request, I hope to join the Battlefield Repairs Team personally,” Han Xiao said. “I’m a Mechanic… quite a skilled one.”

“Battlefield Repairs?” Neville frowned.

“I feel that this job is more suitable for me.”

Repairs were considered as part of the logistics, all covered by the people of their own race. Letting mercenaries do it was a waste of resources, and it was equivalent to throwing their money away. However, Neville did not reject immediately. The Black Star Mercenary Group had just applied for the most dangerous mission, and their leader’s request did not cross the line.

Han Xiao picked up an Enlistee Class Armor and started repairing on the spot. Using all sorts of tools one after another, electric sparks were splashing. Before the others could even react, this armor was around 90% repaired. His Machinery Affinity was very high, and he had the boost from [Ordnance Engineer], so his repair speed was rapid.

“If your equipment is only repaired during breaks, it will be very dangerous if it is heavily damaged. However, I’m strong enough to protect myself in the battlefield and can carry out battlefield repairs, providing you guys with safety.”

Neville asked his superior and received a direct response. “Okay, it’s granted.”

Battlefield Repairs required one to be on the front lines of the battlefield. Han Xiao was actively giving up his safe position and taking a risk that he did not need to take. The Sunil people were deeply moved—his spirit was a model of honor and noble.

There are too few people like this left!

Seeing this, Maple Moon was reminded of Han Xiao’s aim of entering the galaxy and thought, Every main character has their own personality. Righteousness seems to flow through his veins, is this the hero personality?

After the mission changed, the players were all pulled to attend the lesson for scouting the wild. They had to head out before the next attack arrived, and they temporarily split up.

Han Xiao did not have to operate the cannon anymore, heading directly to the Battlefield Repairs Team to report. Naturally, this was all part of his plan.

The Mechanic class could reverse engineer the machinery blueprint from repairing and modifying, only that it required a lot of experience points. Han Xiao was not short of experience—as long as he had enough chances to make repairs, he could figure out the blueprint. He was most interested in the Enlistee Class and NCO Class Armors, and the performance of this type of mass-produced single unit armor was quite high, very suitable to sell to the players in large quantities. Not only could he earn a fortune from it, he could also increase the average strength of his mercenary group.

Over the next two days, the defense team went through contact battles continuously. Their equipment was frequently damaged, so Han Xiao ran around the defense circle and carried out his battlefield repairing job. His reverse engineering progress was gradually increasing as he came into contact with more and more armor.

Although his motive was not pure, his in-time battlefield repairs did indeed save the lives of many guarding soldiers—it was very clear and effective. Even Neville, who did not care much about the injuries and deaths of his subordinates, found Han Xiao to be a huge help.

Chapter 342 - Hidden Thoughts

In the late night, in the forest two hundred miles away from Forest City, a wild scouting team was on the run. They had looks of panic and kept looking back, like something terrifying was chasing behind them. The sound of leaves rubbing each other came from the forest behind. It seems like the sound kept getting closer, and the pitch-black darkness was constantly encroaching upon them.

This team was made of three people, all Sunil Supers. The captain, Fumay, said while shivering, “Don’t stop no matter what. The Night Moth is right behind!”

According to the different beasts appearing at different times, the Catastrophe was divided into stages. The appearance of Night Moths was a sign of the Catastrophe entering the mid-stage. These were beasts that were active during the night, and when they appeared in a pack, it meant the start of the dangerous night battle.

The psychic wave made all the beasts on the planet rampage, and Forest City was just one part of it. There were countless beasts killing each other in different areas; nowhere was safe. One of the reasons causing the wave of beasts was that weaker beasts instinctively felt the pressure from beasts at the top of the food chain, so they actively left the territory of the strong beasts in groups and were directed toward Forest City. As the beasts were killed on a large scale, it attracted stronger beasts.

The aim of scouting the wild was to discover the species of the attacking beasts and warn Forest City. This was a very dangerous task as meeting the beast herd in the wild meant almost certain death. This wild scouting team had already sent the message back, and now, they were running for their lives.

Feeling the cold and darkness that was inches away, the three of them were horrified.

Fumay clenched his teeth, his heart filled with regret.

“Turned out this way again… this is not the first time!”

He had experienced three Catastrophes, and all three times, he had been chosen for the wild scouting team. He had wandered near the gate of death countless times, and the scars on his body still hurt sometimes.

As he sprinted, he could not help but think that he was just about done with such a life.

Back when the Catastrophe first came, Supers came back from the galaxy willingly to protect the race, and Fumay did too. However, now, he only felt tired of the resistance; boiling blood would cool down sooner or later. He kept giving but never received anything in return. After all those years, Fumay’s patience had long worn out. He did indeed love his home, but it did not mean that his race could use him however they wanted to and see them as tools. Their reasoning of ‘for the continuation of race’ had long become a tired excuse in Fumay’s ears.

It was way too unfair! Fumay’s patience had reached its limit. He had to give up his reward as a mercenary to the race, and he had to give his life in times of danger. What gave his race the right to ask so much of him?

Just because it was his own race, could he not ask for anything in return‽

What gave them the right to make someone strong like him take so much responsibility!

Fumay’s mercenary career in the galaxy had broadened his knowledge, and he felt more and more against giving his life for his race. Life was precious; he had only one.

Many warriors had firm beliefs, but there were also many warriors that had the same thoughts as him. After giving so much to the race, he felt that he had given enough.

If I can stay alive this time, I will never return or bother about this Catastrophe anymore! thought Fumay as he clenched his teeth.

Suddenly, a tail shot out from the forest like a whip, ensnaring a scout. The end of the tail was a sharp bone sting. It punctured into the scout’s abdomen. The scout snarled, and Pugilist flames appeared all over his body. He tore the tail apart, and black liquid splashed on his face.

The counter-attack caused this person to lag behind for a moment, and that moment decided his life.

Swoosh!

Dozens of tails shot out from the darkness and tangled up this pugilist, dragging him into the forest in an instant. Fumay turned around immediately and saw an even stronger pugilist flame light up in the forest, displaying his grade C Pugilist strength.

However, this flame only lasted for half a second before it exploded and shattered, just like the person’s body.

Fumay felt a sense of warmth on his face. After touching it, he confirmed that it was the warm blood of his comrade.

In less than one second, a grade C Pugilist had been torn to shreds!

The Night Moth’s frightening growl echoed in the forest, not just from behind, but from ahead as well, surrounding the two of remaining scouts. Thousands of wobbling whip-like shadows appeared in the dark forest, all Night Moths’ tails.

…

Tuk-tuk-tuk!

The long-lasting explosions from the cannons lit up the night sky. This beast wave lasted for five hours. The battle had reached the heated stage, and the third defense circle was filled with the carcass of the burrowing beasts. The Iron Defense Team had been battling for way too long and had to change shift—everyone’s armor was more or less damaged.

It was night, and Han Xiao carried a large box of repair tools and moved around the back of the tired defense circle, repairing the defense team’s armor one after another. Time was scarce, and the mission was crucial—they had to go back to battle right after the repairs were finished.

There were also other Battlefield Repairs Teams, but Han Xiao’s skill was the best. His name had already spread to everyone in the defense teams, and every team hoped to meet Han Xiao during their repairs. Only then would their safety have the best guarantee.

Welding steel plates, fixing circuits, resetting systems, Han Xiao’s repairs flowed like water. The Battlefield Repairs Team gave him the internal communicator to make giving him missions easier. Just as he was finished with the repairs of one team, a new command came from the headset. “B12 Defense Team is requesting in-battle emergency repairs!”

B12 was Neville’s team, so Han Xiao rushed to the location. Neville’s team did not change shift to rest—they were still battling, and repairing during battle had the highest risk. One soldier saw Han Xiao and said hastily, “Quickly, this way!”

Han Xiao rushed over to find Neville lying on the floor. A beast claw mark had penetrated the armor between his chest and abdomen, giving off electric sparks. The broken pipes were showing, and the energy device had shut down. Neville could not get up from the ground, so a group of soldiers guarded his surroundings.

“F*ck, all of you new recruits, get away from here! You’re not allowed to leave your positions!” Neville shouted furiously, but the soldiers did not listen, determined to protect him.

Due to them contracting their formation, a gap had shown up at this camp, and a small wave of burrowing beasts had broken through. Such a situation required the standby Quick Reaction Team to backup. The backup was already on the way, so it was not be a huge problem—it was a normal process.

However, in Neville’s eyes, this was an absolute dereliction of duty, so he struggled to stand up in a fit of rage.

“Don’t move.” Han Xiao pressed Neville down, took out materials and tools, and started his work.

Neville felt that Han Xiao’s hand was like a mountain pressing on his body; he could not move no matter how he struggled. In the end, he could only clench his teeth and give in. “Quickly!”

“Shut up,” Han Xiao said expressionlessly.

_____________________

[Sunil—Defensive NCO Class Armor] Derivation Progress: 27%

_____________________

He had mostly repaired Enlistee Class Armor during his few days on the team, and he had already spent millions of experience to derive the blueprint. However, there had been very few chances to repair NCO Class Armors. Thus, he was only at 27%. He also guessed that the NCO Class Armor required [Heavy Machine Modification] as a prerequisite, so the progress might be stuck.

Other than armor, he had also been fortunate enough to repair some vehicles and batteries, and he had gotten the Hovering Turret blueprint.

Although Neville was in a hurry to get back to the battlefield, he could only wait for the repair, and although he hurried Han Xiao, Han Xiao’s speed made him feel relieved. It would not take long before he could get back in the battle.

Chapter 343 - The Split in the Dark

As he was repairing, Han Xiao looked up at the space fleet above Forest City. “Why is your spaceship still not joining the battle?”

“It is the city’s barrier from the sky, and it also has the strongest weapon. There’s no need to employ it against these small beasts,” Neville replied.

Han Xiao suddenly changed his tone. “I heard rumors about the trump card that you guys have called Commander Class armor, which is way more powerful than the NCO Class armor. Why don’t you guys use that?”

“Commander Class armor was lost a long time ago, back when we were first attacked on our home planet,” Neville said with a sigh. “We lost the technology to make the armor. Now, we only have four sets of heavily damaged Commander Class armor in our warehouse, and all of them were damaged by seventy percent. So, we can’t reverse-engineer the technology.

“Even though anyone can wear the Commander Class armor, only the Supers can maximize its full potential. When our home planet was being attacked, we send out all the Commander Class armor that we had, and they broke one by one, while the soldiers wearing the armor sacrificed their lives. Without them, the survivors would only have been half of our current size. In the end, we only retrieved four of the damaged sets of Commander Class armor. Those four sets were the key to our survival, and we keep them under maintenance.”

Commander Class armor was on a different level compared to Enlistee Class armor and NCO Class armor. The latter two were standard equipment, but Commander Class armor was the highest tier equipment and on the same level as elite equipment and the Supers’ equipment. The materials needed to produce one set of Commander Class armor could be used to produce a few hundred sets of Enlistee Class armor.

The loss of Commander Class armor technology meant that the downfall of this civilization was inevitable. If they still had the technology for Commander Class armor, then they could employ that equipment to fight off dangerous beasts, and the threat of the Catastrophe would decrease.

Boom!

The ground shook violently, and the two armored soldiers got knocked to the side. Neville saw something behind Han Xiao and shouted, “Move!”

An Underground Crustacean Beast that was the size of a bull knocked the soldiers into the air and charged directly at Han Xiao. There were a lot of Underground Beasts, and this type tended to charge at their target. Their defensive status was high with their dark armor that was as hard as steel. It could block off machine gun bullets, so it was an extremely difficult creature to deal with.

Han Xiao turned around and took out a golden ball from his pocket. The ball expanded into the Wrath of Garrett, and without delay, he activated Flaming Will on top of some critical damage skills while triggering true damage at the same time.

A bright light beam shot through the air and directly penetrated the armor of the beast. Only a burn mark was left on the body of the beast.

The defense troops needed to use more than ten seconds to take down the beast, but Han Xiao did it in one attack. With its momentum, the corpse slowly slid next to Han Xiao’s feet while leaking a gluey liquid.

“Don’t be so surprised. I am stronger than you all.” Han Xiao withdrew his weapon and continued with his repairs as if nothing had happened.

“… I forgot.” Neville’s mouth was wide open. He had thought that Han Xiao was just a logistics worker without any combat power, and he just remembered that Han Xiao was a Super.

Within a few minutes, Han Xiao put down his tools and said, “It’s fixed.”

The armor worked again. Neville stood up, double checked that the armor was fixed, and ran straight back to the battlefield, yelling at his troops for leaving their posts.

Even though they were being yelled at, the soldiers did not complain. They were actually happy that they had been able to save their boss’s life.

Neville stopped scolding the soldiers and focused on the battle. He continued to yell and command his troops.

Just as Han Xiao was prepared to move to the next repair point, a sharp alarm rang from the base. Han Xiao stopped his steps and looked around.

Level two warning. The Catastrophe is now in the middle stage.

A mysterious cold atmosphere spread, and a group of black shadows flew out of the forest. They were covered in black fog and flew across the field a few meters above the ground. They easily avoided the minefield and dodged the majority of the ranged attacks with their agile movements.

A bright light soon showed the appearance of these creatures. They had dark gray flesh without any hair. They were at least three or four meters tall and did not have any facial features. They had two antennae on their head to sense the environment. Four long claws extended from their body, and they had strong beast legs and a pair of dark bat wings. In addition, there were three whip-like tails filled with spikes.

“The Night Moth!” Han Xiao recognized this beast from the initial briefing. The appearance of these beasts meant that the Catastrophe had moved past the first stage and reached the middle stage. With the first stage being so threatening, and the later stages being at least a dozen times more dangerous, the deaths and damage would clearly intensify.

The retreat order was sent through the earphone. “All maintenance staff, fall back to the fifth defense line and enter the base!”

Han Xiao naturally followed the order and headed back to the metal base. The doors and windows were locked tight, and no exit could be found. It was the required safety measures, so the staff could only watch the battle outside through the window.

Pa!

Suddenly, the defense lines all turned on powerful full-beam headlights and pointed them to the sky. The dark night became as bright as day. The approaching Night Moths screeched as the light shone on them, and they lost all sense of direction as they collided with one another, rolling on the ground as if they were drunk. Then, quite a number of Night Moths landed on the minefield and exploded into pieces.

A Night Moth’s antennae were sensitive to light, so they could only move in the dark.

The Sunils had prepared specific plans for certain types of beasts. After reaching the middle stage of the Catastrophe, the mission was not as simple as just shooting bullets. Now, the troops had to use specific tactics to deal with certain beasts. The tactics had been obtained from all the blood shed of previous Catastrophes, and they would surely reduce the damage.

In the end, there were also a lot of enemies that were hard to handle. The toxic bugs were an example. Those things were the sign of the final stage.

Every single Night Moth was on the same level as a class D super. They were very agile, and their tails could easily penetrate armor. Because of that, a lot of turrets were destroyed, and the defense troops and mercenaries were in a predicament. The number of deaths kept on increasing.

…

The intense battle dragged on until dawn. The remaining Night Moth finally backed off, and the battle reached a temporary peaceful stage. At least a few thousand soldiers had died in the span of a single night. It was the deadliest battle so far.

Countless corpses had been put into corpse bags and sent to the backline. Many family members of the soldiers lived in the city. Their glorified sacrifice was not only because of their pride but also for their families. Their corpses would all be identified by the families, and the night was filled with painful wails echoing from the city.

The soldiers that had still been well and alive the night before turned into corpses in a few hours. The morale of the base hit rock-bottom. The soldiers were exhausted after last night. They could not even take off their armor in case of an emergency attack, so they scattered and sat on the ground, staring into the sky without thinking of anything.

Hearing the cries of the families, the soldiers realized that they could be one of those corpses in the next few days.

In such an atmosphere, the mercenaries could only stay quiet and prepare their equipment.

This scene reminded Han Xiao of Planet Aquamarine. No matter where one traveled in the universe, the suffering that war brought was the same.

Suddenly, there was some movement on the side. A large group of scouts had returned to the base. They were well respected by the Sunils. A lot of soldiers stared at them, and some saluted out of respect.

The scouts had a logical schedule. There would always be troops to replace the team for them to come back and rest. The players were the troops that had been sent out to replace this team.

Han Xiao recalled a conversation with Lerden. Lerden had mentioned that there were two strong soldiers who had reached class B. They were working as mercenaries in the galaxy, and every year, they would earn large sum of money. They were the idols of the entire civilization.

The leader of the returning scouts was one of those two—Fernas.

All the high officials from the military showed up and welcome the returning troops.

Fernas waved his hand and said, “We have lost a lot of brothers. We brought back as many corpses as we could.”

The crowd spread out and put down twenty or so corpse bags on the ground. They were all Sunil Supers. Fumay was also one of them.

Han Xiao looked around and did not see Lerden’s corpse. He looked into the crowd and saw that Lerden was still standing in the team. Although he had lost another leg and two arms, at least he was still alive.

“They are all heroes,” the military officials said. “We will take care of the rest.”

“I hope so,” Fernas replied.

The Sunil Supers all looked at the corpses at their friends and showed sorrowful expressions.

The atmosphere dropped another notch.

Han Xiao kept on observing the expressions of the Supers, and he found out that one group, including Lerden, only showed a despairing expression and mourned for the loss.

As for the other group, other than sadness, they also showed rage and anger.

Chapter 344 - Meeting the Liar Again (1)

The returning team split up to rest, while Lerden was jumping on one leg, planning to find the ‘doctor’ to repair him. Han Xiao whistled, signaling for Lerden to go over.

“It’s you, can’t believe you’re still alive.” Lerden hopped in front of Han Xiao.

“I should be the one saying that.” Han Xiao looked at his broken limbs.

“Met a bit of danger, almost died,” Lerden said like it was nothing.

Although he was not very close to Han Xiao, he felt a little bit more relieved when he saw someone whom he considered a friend to still be alive.

Han Xiao raised the toolbox in his hand and said, “Seems like you need a very skilled Mechanic.”

“Is it free this time?” Lerden raised an eyebrow.

Han Xiao thought and said, “Get me a drink, in the same bar as last time.”

It was currently the break period of the Catastrophe; there was time to rest. The commanders had allowed Han Xiao into the city seeing that Black Star Mercenary Group had actively taken on the job of scouting.

Lerden had a backup implanted arm, so Han Xiao repaired and connected it very quickly. Originally, only Lerden’s right arm had still been made of flesh, but it was now broken, bound, and left alone. His expression was calm—he did not care about losing the only part of flesh that he had left.

The two entered the city and came to Herlous’ bar as Han Xiao had requested. There was quite a number of customers that day—all of them were civilians from nearby. The soldiers were bathing in blood and fighting outside the city, and most civilians hid in their home or in the official emergency evacuation areas. There were also some that chose to use alcohol to get rid of their terror. Ninety percent of the shops in the entire city were closed during the Catastrophe, but Herlous’ bar opened as usual, so the place was a little noisy.

Walking up to the bar counter, Han Xiao said, “Two glasses of your signature drink.”

Lerden immediately raise his hand and cut in. “Just one glass.”

Drunk, Herlous raised his head, and after seeing Han Xiao’s face, his expression changed. “You again!”

He remembered Han Xiao, a weird guy that came to find his brother’s old notebook out of nowhere who seemed to also know his secret.

“What do you want again?”

Han Xiao smiled and said, “Just here for a drink.”

Herlous stared at Han Xiao for some time then unwillingly took out a bottle of alcohol. Han Xiao did not speak to him again, just drinking and chatting with Lerden casually. Herlous saw this and kept his doubt. He turned away to attend to other customers while eavesdropping on the conversation between Han Xiao and Lerden.

Han Xiao looked at Lerden’s broken arm and said, “Don’t you feel pain?”

Lerden shook his head and said, “When I went through the implant operation, I told the doctor to cut off my nerves, so that injuries will not affect my combat ability.”

“You’re an Esper, so implants will weaken your power. Why did you do it?”

“It’s fine to be weaker,” Lerden said calmly. “I can live longer this way—a dead man is of no use.”

“To choose implants to live longer, and to actively execute the most dangerous mission, your love for your race really is strong.” Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled. “No one is born a hero; the supers of Sunil seemed to be too selfless. You guys must have your reasons, how about tell them to me? I’m quite curious.”

Lerden kept silent for a while. His expression became nostalgic, and the look in his eyes started to change a little. It was like he could hardly keep his calm when he thought about the past. He said slowly, “Just like every other Sunil, I once had a complete family. My father was strict, my mother was kind and warm, and I had two younger sisters. When DarkStar attacked, I was still a kid. Even now, I can still remember the laser cannons descending from the sky, thick like waterfalls, turning the largest buildings in the city centers into ash in an instant. We joined the evacuating crowd, and the military protected us. They knew clearly that staying behind meant death, but they still prioritized guarding us and sending us away.

“Unfortunately, my parents could not board Godora’s rescue spaceship. They died halfway there; a beam of laser turned my parents into ashes. I was just a kid in despair, and the only thing that I knew was how to cry. I followed the other refugees numbly. Every day, the army gave the refugees very little food. I was starving so much that I could not control myself at all. After I took the food, I hid more than half of the portion, only giving a little bit to my sisters. I just wanted to live at that time; I did not know how to think of anything else. Then… my two younger sisters starved to death.”

Lerden paused then said in a very low voice, “I can still vividly remember their expression, their bony palms grabbing my clothes as they stared right into my eyes, like they were telling me how hungry they were, but they had no energy to talk. Those two pairs of eyes filled with despair cut right into my heart. My brain was blank, and a few seconds felt like centuries. When their arms slipped down without strength, only then did I dare take deep breaths. I was completely petrified. I couldn’t believe what I had done. If I had shared the food with my sisters, even if I would be hungrier, at least we all could have lived, but I knew nothing back then—I only thought about having filling meals, I felt that if I ate less, I would be starved to death the next day…

“I followed the crowd up the rescuing ship numbly, not knowing where to go. There were many kids like me who lost their families back then; they were all given to veterans with a disability to raise. A group of kids and I were given to a veteran, too. From then on, we lived with him. He raised us and taught us how to fight. He was a rough, impatient man, but a good man and a good soldier. Many of us Supers were orphans that were raised by the race back then.

“As time passed, I gradually took that veteran as my foster father, but I always had a grudge in my heart. I felt my past was too dark; I felt I was an evil man. If I told my foster father, would he chase me away? One day, on impulse, I told him about my younger sisters’ death, and he gave me a serious scolding… but not because of my selfishness. He scolded me that if I had the heart to think about the past, I should be spending that time to train. He said that the race was on the verge of being wiped out, and there was no time to be held back by the past. Even if I was a criminal of countless sins, as long as I held the gun to protect our race, then I had only one identity—a soldier. No one would care about my past, only what I can do…”

Han Xiao touched his chin and asked, “What happened to that old veteran?”

“The first time the Catastrophe came, although the disabled soldiers could have been protected, he actively requested to go into the battlefield, where he died. Afterward, I heard that he belonged to the team that protected my group of refugees; I even once received food from him…” Lerden shook his head. “I owe everything to the race; therefore, I contribute everything I am able to.”

“So, your contributions are to return favors?” Han Xiao turned around and looked at Herlous, who was leaning over, eavesdropping. The man was expressionless, and he turned around and walked away impatiently as if he had absolutely no interest in this kind of conversation.

“Not entirely. It’s also for the continuation of my race.” After telling the nostalgic story, the sadness from losing comrades earlier was washed away a little. Lerden wanted to know more about Han Xiao as well, so he changed the subject. “Let’s not talk about me, let’s talk about you. You…”

This time, Han Xiao suddenly stood up and cut him off. “Pardon me, I have a private matter to settle. I need to leave for a while.”

Lerden was speechless. Shouldn’t friends share such stories? Why is he running away after listening just to my experience? I feel I’ve been taken advantage of.

Han Xiao walked to the side, found Herlous, and said, “I want to talk to you privately.”

Herlous suddenly became cautious. “What do you really want?”

Han Xiao was direct this time. “I know many things about you, such as your strength, what your older brother left for you, and other stuff. Maybe you will be interested to hear about Sunil’s future.”

Future‽

This word made Herlous very surprised, and he became even more unsure of Han Xiao’s goal. “Who are you?”

“I’m a Foreseer, or you can call me… a Prophet.”

Han Xiao gave a weird smile.

The reason for him to come into contact with Herlous multiple times was because he knew Herlous’ hidden identity—he was the main character of the Sunils!

Chapter 345 - Meeting the Liar Again (2)

“Foreseer?” Herlous’ face was filled with doubt. A stranger had suddenly appeared out of nowhere to find him and said that he could foresee the future. He had never experienced something like this. What the hell is this?

Herlous’ first reaction was to not believe him. “Since you can see the future, do you know what I will eat tomorrow morning?”

“It’s okay if you don’t believe my identity; you just need to listen. Time will prove if what I say is true.”

Han Xiao ignored Herlous’ mocking and started his performance. He purposed acted mysterious and said with a voice only two of them could hear, “Contradictions have already appeared. Not long now, the guardians of your race will split up, and Planet Sunil’s revitalizing dream will forever be shattered. The Catastrophe will finish all of your resources and hope; the only path left will be to look for help and become a subsidiary of an advanced civilization. Your people will spread to live in different cities, gradually losing your independence, relying on the strong, then slowing losing your heritage and spirit. Your past will become your words, recorded into the history books of the other higher civilizations. Your children will only come to know of the history of your race through words. Your race will be another withered race in the broad universe…”

He used unclear words on purpose. Foretelling had to give people a blurry and unclear feeling, and when it really happened, people would feel enlightened and regret when they thought back to the foretelling. Han Xiao, of course, knew the future of the Sunil race; this race did not end physically, but they did ‘end’ in another form.

Spirit, heritage, belief, history—these were the things that a species had during the process of evolving. Through thinking in various processes and coming up with answers that belonged to this race, these untouchable things were what made a race a ‘civilization’. Just like the base of a building, they were something that everyone in a race shared, pillars that held the race together. There were many races and species of beasts, but no one ever called them ‘civilizations’.

Planet Sunil was a refuge civilization—Supers were their guardians, and the race appreciated their contributions but did not have extra resources to reward them. The race could only recover by relying on Supers. It was this everlasting contribution that sparked the contradictions. In his previous life, a group of the Supers could not take it anymore. They felt they had done more than enough, so they chose to give up their home and in search of ‘freedom’, abandoning the race, which they saw as a burden, taking the galaxy as their new home.

The Sunils were heavily wounded. Originally, the damage after every Catastrophe was still acceptable, and the strength of the race as a whole was slowly recovering. Everyone had been looking forward to the day when all that bitterness would be gone and they could taste the sweetness. However, when the guardians of the race split up, their situation went downhill extremely fast; the damage suffered through the Catastrophe started to grow larger than the race’s accumulated resources, and the times became harder and harder.

The Sunils did not have enough resources to migrate. Even if they did, they would not do so; they could only look for help. Many evil forces existed in the universe, and refuge civilizations were their favored prey. If they left Godora’s protection, worse dangers would come, such as large scavenger groups, slave traders, and many others. Examples of this were not extremely rare—slave traders with strong backing wiped out an entire race except one, then raised the price due to the reason of that one person being the last of an ‘extinct species’. There were also evil organizations wiping out races to fulfill some kind of ritual or simply for satisfaction.

Regulations kept the universe balanced, but it could not get rid of all evil.

In the end, Sunil accepted Godora’s military aid and migrated once again. Godora split the Sunils up and sent an army for long term ‘protection’. As Godora made more decisions and as time passed, the Sunils were assimilated, ending the Sunil ‘Civilization’.

The three Universal Civilizations made laws that forbade the invasion of lower civilizations, but the war never ended. The festive, boisterous, and the regulated universe was just the surface, and hidden in it were many ambitious civilizations that either waited or were already acting. After all, every civilization dreamt of becoming the overlord. Since it was not allowed to invade lower civilizations through war, they assimilated them. Even the lawful civilizations were not completely kind people, and even Godora, who held pure blood beliefs, also cultivated subsidiary races.

Whether a civilization prospered or fell was on the population. If the people wanted their civilization to continue, others would only grab the opportunity to take advantage of them. Every day, there were races or civilizations dying in some corner of the universe—what difference would one more make? At most, their race’s history would be recorded and become a conversation topic after dinner or a record that did not make a difference to anyone.

Some galactic shows liked to report the dilemmas faced by civilizations, and its selling point was sparking sympathy in the audience, but hoping that others would turn sympathy into actual action was extravagant. One might make an emotional decision because of one’s emotions, but when it came to an entire civilization, an entire race, only profit mattered. After all, Sunil was just one of the hundreds of thousands of normal races. It had no right to receive special treatment.

Furthermore, this was Shattered Star Ring, the edge of the visible universe, rural and unpopulated. The active groups of people were scavengers, abandoned people, mercenaries, and vulture-like pragmatists.

Furthermore, DarkStar had attacked the lower civilizations because they wanted them to spend Godora’s resources. If one refuge civilization could stop relying on Godora and rely on itself because it had revitalized, how could the DarkStar allow the birth of an ally of Godora?

Han Xiao used vague words to describe this future to Herlous, letting him know that the Sunil’s future was covered in darkness.

“Why did you tell me something like this? Do you think I will be interested?” Herlous asked indifferently. He raised his head and gulped a mouth of alcohol, looking completely unconcerned.

“Because I saw your ending, many things can be prevented.” Han Xiao smiled.

Herlous put down the glass and said curiously, “How do I end?”

Although he did not believe that Han Xiao was a so-called prophet, most people would be curious about their future. Han Xiao had talked about many things earlier, and Herlous really wanted to know how this guy would ‘foresee’ his fate.

Han Xiao stopped instead with a smile and said, “When you believe I’m a foreseer, I will tell you.”

“I already do.” Herlous took back what he had said previously.

“If you really believe, you’re welcomed to actively find me next time.”

Han Xiao smiled; lying did not work on him.

Herlous was the storyline main character of Sunil. According to this person’s experience, Han Xiao thought that there was a chance to take away this main character role. At this time, Herlous was still an alcoholic escaping from reality, not matching up the style of a ‘storyline main character’. The parts he was going to play had yet to start, and the Great Mechanic Han had done all this specifically to target Herlous’ changes in the future, to leave a heavy impression.

His faction had to have more than one ‘NPC’ other than himself, and Herlous was the first testing target.

At this time, an argument could be heard from the corner of the bar. One of them was clearly drunk and had a conflict with his friend. It seemed like they were on the topic of the survival of their race, and they had a conflict due to disagreements.

“You don’t know about sh*t,” the friend said furiously. “This is all part of Godora’s plan. They purposely migrated us to a dangerous planet. How could they not know this planet’s actual environment? Godora wants us to beg them!”

Chapter 346 - Contradictions and Splitting Up, Last Stage of the Catastrophe

On the other side, the drunk man spun the alcohol bottle. He was very emotional as he shouted loudly, “Then we beg Godora! What can race honor do? Only staying alive is important! These leaders’ heads are all full of sh*t. Too many people died every time; my two younger brothers died in the army! All of this is useless, so we should get help from Godora. Why are we acting so tough! These Supers are useless. If they really were strong, the Catastrophe would be long gone!”

The drunk talked in a very disdainful and emotional tone, despising the Supers and the military for being too lousy, blaming and complaining with more and more vulgar language. This kind of action angered the other customers. Supers and the military were heroes to most of the civilians—any doubts or insults would cause an outrage.

“Everything you are enjoying now is because the heroes fought their lives for it. Who are you to talk!”

The drunk sneered and said, “This is what they should do—with ability comes responsibility. If not for the race’s cultivation, they would be ordinary people just like me.”

“People like you are so disgusting; you should be sent out the city!”

The drunk sneered again. “Even if the city’s defenses are broken through, I’m a civilian that will be prioritized in the evacuation. I won’t be the one dying anyway.”

“You don’t deserve to be protected!” The crowd became even more furious.

The argument became heated. Lerden sat at the bar counter, expressionless, like he did not hear it at all. He did not even bother to turn around and look.

At this time, a very young guy pounced at the drunk guy furiously and started a fight straight away. He pressed the drunk man to the floor and punched his face rapidly, with blood splashing onto the floor. The others saw that there were blood and hastily tried to pull the young guy acting on impulse away.

“Lana, calm down!”

“Stop punching, he’s going to die!”

Lana gave a few more punches before he finally stood up with hatred and got pulled aside. The drunk man was bleeding from his nose and mouth, unable to stand up after receiving a heavy beating. The other customers went to check, and luckily, the drunk man was just wounded. Then people blamed Lana for using too much force. Many people here were his neighbors, and Lana was a young man who hoped to enter the army—he was strong and muscular, an ideal recruit.

“You two, get the hell out of my shop,” Herlous yelled, “go home and calm down!”

Lana left unhappily, and the drunk man was carried away as well. Thus, that small farce had ended.

Han Xiao turned around, looked at Herlous, and said, “I’m Black Star. If you are interested in what I said, come find me, I can solve this problem.”

Then, Han Xiao called Lerden, and the two of them left the bar.

The unconcerned expression faded from Herlous’ face, turning a little serious. His eyes sparkled, and unlike his disguise, he was not really completely unconcerned about the future of the race.

He did not know if a mercenary who called himself Black Star was really a foreseer. Even if he was, it was possible that he had lied about the foresight to trick him into a trap. He definitely had a motive, but Herlous did not know what it was. Was he coming for him?

The bar door was pushed open again, and a tall man in a hood walked near the bar counter. “Give me a glass of beer.”

The man in the hood raised his head and showed his face.

Fernas!

Herlous was surprised. “You don’t drink.”

“Consider it a celebration of me coming back alive.” Fernas took Herlous’ glass and drank a mouth—it seemed that they were very close. If others knew the strongest grade B super of the race was this close to the boss of a small bar, they would definitely be shocked.

They were childhood playmates, so Herlous was way too familiar with this person. Almost every positive adjective could be used to describe Fernas—brave, honest, responsible, and many others. After the first disaster for the Sunils, Fernas became a mercenary to contribute to the race. Herlous actually always envied Fernas. From a young age, his short-lived older brother had kept talking about Fernas this, Fernas that. In his eyes, Fernas was ‘the kid next door’.

Although he did envy him a little, Herlous also respected Fernas. He knew that he definitely could not be as dedicated as Fernas. After his older brother died, Herlous lived an aimless life waiting for his death, completely unconcerned about his race. He knew that he was a lazy person—when his older brother was alive, he had always been scolded for not being hardworking. Many people felt he was just as talented as Fernas but wasted his life away. Now, Fernas was the guardian respected by the entire race, and he was just a nobody.

He knew Fernas. He was a very self-disciplined person who would not break the rules for anything. Thus, Herlous frowned and asked, “What really happened?”

“Brother, I can’t take it anymore. I’m preparing to leave.” Fernas gave a faint smile full of bitterness; Herlous had never seen such an expression on this resolute face.

Leave? Herlous was shocked.

“The universe has endless possibilities,” Fernas said. “Only when the past is cut off can one go forward. I don’t want to be held back by the race anymore. There are many warriors who have the same thought as me, so we will not return after this Catastrophe.

“We have protected the race long enough—many friends sacrificed themselves, and some people begged for our protection, yet they feel it’s a given. This is not our obligation, and there is no need to continue. We have done more than enough—maybe the race accepting help from Godora is the best ending. At least no one will die for nothing anymore.”

“Even you are giving up‽” Herlous was completely shocked. Suddenly, Han Xiao’s words appeared in his head. Is this the split that guy predicted? Then will our race have the future like he said, become a subsidiary of Godora and lose our heritage?

Herlous arranged the information and words to use, then told Fernas about Han Xiao’s foresight of the ending after Sunil accepted military help from Godora. Fernas shook his head after listening. Without any change in his eyes, he said, “Staying alive is the most important. As long as the people are alive, the ideals will not die.”

Is that really the case?

But the Fernas I know absolutely would not abandon our race.

You’re alive, but you have changed…

Herlous saw Fernas’ expression and knew that he had decided and was not going to be convinced. Having always seen Fernas as the noblest friend he had, his emotions were in turmoil. Now, he could never look at him the same way—it was like he became a stranger.

“Then why did you come to tell me this?” Herlous asked.

Fernas shook the bottle and said softly, “Honestly, I dislike you a lot. You have stronger powers than me, but you hide and accept our protection without hesitation… Never mind, let’s not talk about this. I just came to tell you about it. It’s up to you to continue to avoid everything or to stand up.”

Fernas pulled up his hood and left Herlous to dwell on that thought.

…

Since the seed was already planted, Han Xiao did not enter the city again. He stayed outside the city and carried out his battlefield repairs. Upon entering the mid-stage of the Catastrophe, the battlefield became more heated and tragic. All sorts of horrifying monsters charged forward one after another, and he could not continue to run across the battlefield with just his body—he wore his Amphiptere mechanical suit. Sometimes, when the place he was repairing had gaps, he had to become the backup to fill up the gap as well. Among the mercenaries, his strength was not too conspicuous, and the only reason the other mercenaries remembered him was because the Black Star Mercenary Group actively took on the forward reconnaissance mission. Many mercenaries felt Han Xiao was insane—when the forward reconnaissance team next changed shifts, his mercenary group would definitely suffer a huge loss.

A large number of soldiers died every day, and incomplete corpses were sent to the back line one after another to be identified. The defense camp also had many damaged weapons and carriers, so the defense was becoming harder and harder. Only the nine battleships in the sky stayed still and never fired. The Sunils had limited resources, and battleship energy was scarce. Only when the extremely strong monsters showed up during the last stage would the battleships join the fray. Furthermore, the Sunils’ battleships could only fly around the planet for three to four days at most. Other than guarding the sky, the most important use of these nine battleships was to make sure that they could transport the civilians away if the situation got out of hand, abandoning the city in order to escape. It was an emergency retreat route.

Eight days later, the city had a strange calm period. The alarm signifying the last stage of the Catastrophe sounded, and this time, everyone received breathing masks. Not just the logistics personnel, even some Supers entered refugee facilities.

Hoom!

An overwhelming hum of insect wings flapping appeared, and thick and black clouds swarmed over. These were all extremely aggressive small insects, concentrated like a wave.

Chapter 347 - Raising Reward

Whoosh!

In the defense circle, some kind of device shot out purple-red biohazard gas and covered the entire camp. Poisonous gas was the best form of attack for this kind of tiny insects in large numbers. This specially made poisonous gas was very strong—even flying insects that could endure fire would fall to the ground after tens of seconds, then struggle till their death.

This time, thunderous roars appeared, and enormous beasts with an average height of more than ten meters charged forward together with the swarm. The beast wave at the last stage was much more terrifying than the previous stages. These beasts were all species at the top of the food chain in Planet Sunil—Bone Armor War Elephants that stood tens of meters tall, Lava Flying Serpents that breathed scorching fire from their mouths, and many more. It would take a defense team at least twenty seconds of focus fire to kill one beast.

The poisonous gas was everywhere. It was a weapon to kill the swarm, but it was also a double-edged sword. If the armor of a soldier were torn open by the beasts, they would also be affected when they were exposed in the poisonous gas. Even though every soldier’s armor was equipped with the antidote, it would only delay the effect of the poison and make it non-lethal. However, it would still paralyze the person affected. The Sunils’ technology could not formulate a poisonous gas that was only effective on insects, so they could only use strong biohazard gas.

While the gas was a double-edged sword, it was the only way to deal with these flying bugs. A group of them could suck a Sunil completely dry in half a second, so they absolutely could not let them enter the city or it would be a horrifying disaster. They had to stop it outside the city no matter what. At the last stage of the Catastrophe, everyone had to fight in the poisonous gas—the situation was truly worse.

The two outermost lines of defense were already about half destroyed after the previous two stages, and this was the Sunils’ disadvantage as well. The beast wave approached the defense team camp against the cannon and fire.

The ground shook violently, and a Bone Armor War Elephant charged toward B12 Defense Team in an overwhelming form. Even Neville, who had iron will, could not help but be nervous because of the pressure from its enormous size. At this moment, a large stream of light covered in electric sparks descended from the sky, blasting half of the Bone Armor War Elephant’s body away, and its flesh splashed onto the ground. Neville looked up—this stream of light had left a distorted mark across the sky, and its ending was connected to the battleship.

The nine battleships in the sky finally fired after doing nothing for half a mouth. Blue light surged in the Electromagnetic Rail Cannons, shooting out bullets covered in electric sparks, picking only enormous beasts as targets, reducing the pressure on the ground immediately.

The battle broke up instantly. Deafening cannon fire and electric spark shone across the battlefield. The beast wave was unending, and the stench and metallic smell of blood were pungent. The defense team fired wildly while firelight illuminated on the corpses of soldiers and carcasses of beasts all over the floor. The losses on both sides were huge!

Clank!

In the B12 Defense Team camp, a more than ten-meter-long pure purple Thunder Leopard moved quickly like a flash of purple lightning, cutting through one of the defense soldiers’ armor, slashing the soldier inside in half as well. Neville ignored it and commanded his subordinates to focus fire with a serious face. He only had twelve subordinates left—the loss was more than half.

“Do not be shaken, defend the camp!” Neville ordered coldly and harshly.

Countless bullets shot into the thick hide of the Thunder Leopard, spaying out blood. The Thunder Leopard growled as it pounced around, killing every soldier. Soon, Neville was the last one left. The Thunder Leopard was still very healthy, and the countless fresh vital signs far in the city were extremely luring to this Thunder Leopard, which was bloodthirsty in nature.

Just as the Thunder Leopard was about to cross the line of defense, Neville immediately stood in front of it, firing his machine gun. After seeing the Thunder Leopard killing the soldiers so easily, he knew that he was definitely not a match, but he still tried to stop the Thunder Leopard without any hesitation.

The duty of the Defense Team was carved deep in his bones—not allowing any beast to cross the line of defense he was in charge of!

As long as no order came from above, he would never back off.

The Thunder Leopard growled with anger and pounced toward Neville. Controlling the NCO Class armor, Neville engaged with it, rolling around dodging and leaving wounds on the Thunder Leopard one after another. He slid from below the Thunder Leopard’s abdomen and dodged its claws. Just as he was about to stand up, he felt an extreme pain on his left arm; the Thunder Leopard had turned its head around in a very strange way and bitten through his arm armor.

The poisonous gas streamed in from the hole. Neville felt piercing pain from his skin, which quickly turned into the numbness of being poisoned. As he held his breath, the antidote was injected into his wrist, and a sense of burning flew through his body.

“After injecting the antidote, the poison effect will be delayed for about two minutes. If I hold my breath, I should be able to last ten more seconds… I have to kill this beast within this time.” Neville’s expression was cold. Even though he was poisoned, he still prioritized stopping the enemy; he had put his life aside long ago.

The man and the beast fought each other. Neville abandoned the bulky machine gun, favoring the saw on his wrist and the cannon and rockets embedded into the armor to fight. After dozens of seconds of heated combat, both parties were covered in wounds. Neville started to feel his body getting stiff, and his head was becoming heavy. It seemed that the effect of excessive blood loss and poisoning was starting to get to him.

Neville suddenly stopped moving. The Thunder Leopard pounced over, and he did not dodge, letting the Thunder Leopard press him against the ground and penetrating his chest and abdomen with its claws.

Plop…

Blood spurted out from his mouth, but Neville endured the pain. One of his hands stabbed into the Thunder Leopard’s neck and tightly hung onto the Thunder Leopard; his other hand reached into the Thunder Leopard’s mouth and fired wildly. He knew his movements were too slow, so he had given up his life and used himself as a bait.

The Thunder Leopard twisted itself in agony. It bit off the arm inside its mouth, then slashed its claws down on Neville in a frenzy. Neville was heavily injured, incapable of moving despite the huge claw expanding in his sights.

“This day has finally come for me…” he murmured calmly.

Just as the claw was about to slam down, Neville saw an enormous blinding electric fire descending.

The next moment, Neville and the Thunder Leopard were both covered by the light of the Electromagnetic Rail Cannon.

…

The tragic battle ended. On the first day of the last stage of the Catastrophe, the losses were heavy. Dozens of fighter jets fell, and even the energy shields of two battleships were almost shattered by the countless enormous flying beasts.

“Such a horrifying battle.”

“This is the first time I’ve seen something so large-scale. I’ll never accept this kind of job again.”

Fear still lingered in the hearts of the mercenaries as they gasped for breath. Many corpses of the other mercenaries lay on the floor.

Han Xiao repaired equipment after equipment. He did not need to take part in the battle directly; after all, in such a dangerous situation, even he was not confident about staying safe, applying for the repairing job was also because he did not want to take the risk. He was there to earn the reward, so it was okay as long as he utilized his abilities and helped; he would not really give his life to other organizations because of money.

During the rare calm period, another group of scouts returned, and all the players came back. The expression on everyone’s face was relaxed, like they did not carry out a dangerous mission but went sightseeing instead. Being in dangerous areas gave no stress to the players at all—they would revive anyway. Although there was a limit to the number of times, most of these people were pro players. Of course, they knew to monitor their times of death.

They were already at max level, so losing some experience was nothing, and the mission reward would cover that loss anyway. Furthermore, it was more useful to earn the universe currency.

The people of Black Star gathered, and after sizing them up, the mercenaries around immediately realized something shocking.

“It looks like they did not lose anyone!”

“What? Every single one came back alive‽”

The mercenaries were completely shocked and curious. They hastily asked from the other members of the scout team and got the answer that these people would revive. Their expressions quickly turned into envy and fear. In the universe, Supers that would not die were the most difficult enemies, and no one dared to take them lightly.

“This mercenary group is entirely made of Immortals!”

“Wow…”

These mercenaries remembered the name of Black Star Mercenary Group, a mercenary group with all members that could not die. In their professional perspective, this mercenary group would become extremely popular in the near future.

Black Star Mercenary Group’s name was reported to the superiors of the military, and they took it very seriously. Immortals were most suitable for reconnaissance, and it could largely reduce the loss of the scout team. Therefore, the military general found Han Xiao personally, talked to him in a very sincere tone, and placed himself lower than Han Xiao, completely different from when he talked to other mercenaries.

What the army expressed was that they hoped the Black Star Mercenary Group would not take shifts and rest. They wanted the group to go scouting ahead once again. Most importantly, they promised to definitely raise the reward—such useful help definitely deserved better treatment. Thus, the army actively requested to raise the reward because they were afraid that the Black Star Mercenary Group would reject the request.

The mission reward increased to 12,000 Enas, a fifty percent increase. Han Xiao accepted it on the spot, and the bitter players started a new round of reconnaissance. According to the time, it was also the last round of reconnaissance.

The corpses from the battlefield were transported back for their family members or friends to claim. Han Xiao realized that Neville was dead and felt a little emotional; after all, this was someone that he knew.

The family member who came to claim him was a woman, wailing loudly. Han Xiao asked the other soldiers and came to know that this woman was Neville’s wife. Apparently, Neville also had a young kid at home.

…

In Forest City, most people stayed in front of their televisions and watched the live report of the battlefield situation. In such a crisis, the media did not report any fake information at all; they were all the true situation. In an extremely nervous state, they were still able to barely hold on.

The bar did not open. Herlous sat in the attic, watching the report from the television, and drinking alcohol nonstop. Images of the tragic battlefield flashed one after another. Suddenly feeling inexplicably upset, he placed his bottle down, left the bar, and strolled through the streets.

The streets were quiet—there were no pedestrians.

After walking aimlessly for a while, he heard a faint argument. As a grade B Super, although he had not fought for so many years, his sharp senses had not deteriorated. Out of sudden interest, Herlous followed the sound and came to the outside of a building. It was close to the bar, and the sound of argument became clearer as he neared.

“I will reach the required age for the army in a few days. I’m joining the army!”

The voice sounded familiar, like he heard it from someone before. Herlous was a little curious, so he hid and jumped onto the balcony, peeping inside through the window. He realized that he did know the person talking—it was the person who beat up the drunk man in the bar a few days ago, Lana.

Lana was arguing with his parents. Their clothes were all rather poor—they were civilians in low positions. Lana’s parents were very anxious at this moment.

“Joining the army is suicide. I won’t allow you to go!”

Chapter 348 - Must Be In Love

The Sunil Civilization advocated the admiration of Supers and the army, and the spirit of contribution was indoctrinated into them from a young age. Lana had dreamed of joining the army ever since he was a child; he wanted to become an honorable soldier to protect his race, and he had been training hard for it. His neighbor was a veteran, so Lana and the nearby kids always asked the veteran to train them, counting down the days till they reached the age requirement of the army.

The Catastrophe came once every few years, so the time between was all they had for the development period—to collect resources, build more weapons, and train a new batch of soldiers. The Sunils would usually start recruitment for the army after the Catastrophe. Although their population was less than ten percent of their peak population after the DarkStar disaster, the population density was still quite high when they squeezed into a large city.

There were two types of recruitment, one was a self-request, which needed no further explanation, and the other was conscription, targeting prisoners and families with many children. All the youngsters coming of age were also required to take part in military service for some time to go through basic training so that when the time of danger arrived, these people could be recruited as soldiers on the spot.

Of course, Lana wished for more than joining the military services. He wanted to request to enter the army and become an official soldier, but he was met with strong rejection from his parents.

“How can you say something like this? Protecting the race is an honorable thing to do; countless people have sacrificed themselves. I’m willing to dedicate my life to it, too. It’s an honor!” Lana said with his eyes wide open.

“You’re still young and don’t understand many things,” Lana’s parents said. “There are so many people joining the army every year—it won’t make a difference if you don’t go.”

“No, it’s a shameful thing! My dream is to protect our race!” Lana said passionately.

“Then have you thought about us?” Lana’s mother was sobbing. “You used to always look for Mr. Neville next door for training. Yesterday, he was killed in action. His corpse was transported back, shattered. You did not witness the scene—his wife fainted while crying many, many times, and he left a child with only a mother, only able to get past the days with pension money. It’s way too heartbreaking. He still has a kid of a few years old to raise, and we are already old. We only have one child, you. If you die, what do we do? How do you want us to live?”

Lana could not speak properly as he mumbled, “This is not right…”

“Lana, be it Supers, the army, or Mr. Neville, they are all great people, but we are just normal civilians. I love my race, and I will work to contribute to the race. The battlefield shouldn’t be something in our consideration.” The Father placed his hands on Lana’s shoulders and spoke with a heavy heart. He respected Supers, and he respected the army too. While he appreciated the contribution that they made, when it came to himself, he could not make the same choice.

Lana lowered his head and stopped speaking.

“Lana, you have to promise us!” the mother said anxiously.

“… I promise,” Lana said unwillingly while looking down. “I will enter military service, not the army.”

His parents heaved sighs of relief.

Outside, Herlous leaned against the window sill, staring blankly into the sky.

In the sky, the nine battleships blocked the sunlight that was supposed to shine into the city like heavy clouds, the engines on their undersides creating streams of air that became wind. The pungent smell from outside the city could almost not be smelled as the engine fumes were blown into the city.

Many memories showed up in his mind—Fernas’ bitter smile, Lana’s passion, that drunk customer’s blame, the bloody battlefield, the sacrificed soldiers, the admiring people, countless times of pulling himself away from reality after sobering up, every day he spent letting himself rot while being in the bar, and the DarkStar disaster, which he had not thought of for a long time. That was the last time that he had seen his older brother, Delvis.

In his memories, Delvis was still wearing a pair of thick glasses, with messy and oily hair that had not been washed for a long time. His white research coat looked like a robe on his short and thin body, appearing weirdly funny. In the video communication, standing before a research lab with a shattered dome, Delvis pushed his glasses out of habit, then said to his hulking younger brother, Herlous, “Kid, I left something for you in the research lab at home. The password is our parents’ birthday backward. I didn’t waste much energy on the encryption.”

His tone was just like normal, full of disappointment and expecting better from him but with a little hint of not wanting to leave. The communication ended there. At the time, Herlous had looked outside the window, at the direction of the military research lab where Delvis had worked. There had been countless ferocious DarkStar Battleships hovering above, along with mushroom clouds exploding from the ground.

He had used the password to open Delvis’s personal research room—Herlous had always wanted to sneak in and wreak havoc. However, he never could figure out the password. Inside, he had seen the inheritance that his older brother had left for him.

More and more memories appeared. Herlous still remembered, back then, he was a thug that did nothing useful, enjoying himself with his older brother’s salary, reaching grade B at an extremely young age. He had been a thousand times stronger than Delvis, but he had always stood lower when he faced his older brother, always getting blamed and scolded. Yet, he had not cared because it made no difference.

“Brother…” Herlous muttered softly to himself.

The memories were like rolling bubbles. His thoughts stopped at Han Xiao’s deep and dark eyes—his pupils seemed to have the current of time hidden in them.

Herlous’ expression became a little firm. He went back to the bar, entered the attic, then opened a wardrobe that had been closed for a very long time. Inside was the tunnel toward the secret basement under the bar, which was already covered in dust. He walked down slowly, turned on the light, gazed upon the pile of boxes in the basement. Most of them were Delvis’s relic.

He walked directly to the corner of the basement, pulled out a wooden box, swept away the accumulated dust, and opened the cover.

Inside was a dark colored suit, the inheritance that Delvis had left for him, armor that had been specially built for him in secret—[Shattered Light]!

During the DarkStar disaster, Herlous had relied on this armor to stay alive, and he had never used it after that. Thus, it had simply collected dust in the basement as a souvenir of his older brother.

It was possibly the last usable Commander Class armor in the entire Sunil race.

Herlous stared at the armor, and his eyes gradually turned sharp.

“It’s been too long since I battled… hope I don’t get cramp.”

…

The beasts appearing in the last stage were horrendously strong. They were all at the top of the food chain on the planet, and some of them already exceeded the beast category and could be called monsters.

One such monster was the Huge Acidic Flying Beetle with a wingspan of more than a hundred meters that would not die even after taking more than a dozen rail cannon shots. It was able to shoot out corrosive acid from its mouth, sticking onto the shield of the battleship and sizzling with smoke. One of this monster could be dealt with easily, but they appeared in groups, and the firepower of the camp could not match up. So, the shield of a battleship was broken, and its exterior armor was damaged. It was forced to descend and undergo emergency repairs.

“What did the monsters on this planet eat‽”

The mercenaries were in shock. Monsters with a hundred-meter wingspan were almost as large as Sunil’s smaller battleships. This was just a wild animal on a planet, but it had grown into something comparable to a battleship. Such an enormous monster did not even require the ground scouting team; the reconnaissance aircraft could locate it directly.

Missiles exploded deafeningly in the sky nonstop. Suddenly, an alarm sounded from within the defense ring—it was an emergency announcement.

“Prepare for impact! Prepare for impact! Mountain Beasts have been detected and are closing in. Estimated to arrival is 14 minutes. All soldiers, get ready. High Energy Concentrated Particle Cannon, begin charging!”

At the fifth defense ring, the ground cracked open, showing a metallic, fearsome, and extremely complex cannon. Its muzzle was a hexagon, and it was embedded into the hollow Particle Stabilization Device, like a cannon being divided into sections. Han Xiao’s mechanical suit immediately released a high energy reaction warning as a light started to appear in the muzzle of this enormous cannon.

This High Energy Concentrated Particle Cannon was a scrap product spat out from the central wormhole of the Shattered Star Ring, a galactic-level war weapon, and it was unknown which higher civilization it came from. It had been picked up by scavengers for sales, and the Sunils had spent a huge sum to buy it. This was what they had learned from the huge loss they suffered from the first Catastrophe—they had to have a trump card against strong beasts.

Although it was a scrap product, it had cost the Sunils a fortune. It had technology protection from a higher civilization, could not be repaired or studied, and could only be used. Every shot required a large amount of energy, which was precious on Planet Sunil. Every shot meant burning away a large amount of fortune, as their energy technology naturally did not match up to higher civilization’s. It had to take a long time to charge up before firing, so they only used this enormous cannon when they met the most fearsome monsters.

The Sunils had explored this planet for more than ten years, and they had recorded a large number of beasts in their database. Mountain Beasts were one of the monsters at the very top. Strong beasts were all diverted away by the frontline combat troops, so the appearance of this Mountain Beast meant that they had failed.

Han Xiao was surprised. He casually penetrated an approaching Thunder Leopard, turned around to look at the High Energy Concentrated Particle Cannon, and felt like he was almost drooling.

This feeling of butterflies in my stomach…

Chapter 349 - Shocking the Entire Race! (1)

The ground tremored.

In the distance, the forest collapsed as an enormous beast slowly approached, like a looming, moving mountain. Although the mercenaries knew about the Mountain Beast from the database illustration, many of them were still shocked.

“Such a gigantic creature!”

The Mountain Beast had four feet as thick as buildings and a long tail. Its thick stone-like scales provided a sturdy defense along with the large mud yellow shell on its back like a tortoiseshell. Its head looked like a shovel—a protruding lower jaw and eyes hidden between the gaps of its stone shell—creating an aura of fierceness. Actually, the Mountain Beast was a very gentle animal; its favorite pastime was to disguise itself as a mountain and sleep. Only because of the effect from the psychic wave did it become abnormally grumpy and aggressive.

Adult Mountain Beasts stood about 150 to 200 meters tall—in comparison, Sunils were like ants.

The battleships in the sky fired at the Mountain Beast from far away, and six or seven shots from the Electromagnetic Rail Cannon hit its body, shattering large areas of its stone shell. However, the attacks did not hurt its flesh—the defense of the Mountain Beast was truly astonishing.

These shots enraged it, and it let out a growl, which sounded like a moo. Its tail thrust into the ground, rolling up a huge pile of mud mixed with trees. As its tail tightened, this pile of mud became much denser. Swinging its tail, the pile of mud shot out like a cannon, containing the power of a Mountain Beast—its energy was terrifying.

Even Han Xiao could not see the flying pile of mud clearly. He could only see a phantom that disappeared in an instant.

The shield of the battleship flashed, and the clod exploded on the ground. Electric arcs rippled through the entire shield, and cracks spread rapidly. This hit almost penetrated the shield, and the battleship increased its energy output urgently—only then did the shield recover to its original state.

Seeing that its attack was not effective, the Mountain Beast rolled up another pile of mud. It could still use this attack hundreds more times, but the energy of the battleship was finite.

“High Energy Concentrated Particle Cannon charging complete. The target has entered the firing range. Firing in five, four, three, two, one… fire!”

A bright cream white beam hurtled out of the cannon. Its diameter was at least four meters, yet it flashed across thousands of meters in the blink of an eye, penetrating the Mountain Beast’s carapace with ease. When it pierced into its abdomen, a chain of explosions erupted in its body.

Boom!

The explosion shook the ground!

A thick leg was sent flying, and a large hole opened up in the front half of the Mountain Beast, allowing blood to rush down like a waterfall. With a scream that shot through the sky, it fell onto the ground.

The High Energy Concentrated Particle Cannon was a weapon used between the battleships of very high-class civilizations. The astonishing shot immediately injured such a gigantic Beast heavily—this was the Sunil race’s current trump card. The sight of the beam raised the soldiers’ morale through the roof, and they quickly suppressed their exhaustion, fighting against the beast wave even harder.

“What a horrifying weapon.” Han Xiao’s eyes were shining as he suppressed his desire. This was a weapon that could only be gained in the later stages—he could not learn it with his current knowledge level. He would only have the chance to build a weapon of such a level if he kept growing.

The Particle Cannon did not retract, and it started charging again. The broadcast sounded once again. This Mountain Beast was not the only one—two more strong monsters were approaching. Soon after, they appeared in the soldiers’ sight. One was a flying monster that looked very similar to a dragon, a Lava Lizard, which lived in volcanic environments, had a hundred-meter wingspan, and was protected by ferocious scales. This was much harder to deal with than Acidic Flying Beetle of the same size—not only was its carapace strong and hard, it could also spit lava.

The other was a terrestrial creature, the King Predator. It looked like a tiger and a leopard covered in scales like a suit of armor. Although it was only thirty meters tall, it was even more dangerous than the Mountain Beast due to its incredible agility. Unlike the Mountain Beast, which was like a sitting duck, its movement was fast as lightning, therefore difficult to lock onto.

It could easily break through the lines of defense one after another, and its sharp claws could tear metal apart with ease. It was truly the biggest threat to the land troops. The name ‘King Predator’ came from its dominance in the forest—it was the well-deserved ruler of the forest. Every time that it appeared, the Sunils had to pay a very heavy price to deal with it. There was even this one time when a King Predator had almost penetrated all the defense rings and broken into the city.

The situation took a sharp turn downhill!

The Lava Lizard dived at a high speed while the King Predator ran like lightning—there was a strong enemy approaching both on land and in the sky, and there was still an injured Mountain Beast that kept throwing clods. When the Particle Cannon finished charging, it aimed at the Lava Lizard in the sky and fired, directly penetrating one side of Lava Lizard’s wings. The monster spun and fell to the ground, sending out a violent shockwave.

The flying enemy had to be dealt with first. Thus, the King Predator on the ground could only be temporarily stalled by men while waiting for the Particle Cannon to recharge.

The army gathered thousands of troops ahead of the King Predator, yet even that might not be enough.

An endless rain of bullets covered the King Predator, all of which were deflected by its scales, leaving only sparks. The King Predator moved fast, and no attack could slow it down. If it bashed into the iron line of defense, everyone could tell that it would create a blood path in the defense teams. At least two teams would be lost!

No soldier was shaken—they were all unafraid of death.

Just as the two parties were about to clash…

Boom!

Dust suddenly shot into the air, and the seemingly unstoppable King Predator was halted. It opened its bloody mouth widely and bit onto a ruler-like iron-gray rectangular block of metal, which an armored warrior was holding onto. They were in a battle of strength, and their strength was comparable.

It was this armored warrior who stopped the King Predator, leaving only a magnificent silhouette to all the soldiers!

The people opened their eyes widely, wanting to see who this person was, but he was wearing a helmet, and his face could not be seen. The armor was a little humble, like tights embedded with some armor plates, and dark in color.

Han Xiao raised the edge of his mouth when he saw this.

It was indeed Herlous!

“So, he came…” The Great Mechanic Han smiled. “Let me see if the current you is strong enough.”

The King Predator seemed to have detected danger. It jumped aside and moved around cautiously. Just as the defense team was about to go forward to surround it, Herlous suddenly said, “Leave this brute to me. You guys go to other places.”

Leave to you? Who are you? What if you fail?

The troops, of course, did not trust others easily, but before they continued to move, strong Pugilist flames burst from this armored warrior, and a change occurred that left every Sunil in shock.

The humble suit on Herlous’ body suddenly shapeshifted, and the compressed armor plates expanded, turning into countless complex and precise armor pieces. With the flashing of light, the tights quickly became extremely complex silver-gray armor, like a gorgeous ancient knight’s armor. Soft white metal extended from the shoulders like a piece of cloth, moving in the wind like a cape behind his back. Even with the Great Mechanic Han’s very picky sense of beauty, this style was impressive.

Energy surrounded the entire armor as Herlous shook the rectangular block in his hand. It expanded part by part and turned into a ten-meter long mechanical battleship slicing blade!

All the Sunils were stunned!

A word deeply buried in their memories started to surface, and countless soldiers opened their eyes even wider.

“This is… the Commander Class armor‽”

“The strongest armor of the race that was said to be lost!”

Every soldier was stunned and shocked! Their mind was blanked!

Commander Class armor was a legend to the Sunils at this time, and the legend had become reality that day!

Herlous twisted his neck, and the familiar thick Pugilist energy flew through his entire body. The dormant fighting genes in his body gradually awakened. This tailor-made armor was still in perfect condition.

“I almost forgot this feeling. It feels… quite good.”

With a loud yell, Herlous held the ten-meter battleship slicing blade and pounced, as fast as a phantom. The thick light from the blade flashed like lightning!

Swoosh!

An impact wave came out of the blade, creating a trench dozens of meters long. The King Predator barely dodged it, and a wound appeared on its long body, which expanded rapidly, blood jetting out!

The position of hunter and prey switched instantly!

Chapter 350: Shocking the Entire Race! (2)

Herlous was a grade B Pugilist, and [Shattered Light] was a Super Equipment, tailor-made for him, enhancing his Pugilist abilities further. Many energy converting devices hid between the gaps of the armor, and the raging flames sent waves rippling through the air as he moved.

Grade B Pugilists had surpassed the early stage of a Pugilist—they were walking, living bombs.

Herlous' strength was not to be ignored even across the entire Shattered Star Ring. The Commander Class armor was a piece of top-class equipment, and its level was completely different from the Enlistee Class and the NCO Class. With the energy enhancing Battleship Slicing Blade, Herlous' damage was astonishing.

The thick light from the blade released shockwaves, creating trenches on the ground one after another. This level of strength was way higher than the normal soldiers, and there was no need for anyone else to join in. Herlous spun the rough looking Battleship Slicing Blade with ease, much more agilely than the King Predator. Having nowhere to escape, the King Predator's flesh was splashing all over.

Herlous' god-like power had lit fires in countless soldiers' hearts.

The Commander Class armor appeared again after disappearing for so many years!

Who is this armor user?

The Sunils had many questions in their minds.

Commander Class armor had a very special position in the Sunils' hearts. Many people knew that this was the display of the strongest single warrior in the entire race, and it was almost like a totem. Herlous' appearance awakened the buried memories of every Sunil.

Morale skyrocketed instantly. In gaming terms, all Sunils received the 'All Attributes Boost' buff!

Han Xiao was watching the show from the side, nodding. Herlous was very strong, much stronger than his current self.

Herlous starting to fight means that the Sunil have entered the storyline I'm familiar with…Han Xiao thought. With him existing, Herlous' actions should deviate from the original storyline, so he just needed the chance to 'abduct' him.

The Particle Cannon fired twice, heavily injuring the Mountain Beast and the Lava Lizard. This weapon was common in the galactic battle between high-class civilizations, and it was a scrap product. The Sunil could only burn lower grade energy with their energy technology level, and even with so many restrictions, its power was still enough to be a trump card for protecting a city.

During the charging period, Herlous successfully killed the King Predator and started to run around the battlefield. With his armor and energy protection, he did not fear being surrounded by the beast wave. The Battleship Slicing Blade slashed horizontally, unmatched in the beast wave, containing the disadvantageous situation in the area.

Herlous could not stop the entire beast wave alone, but his actions had an undoubted effect—the soldiers in this area finally had a chance to breathe.

On Planet Aquamarine, a grade C Super could go head-on with an army—Herlous was one grade higher. Even though the beasts at the last stage of the Catastrophe were strong, he could still deal with them easily. Furthermore, he was a tank-type Pugilist.

A single unit with extraordinary powers was more agile, like a sharp blade. Between the same technology level, high-grade combat powers and war troops differed in quantity and quality—a strong single unit was an army by itself!

Herlous jumped and moved around, becoming the center of attention on the battlefield. Looking at him raised the soldiers' spirits.

The situation gradually stabilized, and the wave of beasts ended. Just as the military was about to excitedly get in touch with this mythical man, Herlous dashed toward the forest and disappeared, clearly showing his intention of not wanting to expose his identity.

Herlous was somewhat conflicted. Getting in touch with the military meant his peaceful life in the past would be gone. He would have to walk the path of people like Fernas and become the guardian of the race. Although whether he did become a guardian or not depended on his choice, Herlous felt that he would not be able to leave himself out of it by then.

Furthermore, the superiors would definitely request him to give up his Commander Class armor to the race for research purposes. Herlous took it as a precious inheritance from Delvis, so he was very conflicted.

Although he stood out now to protect the race, and his buried responsibility was awakening slowly, someone this strong would not change his personality overnight.

…

In the following few days, Herlous was torn between the choices. While he appeared to help, the military kept trying to discover his identity, but every time that the battle ended, he left quickly and kept his mystery.

A few days later, the whisper in everyone's mind suddenly disappeared. The Catastrophe had ended.

The beast wave in the middle of attacking suddenly paused, and countless beasts awoke from their bloodlust, stopped running, looked around, and ran in all directions, disappearing.

"The Catastrophe is finally gone." Han Xiao took a deep breath.

Soldiers lay down in exhaustion one after another, unable to move. Their bodies had reached their limits, and the surviving soldiers were way too tired.

The logistics team cleaned up the battlefield, pulling soldiers out of their armor and sending them into the medical room one after another.

The military was recovering and resting, as countless people in the city triumphed over the broadcast from their television.

The end of every Catastrophe was like surviving through a disaster. As per tradition, there would be a celebration a few days later, appreciating the army's contribution and morning the lost soldiers. This kind of celebration filled with the feeling of a ritual was beneficial to increasing a race's unity, relaxing their tightened nerves, making the people laugh and cry, getting rid of the negative emotions, and once again feeling hopeful for the future.

However, this time was completely different. Only one hour after the Catastrophe ended, Fernas' cold face appeared on the television everywhere.

"My fellow men, I'm Fernas. I believe many people know me. I want to make an announcement. From today, on behalf of forty percent of the Supers, the people you call guardians, we will be leaving Planet Sunil and never return…"

The words he used were very firm, saying that they had done enough and were now going to search for freedom, not giving their lives to the race anymore.

The Sunils felt like a bucket of ice had been poured over them. The happiness and passion from getting through the Catastrophe vanished, and they were all stunned.

What is this? Why is it so sudden‽

The superiors of the military were shocked—they had absolutely no idea about this beforehand.

Far away in the forest, Herlous saw Fernas' announcement from the internal terminal in his armor, and he mumbled in disbelief, "Why not leave quietly‽ This way, the people will…"

With the announcement, the whole of Planet Sunil was shocked. The people felt confused and lost; they did not know the reasons behind it. All they knew was that the guardians whom they had always relied on were abandoning them!

Why? Why‽

No one kept silent.

Despair, desperation, hopelessness.

Howling, wailing, growling.

This was the collapse of belief! Even the minority that was unsatisfied with the Supers felt endless panic when they saw this!

This shocked the entire race!

Fernas appeared with the other Supers that decided to leave and walked outside. The Sunil soldiers looked at them in disbelief, yet they still opened a path for them.

This time, another group of people swarmed over with rage and shock, including Lerden.

Sunil Supers were divided into two groups, one announcing their leave from the race, another shocked and furious. They stood against each other from far away with clear separation.

The anticipation of a good show appeared on the faces of mercenaries, who were waiting for their reward.

Han Xiao leaned his back against a tank, looked at this scene, squinted his eyes and thought,And so it begins.

He had only read about the Sunil Supers splitting up from the news. This time, he could witness it happening.

The report had referred to the people including Fernas who were leaving the Independence Faction, and the ones protecting the race Guardian Faction.

"Why are you doing this‽" a person from the Guardian Faction said furiously.

Fernas gave him a cold glare and said, "I explained it very clearly, don't feign ignorance. I know you people must have thought about long ago. In the past many years, how many of our brothers were sacrificed? How many of our brothers became disabled? We have done enough."

The people of Guardian Faction's expressions changed a bit. Indeed, similar thoughts had crossed their minds before in most of the people present—few people could stay firm from the start to the end. Furthermore, they had been traveling in the colorful galaxy and had seen how alluring it was.

Some people escaped their expanding desires; some people let it grow.

"But…" Lerden clenched his teeth and said, "If you want to leave, you could have just left quietly. Why announce it openly? You are destroying the hope of the rac…"

Fernas cut Lerden off. 'so what?"

The people of Guardian Faction were shocked. They felt that the once firm and reliable Fernas had become a stranger.

The two parties were in a stalemate, and the Sunil soldiers gradually surrounded them. Further away, the mercenaries took out snacks and focused on this show with excitement on their faces.

Han Xiao casually grabbed a strange cigarette that looked like a cigar, took a deep breath, and shrugged. "See, this is the ending of a long-distance relationship."

"Brilliant." The other mercenaries laughed. Mercenaries were a group of cold and unsympathetic people.

Han Xiao had a very open mind. The split of the Sunils was fated, opening the curtain of the end of the Sunil Civilization and the start of Herlous' story. He was just a spectator for now—only when the Sunils split up and chaos fell would he be able to take part. Until things unfolded naturally, he could only wait.

Furthermore, with him taking part, splitting up might not lead to the tragic ending in the original storyline but a new start instead. Since he could also benefit from it, this was a win-win.

Smoke rose up and covered Han Xiao's narrowed eyes.

Chapter 350 - Settlement

Splitting up was certain; the Independence Faction had made up their mind for leaving. Understandably, the Guardian Faction was shocked and angry. They could have defended the race together, but now, there were people who had betrayed them and were leaving. Furthermore, they had heavily smashed what they had once protected. The Guardian Faction was emotional, and they questioned the deserters loudly.

“You’re a Sunil, too. In the brink of danger, how can you abandon your race?”

Fernas was expressionless. “My race, my looks, my life form, these factors that were decided from the moment I was born cannot decide my mindset and standpoint. I have made my contributions, and now I want a new life.”

The Guardian Faction still wanted to question them, but they saw that the faces of the Independence Faction had absolutely no signs of regret or shame. Speechless, the words of accusation became stuck in their throats. The people they were facing were all brothers who had once fought alongside them. They had all shed sweat and blood; they were not enemies, just comrades that were taking a different path. They were not in a position to accuse the Independence Faction—everyone had their own desires.

Fernas pushed aside the people in his way as the Independence Faction strolled away. The Sunil soldiers and the Guardian Faction silently stared at their shrinking backs.

This time, every Sunil seemed to see the dark and gray future. The sound of sobbing started faintly, and even the soldiers who did not fear even death were tearing up. This was the collapse of the spiritual pillar in their hearts. In all these years, the Supers guarding the race had become spiritual totems and motivation for the Sunils.

Sometimes, the collapse of the spiritual pillar can have a blow even heavier than an exterior disaster on a group.

Han Xiao shook his head. The Sunil after disaster was like a tough disabled man, and the parts lost on his body did not defeat him. He still had the determination and motivation to continue, his mind was healthy, but when even the belief collapsed, he became disabled in his mind too, losing the strength to move forward.

Therefore, the impact of the split in the race was not just the decrease in the number of Supers—it had made a deep impact on the spirits of the people and the tough quality of the race.

The way that Herlous became the ‘main character’ was when the position of Fernas and the other Supers who were once heroes faded away, and the Superiors made him the new role model and spiritual motivation, signifying that there were still people who held on.

In his previous life, Herlous’ future position had even exceeded Fernas’ old position. If Fernas was the representative of changing from kindness and passion into tiredness and coldness, and Lerden was the representative of redeeming his sins, Herlous would be the representative of someone who had previously avoided the reality then awoken his sense responsibility. After the Sunils went through the disaster, the mindset of the race changed continuously, from hot-blooded to indifference, then from the indifference they found the belief of determination. The belief collapsed during the split up, and Herlous’ appearance was building a new belief in the ruins, giving this race a new quality. His experience and actions gave his lost race a reason to regain their determination, staggering in pain and hardship, but still marching forward. The conflict in his heart was a scaled-down reflection of the entire race.

Unlike Bennett, who was building sanctuaries far away on Planet Aquamarine and had developed a firm belief long ago, Herlous was a main character who was still growing.

Thinking of the path that this whole thing took in his previous life, the Great Mechanic Han sighed. Sadly, water can carry a boat but could also sink one… When Herlous died in battle, the Sunils gave up struggling and jumped into Godora’s arms.

…

The Independence Faction left the defense ring and entered the forest. They were planning to find a place and contact a Galactic Travel agency, never to return. Suddenly, a person appeared before them—it was that mysterious armored warrior.

Fernas and the others stopped their footsteps.

Herlous took off his helmet and said with a complicated expression, “Why? You found me before leaving because you wanted me to replace you to protect the race, but what you’re doing now is destroying the race’s belief…”

Fernas looked at him coldly, shook his head, and said, “If I don’t leave… how are you going to replace me?”

Anger appeared in Herlous’ eyes. “Because of such a boring reason?”

“I actually really despise you. You have such strong powers, but you’re fine with staying at the back lines. You are in no position to talk down to me.” Fernas’ expression was indifferent. “Now, you have displayed your strength and exposed your armor. The race will definitely search for you with all of their might—you cannot go back anymore.”

Herlous suddenly realized. “You used me for your plan…”

“Don’t think too highly of yourself!” Fernas’ eyes were firm as he said coldly, “Everyone has experienced a lot of things. Why would we change our mind because of a minor character like you? Leaving is for our own sake, just like the brothers who decided to stay. Even if us splitting up has made a negative impact, their foolish resolve to protect the race will not be shaken.

“I will say the same thing—only staying alive is important. I want the entire race to not have that extravagant wish of holding on. This meaningless struggle has to end—accept help from Godora willingly, and no one will have to bleed and fight anymore. All Sunils will gain a peaceful and stable life… This path is the true way to protect the race.”

Herlous opened his mouth, and Han Xiao’s face appeared in his mind again. He had once told Fernas about the future of accepting help, but Fernas held onto his opinion and was not shaken at all. He felt it was the wrong foresight.

With nothing else to say, the Independence Faction left.

Herlous hesitated for quite some time, then gradually made up his mind. He left the forest and took large steps toward the defense ring.

The army was still reeling in shock from the split up. When they noticed that this mysterious armored warrior had appeared, they only remembered the order from above after being stunned for quite a while. They arranged their emotions, suppressed the loss in their heart, and prioritized the order to surround him.

In front of countless soldiers, Herlous took off his helmet slowly, glanced around exhausted both physically and spiritually, and took a deep breath. “My name is Herlous…”

…

To the entire Sunil race, this Catastrophe was full of twists and turns. The guardians split up after the battle, but the legendary Commander Class armor appeared again when the hidden grade B Super called Herlous stood up to protect the race. After a few days in his new role, the media spread Herlous’ experience all over, building him up as a hero that stood out in the time of need. It was also reported that the research lab would receive more funding after receiving the Commander Class armor, hoping that the race would one day get back the technology of the Commander Class armor. Thus, they managed to use Herlous and their future plans to wash away the impact from the mass desertion.

With the army and the leaders working together to spread the word, Herlous’ name was known everywhere, gradually becoming a new role model for the race.

The Sunils settled the hiring reward, and the mercenaries left one after another. During the times of fighting alongside each other, Han Xiao had come to know quite many peers. They had quite pleasant conversations, and the other mercenaries had a very good impression on the Black Star Mercenary Group, which had suffered zero loss, showing their friendliness.

Mercenaries liked to know people in the same industry. After all, they might one day fight alongside each other one day.

The players returned, and the Sunil military expressed their thanks to the Black Star Mercenary Group before giving out the reward. Every player receiver 12,000 Enas, largely increasing their purchasing power. As the leader, Han Xiao received the same amount as well, and along with the job of Battlefield Repairs, the Great Mechanic Han made 16,000 Enas this time, about enough to buy more class advancement knowledge.

Chapter 351 - The Black Star Will Bless You

Through battlefield repairs, Han Xiao had gotten a few new blueprints, including the Hovering Turner, High Caliber Defensive Machine Gun, and the Offensive, Defensive, and Scouting Enlistee Class armor. As he expected, the NCO Class armor required [Heavy Machinery Modification], so the progress was stuck.

The Great Mechanic Han was not one to return with nothing, so using his relationship with the military, he bought three different types of NCO Class armors with 2,000 or so Enas. When he returned to the Juberly Hub and learned [Heavy Machinery Modification], he would be able to get its blueprint. He would then build the different sets of armor and sell them to the players. The cost of buying the armor could easily be earned back.

Everyone received twelve thousand, so their purchasing power is largely increased.Han Xiao was exuberant. This kind of mass-produced armor sold very well, and its attributes could be increased just by him putting in some experience to level up the blueprint. Furthermore, he had the boost from Machinery Affinity, so the armor that he produced would be much better than the ones from assembly lines. After selling them, he could still earn from long-term repair fees.

The commission that he received from the hire could only buy about one class advancement knowledge, but through profiting from the players, that earning could be multiplied many times.

The Credibility Points of the Black Star Mercenary Group increased quite a bit, and they finally had their first combat mission experience. The Sunils detailed their missions, including them requesting for the most dangerous missions and completing it perfectly without any deaths. This new information was very valuable.

The relationship with the Sunil was unlocked, and it increased to 1,000 points immediately, reaching the ‘Friendly’ level.

On top of all that, their Renown increased five points as well, two points more than the original reward, so Black Star’s name started to spread around the mercenary industry. The most direct increase was the Faction single mission reward quota was increased by 10,000 experience, which meant that there was 260,000 more daily experience due to the twenty-six times multiplier.

After the rewards were given, the mercenaries left one after another, but Han Xiao stayed in Forest City. The players stayed for a few days and got a little impatient.

On this day, the players found Han Xiao, and Frenzied Sword asked, “Black Phantom, you…”

“Call me Black Star.” Han Xiao knocked on Frenzied Sword’s head.

Frenzied Sword then said, “Black Star, when are we going back? What are we staying here for?”

“Waiting for someone.”

The players thought that after the Catastrophe ended so did this hiring mission, but in Han Xiao’s eyes, it was just the beginning!

…

One day later, the Sunil Military sent someone to tell Han Xiao that Herlous wanted to meet him. Han Xiao narrowed his eyes and smiled.

“Finally.”

Following the soldiers to a base facility, he entered a private room, where Herlous was waiting. The man stood up, waved, and sent the soldiers away—he then closed the door, leaving the two of them alone in the room.

There were two glasses of alcohol on the table. Han Xiao glanced around and sat down directly. “I thought you’d find me sooner.”

“It was delayed by something. I had to fully cooperate with the military for publicity and lend the armor that my older brother left me to the research institution.” Herlous sighed. He had never expected to receive such treatment, but it was mainly caused by three reasons. Firstly, they needed to wash away the effect of the split up. Secondly, Herlous was strong, and strength signified position. There were only two known grade B Supers in the entire race—Fernas had left, and Herlous had appeared. Thirdly, they now had a chance to resurrect the Commander Class armor.

“You seem to have many questions for me, but first let me ask you a question…” Han Xiao raised the glass up, swirled it gently, and purposely said in a very slow tone, “Do you believe I’m a foreseer?”

“Half.” Herlous’ eyes were sparkling. “Did you foresee the future of me protecting the race long ago, and that was why you came to contact me?”

“Of course, I didn’t know a bar owner is actually a hidden grade B Super, and I also didn’t know that he would wear a Commander Class armor called Shattered Light to fight the Catastrophe.” Han Xiao said mockingly.

Herlous smiled bitterly. No one knew his armor was called Shattered Light, so the foreseer identity was proved. Yet, that left him with another question. “How many things can you foresee? How far can you see into the future?”

“Hahaha, frankly, I can only foresee parts of the future, bits and pieces. I don’t know much. If I didn’t accidentally peek into Planet Sunil’s future, I wouldn’t have come,” Han Xiao said sincerely without even blinking.

“I see, although I don’t know much about the galaxy, I did hear that foresight usually has limitations.” Herlous understood, and he was glad that Han Xiao had seen Planet Sunil’s future instead of something else’s future. Maybe this was the long-awaited luck of his race.

Suddenly, Herlous’ eyes became sharp. He stared at Han Xiao and said in a low voice, “So, what is your real motive?”

The atmosphere suddenly became intense, and faint flames flickered around Herlous. He felt that Han Xiao definitely had a goal, or else he would not have exposed his foresight. This mysterious man definitely wanted something from the Sunil race.

Han Xiao put the glass down and said slowly, “Let me tell you a story…

“In a planet where its surface civilization lagged behind, there was a handsome man who was a test subject. One day, he went through an experiment, awakened the ability of foresight, and saw many pieces of the future. Relying on his foresight, he escaped successfully and gained freedom, then he destroyed the evil enemy of this planet, becoming a legend known throughout the entire planet. However, at this time, he saw a new future, a man-made disaster from the sky would fall on his mother planet. The people behind it hid in the depths of the universe, so he left the planet and stepped into a broader world, searching for ways to save his mother planet…”

Han Xiao adjudged his collar. “Naturally, I am that handsome man:”

Herlous suddenly could not keep a serious face, and his lips started twitching. He did not know if calling oneself like that was common in the galaxy, but it was shameless in the Sunil culture…

“We are from different races, so it’s normal to have aesthetic differences,” Han Xiao said.

“Okay…” After being momentarily stunned, Herlous suddenly remembered what they were discussing. “So, you’re saying that you entered the universe to save your mother planet. What does that have to do with Sunil?”

Han Xiao smiled. “My mother planet is located in the Garton Galaxy, soon to face a disaster. I think you Sunils are more than familiar with the name of the people behind it.”

Herlous blinked a few times, then his expression suddenly changed. “DarkStar‽”

He suddenly felt that everything made sense, and everything was connected!

DarkStar was their common enemy; therefore, he came to Sunil. This was the motive!

“The mercenaries under me are warriors from my planet as well,” Han Xiao added. “They know of this as well, and they followed me because they wanted to search for a way to save the planet. They can vouch for me anytime. I helped you not only because we will share the same tragic experience but also because I’m looking for an ally. Since you know why I came, you don’t have to worry anymore.”

Herlous’ expression softened, and he was immediately filled with respect for Han Xiao. “So, you’re the same as the guardians of Sunil, a hero wanting to protect his planet.”

Without any blushing, Han Xiao said with humility, “I’m not a hero. I just have responsibilities on my shoulders.”

The Great Mechanic Han felt like he had traveled back in time when he acted like he was brainwashed. Giving an Oscar-worthy performance, his actor’s soul was on fire.

This moment, Herlous felt that Han Xiao looked much taller and greater, and he felt a bit ashamed.

Han Xiao had the resolve to immediately look for ways to save his planet just because he foresaw parts of the future—he was a complete doer. He, however, even after his race went through a disaster, still escaped from reality for so many years. Just thinking about it made his face hot—he was ashamed and could not remain tough in front of Han Xiao anymore.

Chapter 352 - Dropping a Chess Piece in the Galaxy

Upon understanding Han Xiao’s reasoning, Herlous’ expression softened. He paused before asking the question that he had been curious about. “What’s my future like?”

“You…” Han Xiao picked his ear, tutted, and said, “You sacrificed yourself during the Catastrophe, dying a horrible death.”

“Ho-how horrible?” Herlous’ face froze.

Han Xiao grabbed the glass, tightened his grip, and shattered it into pieces. Then he shrugged and said, “Something like that.”

With a doubtful expression, Herlous said, “Although I’m not one of those grade A Supers, the beasts on this planet are not strong enough to slaughter me.”

“From the parts I saw, the beast wave breached Forest City. You firmly defended the opening and fought till your last breath, using up all your energy. Alas, you were torn apart by the beast wave.”

Herlous was surprised. He knew himself too well, and protecting the race was taking on a supposed responsibility. However, he definitely did not have the strength to never retreat even in his last breath. If he met lethal danger, he would run away immediately. How could he become so firm?

“How far in the future is that?”

With a shrug, Han Xiao said, “Do you think I’m some Spirit Emperor who’s worshipped by the Ethereal Sect? I’m just a normal foreseer, not all-knowing.”

He knew that he could not be too ahead when playing a foreseer—it was for his own protection and to make Herlous guess.

Han Xiao knew Herlous’ growth path very well—he would become a selfless hero of the race in the future. As a main character that was growing, he was young, unlike Bennett who had completely matured.

Seeing Herlous’ frown, Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled, and he said, “What I saw were just the parts of the future from the existing scenario. If there are other factors at play, the future will change too. With Sunil’s current situation, the Catastrophe will become harder and harder for you people to deal with, but that future can be avoided.”

Hearing that made Herlous feel relieved. Han Xiao said that his foreseeing ability had limitations, which Herlous thought was more trustworthy. He would easily doubt those people who claimed to know everything.

“You said you have a solution?” Herlous asked sincerely.

“Sunil’s current situation is very bad. The Catastrophe is the most obvious danger, and the retreating route toward Godora is unsafe. Plus, DarkStar is hiding in the darkness. If you rise up again, you might face DarkStar’s attack…” Han Xiao gave a simple analysis, and Herlous’ expression gradually turned grimmer.

The Sunils faced danger from everywhere. Herlous could not figure out a solution, only feeling that the road ahead was filled with darkness. “That means Sunil has no way out…”

“Of course not, the way out has always been obvious, but you people subconsciously did not think in that direction.” Han Xiao smiled knowingly.

“Obvious?” Herlous was a little surprised. He frowned and thought for a while. Suddenly, his eyes widened, and he exclaimed, “You’re saying… to destroy DarkStar?”

If DarkStar is destroyed, the largest threat will no longer exist, but we are incapable of that!

Herlous widened his eyes. He did not expect Han Xiao to be this ambitious. This idea was completely insane!

“DarkStar has destroyed the home of many civilizations,” Han Xiao said calmly. “They’re notorious in the Garton Galaxy, and even in the entire Colton Star Cluster, comparing them with you people is like comparing a giant to an ant. However, they’re not invincible, or they would not hide from Godora. You people have always ignored this possibility, and it’s because of nothing other than the fear toward DarkStar, which is now deep-rooted in your hearts. You don’t even dare to think about it; you feel it can never be done.”

“It really cannot be done. DarkStar is too large and mysterious. I vividly remember every scene back when DarkStar attacked us; countless battleships covered the sky as well as countless laser beams, the planet’s crust cracked, lava shot out…”

Han Xiao cut him off, shook his head, and said, “DarkStar has many enemies. There are potential allies everywhere. Other than this path, you can only join Godora. If you are willing to give up, you will not have to fight the Catastrophe. I didn’t say to fight DarkStar right now—this is just the final target. Before that, we need to hoard our resources and stay low profile.”

“You really are daring…” Herlous shook his head. “The hope is too little. I don’t think this is a good solution.”

As if he had expected such a response, Han Xiao smiled. He did not plan on convincing Herlous with such a large target—he just threw it out to broaden Herlous’ mindset. Thus, he changed the subject and said, “Let’s put DarkStar aside for now. Regardless of whether your race rises up in the future or not, the imminent problem has to be dealt with first. Sunil’s largest issue right now is exploring this planet and dealing with the Catastrophe. About this, I have a very direct solution.”

Herlous became more focused. Plans regarding DarkStar were too far away, and the Catastrophe was an imminent and real disaster that he was more concerned about. “What solution do you have?”

“I can bring many Supers here.”

Herlous had thought that he would hear some brilliant solution, but Han Xiao’s solution was similar to Sunil hiring mercenaries. After all, the ‘many’ in Han Xiao’s sentence was surely at most thousands.

Herlous was disappointed, and it showed on his face. “Just Supers is not enough.”

“Not enough?” Han Xiao smiled mysteriously. “Then what about hundreds of thousands of Supers?”

Hundreds of thousands? Herlous’ expression said, Do you think I’m three years old?

A small mercenary from a surface civilization, how can you find so many people to help? Furthermore, Supers!

Did simplicity limit my imagination?

“I can bring waves of people even more horrifying than the Catastrophe! They don’t fear death, they are brave, and they can fight well. Not just for the Catastrophe, they can also help you explore the planet during the rest of the time, digging Prophecy Stone veins, and what they need is just a small reward.”

At this moment, Han Xiao smiled brightly! This was his biggest target of the trip! He was interested in the NPC resources of the entire race!

If the players were seeds, these NPCs were the soil!

Sunil was just a start; the Great Mechanic Han’s plan was much deeper and longer than that!

In the late stage of Version 2.0, Planet Aquamarine’s players would start to enter the galaxy through guidance from a galactic organization. Han Xiao wanted to replace that galactic organization and become a mentor.

The players knew nothing as they took their first steps into the vast galaxy, so it was the best time to be convinced. If he could give them guidance in a similar way to when he guided the new players in the novice village, he would be able to guide the players into their next area of activity. Han Xiao wanted to turn his own faction into the faction that the players joined after they entered the galaxy, to make it a compulsory part of their player career!

If he succeeds, he could have every player in Planet Aquamarine join his faction!

After all, he had already made a strong impression in the hearts of the Planet Aquamarine players!

To guide the players through their galaxy career, other than the rewards, there was another thing that had to be present, NPC resources.

Although the galaxy was vast, the players would need time and a stable activity area for them to develop themselves, and the best way would be to have one or more storylines to lead their activities. This was why Han Xiao targeted NPC organizations—not only could they provide NPC resources, they also had storylines.

Black Star Mercenary Group gave many rewards, and with Bun-Hit-Dog’s videos that helped to spread publicity, it was very attractive… but that was not enough!

Faction rewards had a quota, and it was an indirect limitation to the number of members. However, if he could come to an agreement with some organizations, guiding the players there for missions and monster killing, he could break through this limitation. It was reaping the benefits of other NPCs.

Since he needed help from other NPCs, he had to emphasize on what his faction could provide in order to let the players realize the benefits of joining the Black Star Mercenary Group. Other than reward and item exchanges, there had to be privileges! As such, if he became an ally with some organizations, players in Black Star Mercenary Group would receive better treatment from that organization, or he could put prerequisites in certain areas, and joining the Black Star Mercenary Group could grant them access to better areas for development… Through various methods, he would make sure that the players knew that not only was Black Star Mercenary Group full of rewards, it would also give them many indirect benefits.

One special characteristic of a mercenary group was that the members could be spread out across maps, which was an advantage of his faction.

The players would get access to areas to do missions and ally with organizations to receive help. His faction would further develop, and in turn, he would reap benefits. This was a win for multiple parties! The players were like manpower resources, and these organizations in need of help were like the customers looking for hire. His faction would be the middleman to provide them with manpower, but the difference was, all of these manpower resources belonged to his faction, the ‘middleman’.

These were just considerations from the perspective of benefits. Another way to look at it would be from the perspective of emotions.

Most mercenary groups did not have a history, and through ‘helping’ NPC organizations and having the players experience the storyline of these NPC organizations, it would give the players a stronger sense of reality. The mercenary group, as the bridge connecting these storylines together, would then become something that went through ups and downs with these players, adding history to the mercenary group, hence enhancing the sense of belonging that the players would have for the mercenary group.

The players not only needed benefits but also good stories, only then would they feel the role-playing part of a ‘Role Playing Game’, hence feeling a sense of belonging for the faction. Therefore, Han Xiao decided to shape a common enemy, and DarkStar was the most suitable target. Working together to fight against a common enemy was the easiest way to develop a sense of belonging. Thus, the Sunil race, which had a deep-seated hatred toward DarkStar, was a very suitable ally.

Furthermore, by introducing NPC organization areas to the players by the mercenary group, it could develop a blurry sense of territorial awareness in the players, which would also indirectly increase the attractiveness of his faction.

Emotions like a sense of belonging could bring many long-term benefits, even exceeding the attractiveness of the reward itself.

Players were the representatives of chaos, and the Great Mechanic Han always did everything that he could to shape himself as ‘one of them’ among the players, to become a shadow that followed every step that the players took in their gaming career. Developing a Faction was a key component to achieving this target.

His plot was enormous, but it needed time to slowly make it a reality. For now, he had merely taken the first step.

Chapter 353 - Abducting a Man

Herlous was filled with doubts. Just as he was going to say something, Han Xiao spoke first.

“Don’t be too quick to make an assumption. Not long ago, you didn’t believe that I was a foreseer. If you hadn’t changed your mind, this meeting wouldn’t have taken place. I don’t need you to believe it right now, but think about this, do I have any reason to lie to you? Sunils never promised me any benefits, and even if what I said is not true, you people will not suffer any loss.”

“That’s true.” Herlous nodded and agreed. Indeed, even if Han Xiao was lying, his race would only maintain its current state. Herlous actually wished that what Han Xiao said to be true—if they had so much help, their losses during the Catastrophe would be vastly reduced, and they would be able to develop much quicker.

Although there was the potential threat from DarkStar, the Sunil civilization was just a tiny shrimp to them. As long as they kept a low profile, they would be able to grow stronger in the environment filled with danger.

With a solemn face, Herlous said in a low voice, “If you really can help us overcome these obstacles, Sunil will be your firmest ally. I cannot decide for the entire race, but I believe that the leaders will definitely make the same decision. Please believe in the resolve and quality of us Sunils.”

“Of course, I never doubted that.” Han Xiao’s compliment made Herlous feel very delighted.

“About your standpoint, I’ll immediately report to the Superiors…”

Han Xiao waved and said, “I suggest that you don’t say it yet. A surprise is better than a torturous wait. Plus, your words alone might not be enough to convince the Superiors of your race to believe that I’m a foreseer.”

Herlous was stunned for a moment, then said while thinking, “That’s true…”

“If I guessed correctly, just like the other Supers, you’re heading toward the galaxy to become a mercenary as well, right?” Han Xiao said.

“Yes, I’ve stayed here for too long. It’s time for me to go out and make some contributions. I’ll be leaving in two days.” Herlous nodded. Although he was very strong, he had never explored the galaxy alone.

Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled, and he smiled.

“Since we have come to an agreement, how about you join my mercenary group and become my associate?”

This moment, Han Xiao felt like he was blessed by the soul of Luffy 1 . If combined with the sun behind him, outstretched arms, and hot-blooded background music, he felt like he could trigger the super strong buff [+100% Recruit Success Rate].

“Join your Black Star Mercenary Group…” Herlous was tempted. He was going to become a mercenary anyway, and working in groups would not only mean a stronger power, but he could also stay in touch with Han Xiao in the long term to witness his actions and confirm whether what he had said was true or not.

If Han Xiao was sincere in helping Sunil, he would have the chance to pay him back and help Han Xiao save his mother planet. Plus, the two of them could have detailed discussions on how to combat the DarkStar and improve on their plan. It would really be very convenient.

Furthermore, Han Xiao was very important to Sunil. They could not allow an accident happen to him, so if they were acting together, he would be able to protect him. After all, Han Xiao’s strength in Herlous’ eyes was not considered strong at all, mediocre at best.

He’s one grade lower than me, so being a mercenary is dangerous for him. If I follow him, I can prevent him from dying accidentally.

After careful consideration, Herlous felt that such a course of action was very advantageous, so he agreed on the spot. “Okay, I’ll join your mercenary group.”

Han Xiao nodded calmly, but in his heart, he was laughing uncontrollably.

Finally! All my effort in convincing him did not go to waste. I’ve finally abducted this main character!

Other than the point of contact of Sunil, Herlous would also be an NPC cadre of the mercenary group itself. He was a high-level combat power!

This job has resulted in great benefits!

Their conversation’s details were not reported to the Superiors, just as Han Xiao suggested. The rest of the Sunils did not know, only Herlous.

Two days later, the Galactic Travel Agency that they had called arrived at Planet Sunil. The group of players followed Han Xiao up the spaceship in anticipation. Suddenly, a tall and wide Sunil in casual clothes walked over. After staying so long in Forest city and seeing the promotions from the military, they immediately recognized that it was Herlous, the character who was being shaped as a hero figure.

“Where’s your armor?”

“Lent to the researcher institution. When they derive the blueprint, I can take it back to use, so I only brought this weapon…”

Herlous turned sideways, displaying the rectangular metal silver block tied behind his back. It was the folded Battleship Slicing Blade.

“I see…” Han Xiao felt a little disappointed. The Commander Class armor was a piece of great equipment, but he did not even meet the prerequisite of the NCO Class armor yet; Commander Class would be even more impossible for him to derive. There would be chances in the future anyway, so there was no need to be impatient.

Han Xiao turned to the players and made the introduction. “This is Herlous, a grade B Super. From today onward, he’ll be our comrade, a new member of our mercenary group.”

Holy! The players’ jaw almost dropped on the floor—they were stunned.

The captain has abducted the hero of a race!

“Why did you join us?”

“What’s your class?”

“Did you make some kind of deal with Black Star?”

They were very curious about this new friend and overwhelmed him with questions. Herlous was surrounded in the middle and felt the passion from his ‘teammates’. He was very not used to it, and he was forcing a smile.

The result of the detection from players was all question marks. They were very curious as to how Han Xiao got in touch with a grade B Super. This was someone who was at the top of high-level areas, probably the strongest in their mercenary group.

Someone who was even stronger than Han Xiao joining their faction had made the players very excited.

After some time, the spaceship slowly landed. Herlous finally escaped from the players and walked to Han Xiao. He stood beside Han Xiao, looking up at the spaceship, and his face was a little stiff.

Han Xiao turned to look at him, raised an eyebrow, and said, “You seem to be a little nervous. Have you never been into the galaxy before?”

“This is my first time.” Herlous rubbed his hands against each other to wipe his sweat off. “I’m actually a little scared of heights…”

“You’re a shame to Pugilists.” Han Xiao was speechless.

They boarded the spaceship. It slowly rose and flew into space with Forest City becoming smaller in their sight. This hiring job was finally complete, and they had left with one more member than when they came. The Catastrophe on Planet Sunil was very beneficial for all of them, especially Han Xiao.

Planting the seed in Sunil this time means I’m on track with the DarkStar storyline. The first step of the plan is also complete. Han Xiao crossed his arms as he pondered.

The spaceship’s destination was Juberly Hub. Before the next operation, Han Xiao wanted to return to rest and digest the things that they had earned on this trip.

…

In Forest City, one of the military bases was open as a recruitment site.

After the Catastrophe, it was the time for new soldiers to join the army again. Youngsters coming of age had to join the compulsory military service and undergo military training. Youngsters came one after another, accompanied by their parents.

Lana was very early. He was only allowed into the recruitment site after displaying his ID card—any unauthorized personnel were not allowed in, including parents.

When he turned back to look, Lana saw his parents waving. They had kind and loving smiles on their faces as usual.

He looked at them with a lot of emotions in his eyes, then followed the group into the military base.

After queuing for a very long time, it was finally Lana’s turn. The officer sitting behind the table said casually without even raising his head, “Name, then take a number to go for a medical examination.”

Lana took a deep breath before saying seriously, “Sir, I’d like to request to join the army.”

The officer looked up and glanced at him. “Do your parents know?”

“No.”

“Youngster, your parents definitely warned you not to join the army, didn’t they?”

“Yes sir, but I believe I’m making the right decision.”

“Once the request is approved, you have to be fully responsible for your decision,” the officer said coldly. “You won’t be allowed to take it back, are we clear?”

“Crystal clear.”

A slight smile appeared on the officer’s cold face. He opened the drawer, inside which was a thick stack of army application forms. He took one out and passed it to Lana.

Lana was about to take it, but he realized that the officer was holding onto the application form too tightly. At that moment, the officer said coldly, “This is your last chance to change your mind.”

Lana snatched the application form with a firm expression.

“Good, the area to join the army is at that side. Don’t block the people behind.”

Lana followed the officer’s finger and looked over. It was an empty warehouse that served as the recruitment site for the official army. Youngsters waiting to fill out their application forms had already filled the entire warehouse.

Chapter 354 - Speeding! (1)

After a month on Planet Sunil, Han Xiao and the others finally returned to Juberly Hub. As soon as they were in the Hub Hall, the first thing that Han Xiao did was change the medium resting room into a large stronghold. The rental increased, from 40 to 100 Enas, as did the space.

The better the faction’s base looked, the more reliable the players would feel. Han Xiao actually thought that a spaceship was the best mobile base, but a spaceship was way too expensive; they would not be able to afford one even if they sold the kidneys of all the players. The human body did not sell very well in the Galactic Organ Market after all.

Excess money was meant for splurging—the consumption concept of a Mechanic was always ‘money spent will always make returns’.

This trip was very profitable. More than ten thousand had landed in the players’ pockets, and Han Xiao would take that off their hands to gather the funds to buy two class advancement knowledges.

Pro players will always use their residual money to buy equipment. There were private equipment stores in Juberly Hub, and these were all Han Xiao’s competitors.

It’s impossible to have the players only buy things from me. Players have their personal preferences, so I can’t rob away their freedom, or it will be bad for faction development. Nobody likes to be forced. Plus, the things I sell might not satisfy all of their needs… Anyway, I only need a part of the players’ fortune, and the profit is high enough.

Although Han Xiao had plenty of ways to make money, he always kept that desire controlled.

He updated the faction exchange list, adding Offensive, Defensive, and Scouting Enlistee Class armor, with a prerequisite of 500 faction relationship points. Then he set the exchange price at 800 Enas.

In the new stronghold, before the players had started roaming outside, someone had already discovered the new items in the faction shop.

“Is this the Enlistee Class armor that we saw in Sunil?” Frenzied Sword said in surprise.

“It is their technology indeed,” Hao Tian said. “Why can we purchase another organization’s equipment from the faction‽”

The players became curious.

Bun-Hit-Dog had a flash of insight and gave a sensible guess. “A mercenary group might be a faction with growing potential. After completing different mission hires, the faction shop will be updated. The more missions completed, the larger the faction will grow…”

The players thought of Herlous joining and the growth potential on the faction interface when they first joined Black Star, and they felt it made sense. Instantly, they became excited.

The actions of the players could make the faction grow!

“We might have joined a special faction!” Frenzied Sword was overjoyed.

They were all pro players, so they immediately realized the advantages of the mercenary group. If they underwent missions from different organizations, the exchange list would be updated with equipment from those organizations, which meant that the more missions they did, the richer the faction exchange list would become. All they had to do was increase the relationship points with the faction itself—it would save them a lot of time!

They were the first batch of players entering the galaxy, and they had gone through a very difficult selection progress. Was joining this faction the hidden benefit‽

The players felt that this specialness of the mercenary group came from Han Xiao. After all, storyline main characters would definitely possess something special. The players trusted Han Xiao very strongly. No matter how shocking the things that he did were, it all seemed possible—this was the impression that Han Xiao had forged in the players’ minds.

To make the players feel that the growth of the faction was ‘driven’ by them, when they clearly saw the growth of the faction, they would slowly develop a sense of belonging. This was the development path that he had set from the start. Now, the players finally felt this specialness and freshness; his strategy had achieved its anticipated result.

At this time, the players had money in their pockets and were willing to spend. A few of them bought the Enlistee Class armor on the spot. Han Xiao did not have any completed products with him, so it had to be built. The other players wanted to observe when the finished product was made.

During the battle on Sunil, every player had been tempted by the single unit armors, but sadly, they had not been given a way to purchase them. Second Prince almost wanted to steal one.

“We have battled for more than a month; let’s all take a break and rest for some time.”

Han Xiao dismissed them, left the stronghold, and rented a mechanical modification room.

He first spent millions of experience and upgraded the armor blueprint level to Level6, only then did he start to build. There was still a lot of material left from what he had brought from Planet Aquamarine—only a small part of the Sunil Enlistee Class armor required him to buy materials from the galaxy. The cost to make one was only about 50 Enas.

For the time being, there was no mission for the mercenary group. The players could finally explore Juberly Hub freely, and naturally, they would not just spend money in one place.

There were many shops in the hub center, and it was full of variety and choices. During this resting period, they witnessed equipment from many different civilizations and bought a lot of gear, such as arms with stronger power, small supportive machinery, and so on.

At the same time, they noticed that some machinery shops were selling single unit armors as well. This was very common in the galaxy, and although these armors’ designs were very different from the ones on Sunil, their technology levels were all rather basic. However, these shops were selling them at a way higher price than exchanging in the faction—even the cheapest one was 3,200 Enas, four times the faction price!

The players became worried because of this. They knew that the price was usually correlated with quality, but Han Xiao’s armor was so cheap. Would its attributes be very low?

They memorized the attributes of the armor in the shop and planned to make a comparison when the finished product from the faction was complete.

Although Black Star’s equipment had good prices, when the pro players were rich, they never looked at price, only quality.

…

Herlous went to the mercenary hall alone to register. He joined the Black Star Mercenary Group then opened the mercenary group records.

_____________________

Black Star Mercenary group

Credibility Rating: 154

Scale: 53 members

Class C: 52 members

Class B: 1 member

Missions Completed: 1 (Daily Low-Level Missions Excluded)

Active region: Garton Galaxy

Records: [Sunil Defense Battle] (Expand/Collapse)

Creator: Black Star – Han Xiao

Creation date: Galaxy Calendar Year 688, 02 October

Summary: A small mercenary group with a certain amount of combat power and one grade B Super.

_____________________

“A mercenary group created little more than a month back. Black Star didn’t lie to me…” When Herlous saw there was only one grade B Super, he knew that he was the strongest in this mercenary group. He could not help but feel a sense of responsibility.

For the future of his race, he had to protect Han Xiao. He hoped that this captain would not choose hiring missions that were too dangerous.

On the other side, Han Xiao received a notification from the interface while he was building armor in the workshop.

_____________________

Faction Reward Limit: 135,7000

Faction Leader Level: 80 (+64,000 reward quota)

Cadres: Herlous (B) (+20,000 reward quota)

Faction Size: 52 (+20,000 reward quota)

Renown: 7 (+14,000 reward quota)

Legendary Points: Leader (3) +15% reward quota

Allies and Enemies: None

_____________________

His friendliness with Sunil was on a personal level, so it had yet to become a faction ally.

Han Xiao felt refreshed. The faction had gained its first cadre and taken its first step. Plus, the quota had increased by 20,000, showing that recruiting cadres was indeed a good way to quickly increase the quota.

Two days later, Han Xiao had built six sets of Enlistee Class armor. The players could not wait to equip them, and they instantly felt the benefits of the armor.

Single Unit Armor was something that most civilizations would research on when they reached a certain technological level. Its original purpose was to let users have stronger physical capabilities and adapt better to different environments. The first time wearing single unit armor was like opening the gate to a new world for the players.

In the stronghold, a few players that bought the armor were controlling them excitedly. The fresh feeling had them overjoyed, and the other players surrounded them and touched the armor with curiosity.

“How does it feel?”

“It looks heavy, but it’s actually really easy to move. There are parts inside that helps me move.”

Rainy Kim frowned and said, “Piles of iron, they look so ugly.”

All the male players stared at her. It was the first time that they had shared a common enemy.

“You don’t know sh*t. The mechanical suit is men’s romance!”

Chapter 355 - Speeding! (2)

After playing with the armor for a while, only then did the players remember to compare the attributes between the Sunil Soldier Armor with the armor in the shops, and the result was that it was almost the same!

Same quality, a quarter of the price—this was more than worth it!

The players were over the moon. The rest of the players did not observe anymore and paid willingly.

Fifty something people, more than 40,000 Enas, about the price of two knowledges…Han Xiao smiled. There was more!

Right after, he added a new option in the faction shop page—equipment enhancement!

Han Xiao had held back when he built the armor. Their attributes were just the ‘Basic Version’. This was to provide room for enhancement so that he could open another revenue stream!

Repairs and enhancements were long term incomes. Han Xiao had multiple machinery enhancement abilities, so he had what it took to enter the enhancement business. Naturally, Han Xiao was not going to miss this opportunity. Also, he was going to control the level of enhancement that he gave and would not do full enhancements the very first time, leaving room for improvement, hence attracting the players to keep spending.

The Great Mechanic Han was not greedy—by dividing one thing and selling them separately, he could maximize his profits, and the players that did not know this were willing to pay for it. Han Xiao competed with other shops by using cheap, high-quality equipment, to first let the players buy the equipment, then introduce the enhancement option, turning a one-time sale into long term profit.

After all, he had occasionally played single player games in his previous life too, and he was inspired by the gaming companies turning one game into severalDLCs 1 .

Han Xiao felt nostalgic. Back when he was young, he had been an honest man, but his tiny and pure heart had become polluted by society. Turning bad was not one man’s fault, it was the world’s fault.

For the following few days, Han Xiao built all the armor. Every player wore Enlistee Class armor—it was like the mercenary group had its uniform. Although the players were all Supers, Enlistee Class armor still proved to be helpful.

As a firm supporter of the Great Mechanic Han, Frenzied Sword was the first one to buy the enhancement. The attributes of the armor increased by around ten percent after the enhancement. Multiple enhancements of the same equipment would have an increased cost. As for the Enlistee Class armor, the first enhancement only cost 60 Enas, the second cost 100, and the third 150. Every fourth enhancement in a row, the price would have a big leap from the previous one; the fourth enhancement cost 300.

The attributes increased by eight to twelve percent every enhancement. It was low-cost, high profit, and Frenzied Sword vouched for it. The others thought that it was a good deal and followed. After the Sunil mission, the players all had more than 10,000 Enas, and it was burning a hole in their pockets.

Han Xiao had left plenty of room for enhancements when he made the armor—it had to be enhanced at least seven times to reach the limit of his ability. The enhancement business brought made him 23,000 Enas, which meant on average, the fifty plus players all enhanced their armor at least three times!

Han Xiao made 40,000 from selling the armor and 23,000 from enhancing them. Now with more than 67,000 Enas in his account, he more than enough to buy knowledges.

He was having a great time selling, while Herlous was speechless. He found Han Xiao and said with surprise, “How do you know our single unit armor technology?”

He had built Sunil’s armor, which would definitely make Herlous question him. Han Xiao laughed and said, “I derived the blueprint during battlefield repairs. Aren’t I very skilled?”

Herlous’ face twitched. Han Xiao had stolen Sunil’s technology, yet he had asked a Sunil to compliment his skill. Even his Battleship Slicing Blade could not cut through skin this thick!

Anyway, with Sunil at its current state, there was no point dwelling on this. Herlous still had to stay with Han Xiao, so he did not care about it. Furthermore, it was not any kind of rare technology—most civilizations had basic single unit armor, just with different styles.

…

In the Area Exchange Center of Juberly Hub, Han Xiao was looking to buy some knowledge.

Having finally made enough money, he was about the complete the class advancement that he had been stuck on for so long. It went without saying, he was quite excited.

The Colton Star Cluster area only had eight Mechanic class advancement knowledges, and Han Xiao glanced through and swiftly chose two.

[Heavy Machine Modification], selling at 25,000!

[Advanced Electromagnetism], selling at 37,000!

_____________________

Learning… Successfully learned! You have learned [Heavy Machine Modification]!

Learning… Successfully learned! You have learned [Advanced Electromagnetism]!

_____________________

Class Advancement Requirements: LV 80, 400 Intelligence, learned 5 Mechanic Class Advancement Knowledges

Class Advancement Succeed!

LV 80 Class Advancement Mission completion detected!

Class Advancement Succeed! Endurance Attribute Boost enhanced. 1 Endurance = 40 Max Health = 50 Max Stamina!

You have received a new class, [Data Mechanic LV 1].

+100 Energy, +3 Dexterity, +2 Endurance, +4 Intelligence

You have received 5 Free Attribute Points.

You have received 1 Potential Point.

You have acquired skill [Blueprint Refinement]!

You have acquired skill [High Concentration Refining]!

You have acquired skill [Magnetic Vision—Data Flow]!

You have acquired talent [Machinery Analytical Comprehension]!

_____________________

The energy in his body was cheering. His class advancement made Han Xiao feel like he had broken through some kind of shackle. His vision became black, and it felt like hours had passed. However, it was actually only half a second. His vision then recovered, but it was very different with before—he could sense much tinier things.

Every time his strength increased, he felt like he had been reborn.

Data Mechanic was also called Experienced Mechanic. His understanding of machinery became even better. The Machinery Affinity at this period would make a huge leap, and among the four new abilities that he had just received, [Magnetic Vision—Data Flow] and [Machinery Analytical Comprehension] were both able to largely increase Machinery Affinity.

Machinery Affinity was a key attribute of the Mechanic, representing the speed, attributes, and power of building and using machinery. [Magnetic Vision—Data Flow] was an active skill, and after activating it, he would enter a special magnetic vision. His magnetic property energy would become his extended senses, revealing the details of the machinery with a magnetic field.

Han Xiao immediately leveled up this skill to Level10. Its effect was a twenty-five to fifty percent increase in Machinery Affinity with a twenty energy cost per minute. The percentage increase changed randomly every minute. As its cost was very low, this skill could be activated almost continuously. Unlike [Surging Mechanical Force], this skill could be used in the building process too.

[Machinery Analytical Comprehension] was a passive talent, increasing machinery affinity directly according to Intelligence. Its effect was very powerful—every ten Intelligence increased machinery affinity by one percent. Han Xiao had more than four hundred Intelligence at this moment. This was a key ability for the current stage, increasing the benefit of the Intelligence attribute toward Mechanics. For the foreseeable future, this would be a core ability.

[High Concentration Refining] was the upgraded version of [Basic Refining]. It increased the strength of the raw materials, a very important effect. [Blueprint Refinement] was a passive skill, and it had a chance to be triggered during equipment building. That equipment’s blueprint level would temporarily increase by at most three levels, increasing the end product’s attributes. There was also a chance to ‘crit’ during the building process, resulting in an equipment of a higher grade. The chance depended on the user’s Intelligence and Luck.

Han Xiao still had 2,500,000,000 experience, so he immediately leveled up all those skills and talents to the max level, using close to 50,000,000 at once. Then, Han Xiao also increased his main class to the max level, LV 15.

After LV 80, the experience to level up multiplied. One level required tens of millions of experience, so leveling up fifteen levels at once cost him 900,000,000 experience. Yet, he did not even blink.

_____________________

[Data Mechanic] leveled up to LV 15 (max).

+240 Energy, +3 Dexterity, +2 Endurance, +4 Intelligence

You have received 5 Free Attribute Points.

You have received 1 Potential Point.

_____________________

From LV 80 to LV 95 in a flash! It even exceeded the max player level allowed in Version 2.0!

Han Xiao’s advantages of being ahead were even more enlarged.

Energy filled his body. If it had been a stream before, it was now a wide river!

Han Xiao took a deep breath and felt the strength of his body. Reveling in the raging energy within him, he opened the interface, spending all the Free Attribute points in Intelligence. Then, he observed his attributes go through astonishing changes.

_____________________

Level: 95

Main Class: Mechanic

Attributes: 121 S trength, 244 Dexterity, 214 Endurance, 570 Intelligence, 21 Mystery, 14 Charisma, 1 Luck

Free Attribute Points: 0

Potential Points: 82

Health: 13,057

Stamina: 15,420

Energy: 5,210 (LV 9)

Power Level: 5,377 Ona

Grade: B

[You’re a strong enough Super, a pillar level even in the galaxy. With this level of strength, you’re superior to most beings.]

_____________________

I became grade B! Han Xiao smiled. 5,000 increase in just max health and a new attribute boost level when my energy reached 5,000. My attributes should be thirty to forty percent higher than before!

Finally, he was grade B. He could now protect himself to a certain level even in the galaxy, his combat power was far beyond grade C, and he had two new class advancement knowledges. His combat style could be improved once more!

Chapter 356 - Breaking News, Universe Royalty’s Reward

The prerequisite of the Sunil NCO Class armor had been met, and Han Xiao could reverse engineer the armor and draw up the blueprint. He did not want to sell it to the players at the moment. After all, he had just finished selling the Enlistee Class armor, and releasing the new armor would affect the rewarding buff from the Enlistee Class armor. So, he chose to wait for a while.

I have five class advancement knowledge in my hands right now. With all these new blueprints, I can finally upgrade by equipment… Han Xiao stroke his chin and fell into deep thought. He currently had four battle styles: the core Amphiptere, Compounded Magnetic Chain Split Blades and Thermo-Electrical Incisor Gloves for close combat, Sonic Sphere for mid-range combat, and Wrath of Garrett while kiting for long range combat. All four modes provided well-rounded combat abilities for Han Xiao.

[Heavy Machine Modification] gave him the skill to create large scale machinery, and [Advanced Electromagnetism] could help Han Xiao create more stable weapons running on electromagnetic force. Electromagnetic weapons were the next stage for normal weapons, and they were more powerful compared to weapons running on gunpowder. These two knowledges were extremely important, and Han Xiao had to upgrade them sooner or later. Thus, he used sixteen potential points to max out both knowledges.

If he wanted to update his combat styles, then his close combat weapons were outdated. Luckily, he could use these new knowledges to build bigger and badder toys. For mid-range weapons, he just had to change his gunpowder weapons into Electromagnetic weapons. The Ghost sniper rifle had always been incomplete, and the Advanced Electromagnetism was the key to completion.

For Amphiptere, since there was nothing that could drastically revolutionize the armor, Han Xiao only had plans to just add a few new functions and attachable charms. He cracked his knuckles and got to work.

Not only was he going to renew his combat styles, he also had the power to create large machinery. Han Xiao planned to create a vehicle on the ground to travel with the entire faction. As soon as he thought of this idea, one word popped out in his head…

Genius!

Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled.

The vehicle can also be the symbol of this mercenary group, which can raise the interests of the players as it shows that our group is growing together. If I can use the Advanced Electromagnetism to improve this heavy machinery, then isn’t it just a simpler version of an Electromagnetic Rail Cannon‽ A ground vehicle is the best out of all other vehicles!

He dove straight into his work. He bought plenty of spare parts and locked himself in the tuning room. Before he went in, he told the players to rest well in the Hub.

The crowd did not have any objections. They had changed compared to when they first arrived in space. The players understood the benefits that they would get if they listened to Han Xiao—even Li Ge stayed put in the Hub Center. The players talked and interacted with travelers from different races. Getting to know more about civilization was an entertaining experience. Although the professional players were materialistic and focused on results, there were quite a lot of players like Maple Moon who enjoyed stories, and they were attracted to the fascination of the galaxy.

During the resting time, Bun-Hit-Dog started to make his second episode of the Black Star Series. He continued with his TV show editing style. Not only Planet Aquamarine, audiences all over the galaxy could not wait for the second episode. As soon as the show was released, hundreds of thousands of viewers joined in an instant.

The show continued from the last episode. It started off from the first mission of the Mercenary Group, and the show told the tragic story of Sunil and the scenes from the Catastrophe. The players who did not step into the galaxy were sucked into the narrative as if they were there. The mercenary group was the eyes of millions of viewers. Through the experiences of the journey, the audiences got to know more about the galaxy along with the mercenary group, so they already had a deep bond with the group.

The episode continued until the end of the Catastrophe. The mercenary group gained a new member along the way named Herlous, as if he was a main character in a TV show. This person instantly grabbed the attention of the audience. Bun-Hit-Dog showed the new items in the Faction stop while the narrator explained the potential growth of this faction. The audience had a lot of expectations for the future adventures of the mercenary group, and at the same time, they became even more jealous of the players that had joined Han Xiao.

Han Xiao also watched the show and was satisfied with Bun-Hit-Dog’s work. The show could slowly be integrated into people’s lives and create an emotional bond with the audience.

…

In the Hub Center’s Battle Simulation Room, Herlous swung his Battleship Slicing Blade and tore the simulated beasts into pieces. He had not fought in a long time, so he came back to the room and to practice every day. Because Han Xiao was drowned in his building and creation, he did not update the mercenaries’ information. So, in Herlous’ mind, he was still the only Class B Supers in the group. Thus, he felt a huge responsibility on his shoulder and practiced diligently.

After battling for a few hours, all the simulations disappeared. The battlefield filled with corpses turned back into an empty white room. Herlous withdrew his sword, wiped his sweat from his forehead, and headed out the room. At this time, Frenzied Sword, Hao Tian, and King Admiral walked out from the gravity room on the side. They saw Herlous and hurriedly walked up to him.

“So, you guys are training, too.” Herlous nodded at the members. Over the past few days, the players had been nice to him and were full of passion. He felt that he was getting along with the team. Although, Herlous was out weirded out by their names. It seemed that different cultures had different ways of naming. He thought that it was the culture of Han Xiao’s planet.

He was just wondering why these players could not die. Of course, the players could not tell the truth, so Herlous just thought that it was an Esper power in this group.

“Can you teach us some battle techniques?” Hao Tian asked.

In the eyes of the players, Herlous was an unopened chest. They tried to activate some certain events such as learning a new skill. However, Herlous did not have the ability to pass down skills, so all he could do was offer a few pointers. However, under his teaching, the players’ close combat skills would significantly improve. One would need some luck to activate the event, which mostly depended on Herlous’ mood. However, the players would still try and ask once in a while.

Herlous felt important after being in this team. Suddenly, a local news agency building sounded an emergency alarm.

“… Breaking news. A team of Silvers were attacked by scavengers during their travel in the Shattered Star Ring. Some of them were kidnapped. From our intel, the point of attack was Colton Star Cluster, Fawn Galaxy, Star Zone 4. The size of the scavenger pack is unknown. The escaped Silvers are now hiring mercenary groups to save the remaining Silvers with a high reward…”

This information got Herlous’ attention. The Silvers? This race was from the Silver Spirits Sea that was far away. It was the race of Universe Royalty!

Some powerful and advanced civilizations were called the Universe Royalty. The three Universal Civilization that colonized the universe were of course the Universal Royalty. The Silvers were not on that level yet, but it was a long-lasting advanced civilization, and they also had a special position in the universe. At the same time, this Universe Royalty was highly demanded in the slave market, so they were the perfect prey for the scavengers.

The Silvers were rich, so the reward would undoubtedly be insanely high. Herlous, who was short on cash, was slightly moved. He had to try and convince Black Star to seize this opportunity to earn free money.

The area under the rule of Godora was the Garton Galaxy. The Fawn Galaxy was next to Garton, but it was not as large as Garton. A few civilizations that were slightly weaker than Godora had control over different Star Zones, but conflicts often occurred on the borders. Although they were no actual wars, there was a lot of chaos, and no one had power over those areas.

Fawn Galaxy’s Star Zone 4 was right on top of the borders, where it was under no one’s jurisdiction. The neighboring civilization ignored the calls of help from the Silvers, so they had to pay high rewards to search for mercenaries to help.

Chapter 357 - New Gear, New Objectives

“Silvers?”

Han Xiao received Herlous’ message while in the machinery repair room and was shocked. He quickly turned off the humming equipment around him, and the room instantly quieted down. The smell of red-hot metal drifted through the room.

He knew that the Silvers were an advanced civilization that hailed from a prosperous region of space in the Silver Spirits Sea. They were a member of the Federation of Light along with many other advanced civilizations. They minded their own business, and their region of space was very safe, completely unlike the precarious living environment of the Shattered Star Ring.

The Silvers had a very long history. This kind of space royalty rarely visited a place like the Shattered Star Ring. Yet, they were… travelling there? Han Xiao honestly did not know what tourist attraction in the Shattered Star Ring could have attracted such high-end folks. What would these people, born in the magnificence of their planet-sprawling cities, want to see in the broken streets of the Shattered Star Ring? The danger level there was ten out of ten. Did this group of Silvers travel there for the thrill?

Having their companions kidnapped to become slaves was indeed thrilling.

The Silvers’ reproductive capability left much to be desired, so they did not have a very large population. However, they were a species that had evolved to a very high level. To many forces, highly evolved species’ DNA was like a treasure cove, filled with the secrets of the species’ powerful and ancient bloodline. One of the common things of these space royalties was that they were very rare. The Silvers could be used to net an astronomically high price on the slave market, and this was probably why the scavengers had been willing to take the risk.

“Black Star, the Silvers are willing to pay a hefty sum. They are currently holding a massive recruitment for mercenaries. This is a good opportunity to make money,” said Herlous in a deep voice. Herlous had not been doing anything for the few days prior, and he was in a hurry to make money. Thus, he had notified Han Xiao of the news the moment that he heard.

However, Han Xiao shook his head. “The Silvers are indeed quite generous with their reward, but this isn’t an assignment we can take on. Large mercenary groups such as the Sky Ring Army will fight tooth and nail to take on the job. We won’t even get a chance to compete for it.”

“But we should at least try. There has to be a chance.”

The mercenary game was full of competition. The large, higher-end mercenary groups could easily get the big jobs. The clients trusted in their reputation and credibility rating. This time was no exception. Only those big-name mercenary groups had gone to answer the Silvers’ recruitment posts. Herlous actually knew that what Han Xiao said was very logical, but he would not give up.

Han Xiao remained silent. An event like this was not in his memories. Based on the timelines, this event probably happened during Version 1.0, and all of the players back then had still been rolling around in the dirt on their own beginner planets with no chance to interact with an event in space such as this. There was no news on an event like this even after the players finally went to space. This meant that it was not anything major and was most likely resolved successfully, without the chance to affect the future much.

To a sudden event like this, Han Xiao tended to be more careful. He already had the knowledge of many other Storylines, so should he still take the risk of participating in an unknown Storyline? It was not him being afraid of getting in harm’s way or changing the development of the Storyline; he was someone full of the adventurer’s spirit and also a stout believer of the man’s romance. However, the most pressing task right now was to get stronger, and taking on the Storylines that he knew about was the safest way to achieve that. He did not want to cause any trouble that could be avoided.

“Let me think about it,” said Han Xiao.

“Okay. I will be on standby.” Herlous nodded. Han Xiao was, after all, the leader of their Mercenary Group. Although he was currently the strongest member among them, he would never let pride cloud his judgement.

After switching off his communicator, Han Xiao turned to inspect the fruits of his labor from the past few days. All the firearms had been replaced with electromagnetic versions. This included pistols, sniper rifles, and assault rifles. The conventional firearms that he was able to produce now were all at least purple gear, with an attack power of around 80 – 140. However, although the electromagnetic weapons that he had created were only of green or blue rarity at best, the damage was at least above 230. The effective range had also been increased by three to five times.

The electromagnetic weapons were much different from the conventional firearms in structure. The inside of the gun barrels consisted of intricate layers of magnetic coils, while the outside was covered by an insulating material that was connected to a bolt. It looked like a long, rectangular box. Every time that the gun fired, the bolt would contract backward before springing back into its original position. As the ammunition for electromagnetic weapons consisted only of singular pieces of metal, there was no need to discard the ammo shells like for conventional firearms, greatly increasing the firing rate. Also, electromagnetic guns had great penetrative power.

A sickle-shaped sword was resting on the workbench to the right. This weapon was nearly two meters in length and looked like the scythe used by the reaper himself. Han Xiao held the scythe, and a burst of energy snaked out from his palm into the handle. The next moment, a blinding ray of electrical light shot out from the handle, and lightning-like patterns could be seen all over the blade of the weapon.

The scythe’s blade gave off a faint bluish glow while giving humming noises. Han Xiao casually swung his hand and left a crescent shaped afterimage, with sparks of electricity remaining in the air, as if the air itself had been burned apart. After doing a few more test swings, he pressed hard on the end of the handle, and the blade that was well over a meter long broke off into pieces and reformed into a thick electrical snake. This greatly increased the range of the weapon, and the individual pieces of the blade could reform into all manners of shapes, suitable for all types of melee attacks. Han Xiao nodded in satisfaction and reined in his energy. The black blade instantly shrunk until it was only a forty-centimeter-long baton. It could even be further folded for ease of travel.

[Battle Scythe – Razor’s Edge] was a Super equipment and extremely powerful. He had been able to produce this original weapon by combining the blueprint of some sort of mechanical scythe with the Incisor Gloves using the electromagnetic blades theory. This was his own creation and suited his own combat style. It had a more-than-formidable attack power and was going to be his new main melee weapon due to his recent increase in strength.

Other than that, he also gave Amphiptere a major upgrade. The exoskeleton was outfitted with a thick armor, making it look like the armor of a heavily armored knight. The double layer of armor made the suit taller than 3.5 meters. Both the defensive and damage output had been improved. This was his trump card for assaulting heavily fortified positions head on and would not be used all the time.

Han Xiao did not give the new savage-looking exoskeleton a name. However, Amphiptere had basically gained two new modes since its creation. When equipped with the wings, it would be [Amphiptere – Flight Mode], and with the thick layer of armor, it would be [Amphiptere – Siege Mode].

The transport, due to the internal structure being too complicated, was still in production. However, he did manage to synthesize a blueprint for it. It was a transport method that would be able to move in the air, on the ground, and underwater. It was just that the appearance was far different from Han Xiao’s ideal.

Basically, it was a big ball…

Han Xiao was able to make a lot of new equipment and tools just by utilizing the basics of the two newly acquired advanced knowledges. However, most of them were add-ons at best, and he still had not made any revolutionary breakthroughs. Based on his current level, the features of the mechanic class that was available to him were early to mid-game.

He was currently already LV 95, a level that had only been attainable for players after Version 3.0 back then. This just went to show how disgustingly difficult the class change requirements were. The abilities that Han Xiao wanted to obtain were the abilities that signified the rise of the mechanics in Version 3.0 as a player class—Instant Assembly and Advanced Compression Technology.

Only by getting those abilities could a Mechanic truly start treading upon the path to become a one-man army.

The release of those abilities would mean that the mechanic players had finally made it out of the early-game. Many kinds of mechanical combat styles were based on the different kinds of Compression Technology.

Due to the increasing weight of the equipment, mobility and ease of carrying became extremely important for items. Like the Godoran equipment, Compression Technology could help mechanics significantly reduce the size of inactive machinery and other equipment. This meant that the number of tools and items that a mechanic player could bring along in battle would increase drastically, and they no longer had to carry along a burdensome bag everywhere. They could instantly raise an iron fortress out of nowhere.

For example, Amphiptere’s newest exoskeleton add-on would be able to be folded over and over until it got an easily carriable size. However, it could also go into siege mode whenever needed. Or, the mobile rover turrets that were originally impossible to bring around would be compressed into small cubes that could be chucked into battle to gang on an opponent.

There was a total of three core knowledges for this kind of ability: [Instant Dismantle and Repair], [High-density Material Compression Technology], and [Beginner Spatial Technology]. They were all advanced knowledges.

Unfortunately, these three important knowledges would most definitely not be allowed to circulate around the market in the Shattered Star Ring, and their possession was highly monitored by the large space civilizations.

Frowning, Han Xiao fell into deep thought. These abilities are crucial for a mechanic’s growth. Since the markets in the Shattered Star Ring doesn’t offer them, the most direct way would be to join a large intergalactic organization and grind their contribution points to exchange them for them. This is the method most players decided to go with in the past.

However, there was another way—leave the Shattered Star Ring and try my luck in another region in space. The even more advanced civilizations don’t treat this kind of knowledge with that much importance, and it could be leaked. However, finding them on the market will be completely based on luck, and the chance isn’t very high…

After touching his chin, the Great Mechanic Han muttered in a grave voice, “The Silvers are a considerably advanced race. They definitely had access to those three knowledges. If we can get employed by them, then maybe I could try asking for that knowledge in exchange for the job reward. But the chance will also not be that great…”

After thinking for a while, Han Xiao decided that he might as well try. There was nothing wrong with dreaming. The Great Mechanic Han was the kind of person to always buy a lottery ticket. So what if he never won? At least then there would be no regrets.

After sorting out his equipment and paying the fees for using the repair room, he left for the Mercenary Alliance’s lobby. There was a sea of people here, and there were many more mercenaries than the usual. They were probably there due to the Silvers’ recruitment notice and wanted to try their luck.

Han Xiao switched on the mercenary interface and saw the recruitment post sent out by the Silvers at the very top of the notice board. However, he got a shock immediately after opening up the message.

“Minimum Credibility Points: 400”

400‽ We don’t even have half that number. Han Xiao was speechless. What is this? Are my dreams going to be crushed before I can even dream?

“Hey, Black Star!”

Just as he was about to leave, someone suddenly called over to him from the side. Han Xiao turned and saw a gown-wearing blue-skinned shorty sprint over with that short pair of legs of his while running out of breath.

Han Xiao widened his eyes and slapped his forehead as he realized and said, “Hey, uhm, you’re that… right? Wait, don’t tell me. I almost got it. You’re called… called the… Nylon people?”

“It’s Blue-Ni!”

Martin was mad, and his nail like hair all grew longer, turning from nails into long metal needles. This was one of the signs that a Blue-Ni was angry.

“What the…” Han Xiao’s eyes shook. He was almost feeling sorry for himself that he had to hold back from calling the other person a porcupine.

Chapter 358 - Sky Ring's Invitation

“What do you want?” Han Xiao thought that this was odd.

He had only met Martin once—a month ago when Martin tried to recruit mercenaries personally. Han Xiao had somewhat of a bone to pick with this blue-skinned shorty as the latter had turned his mercenary group down due to their lack of an impressive resume.

Martin rubbed his hands together awkwardly and said in a sincere voice, “Uhm… Are you interested in accepting a job? It’s the same one as before. Our research team is going to investigate a barren planet…”

“It’s already been a month, and you still haven’t found anyone to go with you?”

Martin did not know what to say to that. Recruiting personally like he did would normally only attract the weaker no-name mercenaries. After a long time, he finally could not wait anymore and posted this job onto the Mercenary Alliance’s job board. However, there were still no willing recruits due to the laughably poor pay, so the investigative operation was still on hold.

A few days ago, after the mercenaries who had participated in the Sunil missions returned, news of a Mercenary Group full of people capable of revival spread around and piqued the interests of many other mercenaries, causing them to become somewhat famous in the Juberly Hub.

Martin heard about this news by chance and realized that the group that he had rejected earlier was actually very powerful and that he had missed out on a good opportunity. He was full of regret and so had sprinted over the moment that he saw Han Xiao in the lobby.

“It’s still the same price. 400 Enas per person. Let’s hurry and go now.” Martin had a face full of expectations. Han Xiao had registered once earlier, and he thought that he would not reject the offer.

“Go look for someone else.” Han Xiao shook his head and turned to leave. He had only wanted to take on the job last time because he could make some quick bucks on the way to the Sunils’ planet. Now that the moment had passed, why would he even care about this meager pay? He even had to travel to some faraway planet for it.

Martin held on to Han Xiao’s arm and hurriedly said, “Is it because of the price? We can pay more! 500… no, how does 480 sound?”

Martin had firmly latched himself onto Han Xiao’s arm, leaving the latter speechless. Martin turned around to be the one doing the begging this time.

The trip to Planet Sunil had earned Black Star Mercenary Group a decent amount of fame, which was the only reason this scene was even happening. A Mercenary Group with reviving soldiers that was also decently powerful would of course be paid a certain amount of attention.

The two pushed and pulled until another voice came from the side. “Oh, so you’re Black Star?”

Han Xiao turned around and saw the owner of the voice walk over, clad in a pure white battle suit with a surface so smooth that it was undoubtedly made out of some special alloy.

“Sky Ring’s people?” Han Xiao focused his eyes and plucked Martin off of him.

This person was wearing the Sky Ring Army’s battle uniform and was a mercenary from Sky Ring.

The Sky Ring Army was among the mercenary groups at the top of the food chain in the Shattered Star Ring. They had over ten thousand members, and the Army head was even a Calamity Grade Class A Super. They did business across numerous clusters such as the Colton Star Cluster and the Gelock Star Cluster.

He should not have had anything to do with Sky Ring at the moment, so Han Xiao was curious. “What does Sky Ring want with me?”

“You have a decent team. My Division Captain would like to discuss cooperation with you. Are you free now?”

Han Xiao blinked. Cooperation… Doesn’t sound too bad…

However, with Sky Ring’s power, there truly was no reason to look for a small team like his. Unless Sky Ring was interested in something special of their group. Han Xiao was able to guess the general reason for Sky Ring’s interest in them.

No doubt. They were probably interested in the fact that we don’t die… Han Xiao smiled in his mind. Looks like the gossiping between fellow mercenaries has done its job.

He was curious as to what kind of cooperation Sky Ring wanted to discuss with him. A force as big as theirs would definitely not have something simple up their sleeves.

“I am free. Let’s go.” Han Xiao threw off Martin and left with the Sky Ring mercenary.

Martin sat on the ground with a dumbfounded expression. The Sky Ring Army’s name was known in all corners of the Shattered Star Ring. He could not believe that the Mercenary Group he had turned away just a month ago had been able to gain their interest and even receive an offer for cooperation.

Martin could only think about his previous decision of turning them down with regret and pain.

“But I was the first one here…”

…

Han Xiao walked into the Sky Ring mercenaries’ stronghold and immediately saw around twenty to thirty of their members around the place. They were all of various species and races, and all eyes turned onto him when he walked in.

“I am Gashley. The captain of this small division.” A mercenary with golden eyes stepped out. He had an impressive physique, with a muscular body that stood over two meters tall. His species came from a region in the Gelock Star Cluster.

Gashley’s battle suit was a little different from the other members. There was a golden ring that circled a triangular crystal at the center of his chest. Although a mercenary group as large as this offered its members a good amount of freedom, they still had their own hierarchy. The more rings that circled the crystal on the suit, the higher the wearer’s rank. Rank was decided based on one’s strength.

The Division Captain had one ring, and there were four more ranks above that, with the Army Commander having one more than the highest rank.

“Black Star, Han Xiao.” After the simple self-introductions, Han Xiao cut right to the chase. “What do you want to cooperate on? What’s the situation?”

“Sky Ring is devoted to recruiting capable warriors,” Gashley said slowly. “You have a great team, and we would like to invitation to you and your team—join Sky Ring.”

Recruiting other mercenary groups was a crucial step for mercenary groups to grow. The Sky Ring Army was a relatively free organization that consisted of many individual teams that were all originally from other mercenary groups. Successfully recruiting strong members would earn the recruiters quite a reward, making all Sky Ring mercenaries pay great attention to potential new recruits, like part-time scouts.

Gashley’s team just so happened to be stationed at the Juberly Hub and had heard news about the ‘undead Black Star Mercenary Group’. After validating the authenticity of this information, Gashley had immediately decided to extend an invitation to Han Xiao, as he wanted to take in the whole Black Star Mercenary Group.

He was mainly interested in the ‘revival’ ability. Otherwise, with their average class C combat ability, they would not even have entered the sights of the Sky Ring mercenaries. Of course, Gashley also did not bother paying Han Xiao himself any extra attention. This was because, in Sky Ring, the average members were all class C, while they had several hundred class B officers. They even had two Calamity Grade Supers, which entire civilizations feared.

The sudden invitation surprised Han Xiao. However, after some thinking, Han Xiao also thought that it was not too unreasonable. Mercenaries that could revive as much as they wanted would be able to become the best vanguard and cannon fodder. Even a large organization like Sky Ring would not ignore this ability.

He calculated the losses and gains in his mind. Joining Sky Ring would guarantee them special privileges, and they would be able to enjoy Sky Ring’s influence, which had been built up over the centuries. He could also gain access to many new shop items…

But if the Black Star Mercenary Group worked under Sky Ring, they would cease to be their own faction. The long-term losses were too much to bear, and he was not willing to give up on having his own faction just for some short-term gains.

“Your offer is very attractive, but I’m not really interested in becoming part of another organization,” Han Xiao declined politely.

The onlooking Sky Ring mercenaries all started to whisper among themselves after hearing that.

“He actually declined.”

“There’s only benefits to receive, so why wouldn’t he accept? I didn’t even hesitate when I was recruited.”

Gashley had a face full of surprise, and he thought that Han Xiao did not understand the benefits they would be receiving after joining. Thus, he then went on to patiently explain. “You might not be too knowledgeable about the benefits that Sky Ring can offer. Firstly, we do not confine our members with strict rules. You can even choose to become an individual mercenary, or you can also join a team, as long as you complete a minimum of two job assignments every year. Also, there are many other benefits enjoyed by Sky Ring members such as…”

“Sorry.” Han Xiao interrupted him and shook his head. “Sky Ring is indeed very nice, but I’m a man who believes that benefits always come with risks. Acting with my own faction suits me more, but I would still like to thank you for the invitation.”

Chapter 359 - I’m a Professional at Planting Flags

The crowd exchanged looks with surprise on their faces.

Gashley shook his head. Black Star had used polite words, and he was not angry at being rejected, just felt that it was a missed opportunity.

Although Sky Ring was a large organization, most of the members were not arrogant and did not feel superior. Sky Ring was an official and lawful mercenary group, so they would not make enemies in the same industry easily.

Gashley felt it was a shame. At this time, Han Xiao suddenly changed the topic and asked, “It’s only been a month since Black Star Mercenary Group was created, yet Sky Ring’s contacted us—is it because we have the reviving ability?”

Being an honest man, Gashley nodded and said, “Yes, it is.”

“Although I’m not willing to join other mercenary groups, I feel we can be in a partnership. Sky Ring definitely takes on many dangerous missions—my group can accept tasks from Sky Ring and take on these dangerous missions with high risks of death.”

Gashley thought that having a partnership was not a bad idea even though he could not recruit Black Star.

Sky Ring also had similar partnership relationships with other mercenary groups. There was a long list of records of these partners, who were like backups. In times of danger, Sky Ring could ask for help from these reliable partners any time.

The two discussed for a bit and agreed on their intentions on the partnership, which Gashley reported to the organization.

Many mercenary groups wanted to get in touch with such a large organization like Sky Ring, and people applied for partnerships very often, so the people of Sky Ring were very used to it. Most of the applications did not meet the requirements, but because of the special characteristic of being able to revive, Black Star’s application was approved immediately. When its name was added to the partnership list, Han Xiao signed the partnership agreement.

What the agreement roughly meant was that all members of Sky Ring could contact Black Star for support privately at any time, and they had to pay a reward individually. The two parties of the agreement were in a partnership, and any form of combat between the parties was prohibited. If Sky Ring was hired by a certain party, Black Star could not accept hiring from its hostile party, and vice versa. If that happened, the agreement would have been breached, the first party to breach it would have to pay a fine, and the agreement would be voided. Other than that, the other terms were very free and easy. It was regulated by the Mercenary Alliance, compulsory to comply.

Han Xiao was rather satisfied with the result. It was like gaining a new customer and expanding his business by borrowing Sky Ring’s name. Sky Ring definitely did not lack combat opportunities, which meant his mercenary group would not lack job opportunities as well. Anyway, the mercenary group had just been created, so it did not matter who their missions came from.

Although they could not enjoy Sky Ring’s privileges through the partnership, at least they had some backing—it was beneficial for the mercenary group’s development.

After signing the agreement, Han Xiao suddenly thought of something and said, “If I guessed correctly, you guys should have accepted the Silvers’ request, right?”

Gashley nodded and said, “No large mercenary groups are going to give up this opportunity. My team has been summoned by the cadres, so we will be leaving and heading toward Fawn Galaxy later on.”

Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled and asked, “Can my group follow? If you guys get the mission, our help might be needed. I’m happy to accept a hiring from Sky Ring.”

Gashley was stunned for a second. After some consideration, he realized that it did not seem like there was any downside to bringing a group of undying mercenaries. “Okay, bring your team to the pier later. We will take our spaceship together. However, be mentally prepared. If the mission is very easy, Sky Ring will not need help, so you will have wasted your time.”

Han Xiao waved, signifying that it was not a problem.

He felt that this was a pleasant surprise. He could skip the Credibility Rating requirement using the relationship with Sky Ring. Although his mercenary group was still very weak and there was not much chance of gaining the Silvers’ favor, they could expect good things from Sky Ring’s hire.

The three knowledges of the compression technology were his target. There were plenty of strong people in Sky Ring, and class advancement knowledge should not be in shortage. If they were fortunate enough to be hired, he felt that he could try to make requests.

…

After deciding the time and pier number, Han Xiao went back to the stronghold and gathered all members.

“We have a new job, so get ready. We will be leaving in a while,” Han Xiao said.

The people’s face turned bright—they were thrilled. Knowing that the mercenary group had growth potential, they had been looking forward to the next adventure, and it finally came after doing very little for so long.

Maple Moon raised her hand and asked, “What are we doing this time? Why did the mercenary group information not show a new hiring mission?”

“The thing about the Silvers drew quite a lot of attention, so we’re following the people of Sky Ring to Fawn Galaxy. I have brokered a partnership relationship with them, so we might have a chance to be hired.” Han Xiao thought and added, “Also, you don’t have to raise your hand if you have a question.”

No wonder no mission had been triggered in their interfaces. They followed Han Xiao’s lead and had no problem with the arrangement.

Herlous was quite surprised. He knew how huge the Sky Ring was, yet in only a few hours, how did Han Xiao suddenly become Sky Ring’s partner? There was completely no sign of it beforehand.

Herlous pulled Han Xiao aside privately and expressed his doubts. Han Xiao, of course, did not have anything to hide. He told him about what had happened.

“I see.” Herlous understood, admiring Han Xiao discreetly. If he was the one to make contact, he probably would not have thought about suggesting a partnership. Then, they would have lost this opportunity. Although Han Xiao was not strong enough in his eyes, his ability to catch opportunities astounded him—a person like this was more suitable as the captain.

“So, did you foresee anything?” Herlous asked softly.

Han Xiao shook his head. There really was nothing at all.

The Silvers’ storyline was not a storyline that he was familiar with. He did not have any memory of it, so it was probably no big deal…

…

The Sky Ring Army was very large. Gashley’s team’s spaceship was a dozen-meter-long civilian spaceship. Its front was narrow, and its back was wide, streamlined like a water droplet but with clear edges. The exterior armor was covered with dark-gold metal plates, and the two sides of the tail had crossbars diagonally connecting into the spaceship body. At the ends of these crossbars were spiral shaped propellers, four in total, able to change angles agilely. This was a spaceship from some civilization in the Gelock Star Cluster. It was equipped with a light jump engine, suitable for galactic traveling, but weak in combat power.

This kind of small spaceship looked much cooler than the large and swollen spaceship of Galactic Travelling Agencies. The players kept sizing it up with glowing eyes.

Han Xiao touched his chin. He also wanted to buy a mercenary group private spaceship, but sadly, it was too expensive. Even the humblest one-man galactic spaceship cost more than 10,000 Enas. He could only build it himself if he wanted to save on that money, but building a galactic spaceship had too many difficulties—engine, energy source, armor adaptability, structure strength, detector, and many more, which required a large number of knowledges. He was way too far from being able to do that.

The gathering time came, and the Sky Ring mercenaries appeared. They walked up to the spaceship. Gashley set the auto route in the control panel, and the ship left the pier. After some trembling, it entered the exterior vacuum space.

The tail propeller emitted a golden glow, and it gradually entered the jumping state. The colorful galaxy outside the window rapidly became blurry, then into stretched lines, like it was infinitely long. It had entered a teleportation star gate near Juberly Hub.

“We will very soon arrive in the Fawn Galaxy through the star gate.” Gashley turned to the people and said, “The Silvers’ spaceship is parked at number 12 planet of Star Zone 4, and the travel time is about twelve days.”

There were eighty or so people in the spaceship, but there was still plenty of space. After the players were given their rooms, they took the initiative and went to chat with the Sky Ring mercenaries.

Han Xiao found Gashley. They had only met each other that day, so it was mainly to talk about the mission. However, Gashley did not know the details either. He only knew that he was one of the teams summoned, and the representative of Sky Ring this time was a Three-Ring Level cadre, code named [Ice Sorcerer].

Three-Ring Level cadres were the backbone of the organization, mostly grade B Supers. This Ice Sorcerer was the leader of this mission, and that person would be the one that had the power to decide if Han Xiao was hired. Their codename suggested that it should be a mage.

Han Xiao had yet to come into contact with the Mage class. The Mage class was similar to the Mechanic class in the sense of their high difficulty, and its enchanting ability could enhance mechanical equipment too. Unfortunately, there were only Pugilists, Espers, and Mechanics on Planet Aquamarine.

After chatting for a while, Gashley went back to his room to rest. Han Xiao explored the spaceship himself. He came to the living area of the spaceship and realized that this spaceship had a Battle Simulation Room. Using virtual technology to simulate various enemies and environments, one could experience the effect of battle training. It was marked as ‘Occupied’.

Han Xiao controlled the monitor, and the image from inside showed up, Herlous swung the Battleship Slicing Blade and was fighting nonstop against weird beasts. Silver flames splashed everywhere like waves.

Han Xiao watched for a while, licked his lips, pressed the pause button, opened the simulation room door, and walked in.

Chapter 361 - Spar

While Herlous was having a good time slashing left and right, the enemies suddenly disappeared, and Han Xiao opened the door and walked in. Herlous asked, “Why are you here?”

Han Xiao laughed and said, “It’s boring to train alone. Come, let’s spar.”

After reaching grade B, he had yet to get into combat, and he was itching for a go. He was a noble man and would not bully the players for nothing; plus, Herlous happened to be a senior grade B. It would only be meaningful to spar with a comparable opponent, and it was suitable for him to better understand what his actual strength was.

He could only find trouble… cough , take action confidentially if he had a clear idea.

“Spar?” Herlous only had one thought in his mind. With you?

The grade of Supers was different from cup sizes. The difference between C and B was extremely vast—they were on a completely different level. The fight would be one-sided, and it could only be called a ‘spar’ if the parties had comparable strength.

Herlous was not really willing; he was so strong that he might hurt Han Xiao easily if they fought.

However, he felt that this act of Han Xiao’s was like the other members of the mercenary group—it should be called ‘asking for advice. Herlous suddenly understood. So, that’s what he means… the captain wants some pointers.

“No problem, do you want to make any preparations?” Herlous kindly accepted it. He was happy to tutor his comrades. Plus, Han Xiao’s safety was very important to him—making Han Xiao stronger would mean he could worry lesser.

Han Xiao was not shy at all. He told Herlous to wait for a while, then moved boxes of machines in. He wanted to test all the weapons as a form of respect for an opponent so willing to help.

Originally, Herlous was very calm, but as he saw more and more boxes entering the room, his face started to twitch. When Han Xiao carried a colossal Electromagnetic Rail Cannon prototype in, he uncontrollably took in a breath of cold air and yelled, “Oi! That’s enough!”

With Herlous’ objection, Han Xiao had to give up testing the damage resistance limit of a grade B Pugilist. He put on his Amphiptere mechanical suit and warmed up his body.

Melee combat was a Pugilists’ specialty, and since the space in the simulation room was limited, it was disadvantageous for Han Xiao. Hence, he stood a certain distance away before starting the fight. “Are you ready?”

“Come.” Herlous was very calm; fighting an opponent one grade lower needed no preparation.

Right as Herlous finished his sentence, Han Xiao flipped his hands. Two Electromagnetic Handguns slipped out from his leg armor, and he fired rapidly with Moving Snipe. The muzzle was flashing with blue electric light, and the sound was different from gunpowder weapons—it was a high-frequency buzz with the sound of electric flow. Needle bullets bolted toward Herlous, dragging a faint blue light behind.

His Battleship Slicing Blade rose up in time, blocking in front of Herlous like a shield, making clanks from the collisions. Following which, Herlous’ expression changed a little. “Electromagnetic firearms‽”

The Mechanic’s core ability was to build machinery for combat, and being able to build electromagnetic weapons meant that the attack power was on a new level. Electromagnetic guns had a high fire rate, so he almost could not react to it. Herlous has to take it seriously—although he had energy protection, his body was not some easily replaceable equipment, so he was totally not interested in getting focus fired.

Herlous did not know much about Mechanics, but he knew that only higher-grade mechanics could build weapons with higher technology. Naturally, he was a little confused—could grade C mechanics build stable electromagnetic firearms?

Herlous closed in with his blade in his hand, rushing faster than a sports car. Closing the distance, Han Xiao’s feet slid as he moved back, maintaining the distance. There were many firearms hidden under his armor—a handgun, assault rifle, and sniper—that had all been changed into electromagnetic versions with higher damage.

Herlous was a well-deserved grade B. His reaction speed was extremely fast, and the wide Battleship Slicing Blade was suitable for blocking. Han Xiao fired hundreds of times, but less than five percent hit. Furthermore, the damage of those hits was largely reduced by the Pugilist’s energy coating and strong physic, only dealing skin damage.

Having dealt some damage, Han Xiao saw Herlous’ data panel.

“LV 98, grade B Pugilist, high in both strength and endurance, semi tank, quite a lot of talents, almost as many as me, and all with very strong effects… Damn, this guy has Basic Luck Glow, too.”

Han Xiao was so jealous. According to Herlous’ self-description, he had been very lazy since he was young—he had extraordinary talent but never trained hard. Then, he abandoned combat for more than ten years, yet he still reached grade B. Maybe this was what a genius was like…

Han Xiao could not help but think, If Herlous did not die like in the original storyline, he might have achieved grade A in the end.

This is one hell of a recruit.

As he became stronger, Han Xiao’s mind became faster; even thinking of something else during combat would not distract him.

At this time, Herlous suddenly stopped chasing. His silver flames expanded, then contracted, condensed between his palms, and became a blinding silver-white light.

Boom!

Veins appeared on Herlous’ face, looking very exhausted. Then, with a growl, he pushed his palms forward. The light shot out as energy flew out from his palms continuously. A blinding silver white beam shot out like a furious growling dragon, the light filling Han Xiao’s vision.

Han Xiao placed his arms in front of him, and the next moment, the beam collided with his arms, sending him flying and bashing onto the wall. The beam devoured the outline of his body.

As long as Pugilists learned [Shockwave Blast], they would be able to shoot beams—this was one of the abilities in a Pugilist’s ability Technique Tree, just like the Mechanic’s Knowledge Tree. Compressing energy into a sphere, its power depended on the energy level, the flaw was that it required a lot of energy to use.

Beams had different varieties, and compared to grade C, the beam of grade B was clearly thicker and longer lasting. Even though Herlous reduced the energy output because he was worried about shooting through the wall of the simulation room, the increased damage in the entire places clearly displayed the power of this hit.

“That should be enough… wait, why did I use this?”

Herlous was shocked. His original intention was to tutor, but because he felt a bit threatened during the battle, he subconsciously took Han Xiao as a strong enemy and used a strong attack. He suddenly deeply regretted using such a move—such an energy beam could even hurt grade C Pugilists, not to mention Mechanics.

He was about to stop the energy output, but at that moment, a flash of arc-shaped lightning expanded from within the beam and slashed it open!

Han Xiao jumped high up into the air, with a ferocious black scythe in his hand, and descended from the sky, slashing down!

Herlous immediately raised his blade to block. The scythe crashed down on the Battleship Slicing Blade and caused sparks like a thunderstorm. The friction between metal mixed with the sound of electric currents. He stepped back and dodged, then he saw Han Xiao, who was on the ground. Many parts of his mechanical suit had become red hot, and his whole body was covered in white steam from the high temperature. The energy reaction level was shocking.

Han Xiao twisted his neck and said jokingly, “That was close, almost couldn’t take it.”

Although that was what he said, his tone was casual and calm, filled with confidence, totally not sounding like he was hurt at all.

Herlous’ eyes widened. Someone who could tank a beam undamaged and give out this feeling was absolutely not just grade C.

“You’re a grade B Super‽” Herlous was stunned. You were not this strong back in Sunil!

Han Xiao shrugged. “I’ve improved.”

How many days had passed? And you’ve already advanced a grade! Are you more genius than me‽ Herlous was shocked. He had always known that he was very talented. Although he was not proud of it, when he saw a Super that was even more ‘genius’ than him, he did not feel very good and had very mixed feelings.

“Don’t stop, we’re not done fighting.” Han Xiao reached out his arm and grabbed the air toward the location of an equipment box on the other side. The mechanical suit arm and the box had a magnetic connection, so the summoned item flew over.

In midair, the box opened automatically, and the exoskeleton armor bounced out, hovered over quickly according to the position of the magnetic connection, then covered Amphiptere, turning into the [Siege Mode] like a small giant in the blink of an eye.

There was another benefit to Advanced Electromagnetism—it could make equipment combine automatically through adjusting the magnetism of different parts, increasing the speed of equipping different armor.

Feeling the energy reaction that made his heart retract, Herlous became focused. He adjusted his attitude, and the thought of tutoring was forgotten. “You’re right. Our battle deserves to be called a spar!”

Chapter 362 - Invisible Corner (1)

Upon experiencing the convenience of the automatic binding, Han Xiao could not help but feel good. Magnetic connection is truly convenient.

The exoskeleton armor looked rough and ferocious. It had a mechanic structure of heavy, black alloy armor combined with staggered fangs—the visual impact was very strong. The Siege Mode was focused on power and defense; it was like a train head when moving. The mechanical limbs were large and tough, equipped with a large number of moving gears, adding the bonus of dozens of Strength points and more than 10,000 armor points.

There were always pros and cons—the disadvantage of the Siege Mode was reduced Dexterity. Amphiptere itself was covered by the heavy exoskeleton armor, but luckily, there was the Nerves Connection, so controlling the exoskeleton armor was easy.

His scythe was originally a more than two meters long weapon, but now it was like a harvesting short sickle. Han Xiao charged forward with large steps, and the ground shook. As he slashed again and again, the scythe and the Battleship Slicing Blade collided with each other rapidly.

Clank clank clank!

The Battleship Slicing Blade left marks on the armor. Han Xiao knew Specialized Materials Science, so he had combined Advanced Electromagnetism with it and created a new alloy. It was highly durable and had bonus damage reduction when filled with electric current. The strong materials used for the fusion had very high defensive capabilities. If it was normal iron, it would have been cut in half by Herlous long ago.

The Great Mechanic Han was not so arrogant as to fight a Pugilist head-on in melee combat. He harassed with his Sonic Spheres, of which he could control seven at a time now because his nerves were stronger. He also used many other small weapons to keep attacking.

After fighting for a while, the exoskeleton armor was covered in damage, and Herlous had also been slashed by the scythe a few times—it was basically a draw.

Clank!

After one last collision between the weapons, the two distanced themselves from one another like they could reach each other’s mind and stopped attacking at the same time.

“Great fight.” Han Xiao laughed.

Through this combat, he had a more direct understanding of his own combat power. The bottom line of grade B was 5,000 Ona, and grade A was 10,000 Ona. The calculation of the Ona number was a curve—the higher the number, the bigger the difference between each point. Therefore, the difference between those of the same grade was larger. Even if both were grade B, the destructive power of one with 5,000 Ona and another with 9,000 Ona was completely different.

Han Xiao’s Energy Rank was a little more than 5,300—a novice in grade B. Herlous has been in grade B for many years, but he had abandoned training. Thus, his Energy Rank was about 5,000 as well. However, with Herlous’ talent, he had a lot of room to grow.

Supers with grade B strength were able to basically protect themselves in the galaxy, but it was countless miles away from being able to act completely carelessly. Han Xiao could only better prepare for the future if he knew his strength very clearly.

Herlous took a deep breath and put his weapon away. Sparring should always stop at a suitable point—there was no need to decide a winner. He would not use his trump card, and he knew full well that Han Xiao definitely had more trump cards as a Mechanic. Just through the fight earlier, he had already felt quite the pressure. Han Xiao had numerous attacking methods—like a hedgehog, he could be hurt with just a little bit of carelessness… oh wait, he was already hurt.

He dressed his wounds, and with the Pugilist’s physique, he would recover in a few hours. Black Star was an opponent on the same level as him—Han Xiao’s combat power had earned Herlous’ approval.

Herlous was much less worried about Han Xiao’s safety. Originally, when he realized that he was the strongest in the Black Star Mercenary Group, he had felt somewhat uncertain no matter what. Now that there was finally someone with the same level of combat power, Herlous’ mindset had changed. To put it more directly… originally, he had thought that his teammates were burdens, but now, they gradually turned into reliable friends.

Furthermore, having a friend with the same level of strength meant having common conversation topics. They smiled at each other and felt a sense of trust in one another. The basis of trust could only be built between people with the same level of strength.

Herlous volunteered to help move the equipment boxes, and the two of them walked out the simulation room side by side. Then they came to realize that Frenzied Sword and a few players were waiting outside with surprised faces.

“Black Phantom, you’re so strong!” Stars twinkled in Frenzied Sword’s eyes.

Frenzied Sword was very hardworking, so he had wanted to find Herlous to trigger a tutoring event, but coincidentally, he had witnessed the earlier battle. He was stunned, as the mercenary group only displayed one grade B, Herlous, but Han Xiao had been fighting him evenly earlier. That meant that he had to be a B, too! Frenzied Sword immediately made a logical guess—it must have been because Han Xiao hid it during the test.

In traditional ideals, the leader should be the strongest. Originally, when the captain was not as strong as the newly joined cadre, the players had felt rather weird. Now, Frenzied Sword and the others felt much more comfortable. The Great Mechanic Han’s image was strong and mysterious. In the players’ eyes, he could do all sorts of unbelievable things, and what he just did matched his position in their hearts.

Frenzied Sword was the first follower—he had witnessed Han Xiao’s rising experience step by step. Every time that he saw Han Xiao, he was glad of the choice that he had made. However, after entering the galaxy, Frenzied Sword had been somewhat upset. The team had expanded, and there were more people—he felt neglected.

Back then, Han Xiao gave him these high reward missions with strange requirements every day, and Frenzied Sword could not get enough of it. However, the missions now were too formal—Frenzied Sword missed that feeling…

However, at the same time, he was secretly delighted about it as well. No other players had witnessed these strange missions, not even Hao Tian, Maple Moon, and Bun-Hit-Dog knew what Han Xiao had been like back then. He was the only one to have experienced it. This was a very interesting and fun experience, and he thought back on it often.

Han Xiao raised an eyebrow and took a step to the side discreetly. Somehow, he felt that Frenzied Sword was looking at him weirdly.

“Who’s Black Phantom?” Herlous was confused.

Han Xiao waved. “Don’t mind it, that’s my nickname on my mother planet.”

“Oh, I forgot, you’re famous on your mother planet.” Herlous discreetly decided to find other teammates to know more about Han Xiao’s past. He was very interested.

There were few activities during the trip, and other than occasionally sparring with Herlous, Han Xiao chatted with Gashley whenever he was free to hear more about Sky Ring’s history. They sometimes also talked about the knowledge of traveling through the universe.

Gashley was an experienced mercenary—he had been to many places and had a lot of stories to tell. In terms of words, the Great Mechanic Han never backed off, and in terms of knowledge, ten Gashleys tied together would not be able to match up to him. They chatted happily and had very pleasant conversations, gradually familiarizing themselves with one another.

Most of the formal mercenaries were forthright and liked to make many friends.

Players communicated with the other Sky Ring mercenaries often. When talking about their armor, the Sky Ring mercenaries displayed the effect of the Sky Ring Armor. They were all products of compression technology. By pressing down on the triangular crystal on their chest, the humble Sky Ring combat suit would expand and become various full forms. It was truly gorgeous.

The Sunil Enlistee Class armor paled in comparison, so the players were all shocked and jealous.

Seeing that the players were tempted by their resources, the Sky Ring mercenaries tried to tempt the players privately by promising a free Sky Ring Armor after joining Sky Ring. If their recruitment was successful, the recruiter would be rewarded as well. Recruiting members from other mercenary groups was a very common activity—it was free real estate. Many Sky Ring mercenaries also belonged to other mercenary groups originally, and they had been attracted to Sky Ring due to their better offer.

However, this did not work on the players at all. Tempted did not mean shaken; they were still waiting for better things to appear in the mercenary group shop. One day, there might be Sky Ring Armor in the Black Star shop too. Therefore, they were in no hurry. These players trusted Han Xiao very much.

The private invitations were all rejected, and the Sky Ring mercenaries were very surprised. They had not expected the mercenaries under Black Star to be so loyal, and shock naturally turned into respect for the group.

When Han Xiao heard this from Bun-Hit-Dog, he felt warm inside. The faction unity was starting to shape slowly. This group of players had backbone.

…

At the same time, among some asteroid belt in the Fawn Galaxy, a few scavenger spaceships were moving stealthily. They kept the information disruption force field activated at all times, maintaining their Stealth mode. This was the scavenger organization that had attacked the Silvers. It was a slave trader that often sold slaves—they were notorious for their ruthless acts in the Shattered Star Ring.

The hold of one of the spaceships consisted of prison cells used exclusively for containing slaves. This group of scavengers had done quite a number of jobs before they attacked the Silvers. The not so valuable ‘goods’ were locked together, and the valuable slaves were imprisoned alone. Naturally, the seventeen captured Silvers were imprisoned alone.

A golden-skinned, messy-haired man walked into the prison area with a very gloomy look on his face. He was the leader of this group of scavengers, Peggy, a hybrid Godoran. The blood running through his veins was only one-eighth Godoran, but his appearance was still very similar to that of a Godoran. The Godoran genes were indeed very strong. He had tiny scales on different places on his skin and vertical pupils like a snake, suggesting that he had some kind of Snakeman genes.

The prisoners in the large cell immediately became riled up when they saw him.

“Let me out!”

“I’m an explorer of Holy Stone Civilization, how dare you detain me! Let me go now, or I will…”

“Who are you going to sell us to?”

The prisoners were very noisy, but Peggy ignored them completely. He skipped the large cell area and walked into the corridor of the single person cells. He had yet to do a routine interrogation after catching these Silvers—it was now time to test the ‘goods’.

Chapter 363 - Invisible Corner (2)

The Shattered Star Ring was filled with criminals, so it was very rare to see visitors from other Star Fields. Yet, there were still people who came.

Peggy asked eleven of them in a row, and the results were mostly the same. These Silvers were all friends and travelers, wanting to witness the edge of the visible universe, and Shattered Star Ring was one of the edges of the visible universe. They had passed by and had unfortunately been abducted by Peggy.

He walked into the next cell, and the Silver inside was somewhat different. The others would at least shiver a little when they heard the cell door open, but this guy was very calm and did not move at all. It was like he was not a prisoner but a guest of this ship.

“Are you the leader?” This Silver spoke first, his tone very calm. “I’m willing to buy my freedom with money. You can decide any price.”

“I’m not interested.” Peggy was expressionless. His spaceship maintained information disruption to prevent getting located, to prevent risks, so they would not let the slaves use their communicators before they were safe.

With a wave of his hand, his subordinate walked forward and frisked the Silver’s body. This Silver struggled violently and yelled with rage, “I have a lot of money! Aren’t you selling slaves for money‽”

Suddenly, a scavenger subordinate discovered something. He tore his shirt open and took out a tiny black bead from his lining. This Silver immediately became much more violent and wanted to pounce over to snatch back the black bead, but he was pressed strongly on the floor, only able to growl furiously.

“What’s this?” Peggy took the black bead from his subordinate and squeezed it. It was very hard, and the surface of the bead was emanating a deep light with a tint of magical glow.

“Give it back to me! I’m an emissary of DarkStar; this belongs to the DarkStar. If you dare take it away, destruction and death will fall upon you!” this man yelled angrily.

“DarkStar?” Peggy laughed coldly. “You did your homework well. Despite being far away in the Sea of Star Spirits, you know there’s a DarkStar organization in our Shattered Star Ring. I didn’t joint DarkStar even though I’m a hybrid Godoran, you want to scare me? Do you think I’m easily fooled?”

Peggy saw DarkStar as the great pioneer of liberation, and he had always wanted to join, but because DarkStar was too mysterious, he never could come into contact with them. If DarkStar gave him orders, he would willingly give his life.

Silvers were far in the Sea of Star Spirits, how could they possibly have any connection with DarkStar. He had caught them out of nowhere, and this guy happened to be the so-called ’emissary’? How could it be so coincidental! It was nothing but intimidation—Peggy had seen it way too many times.

“Seeing that you’re so nervous, this bead must be valuable. I’ll take it.”

Peggy pocketed the bead and planned to find someone to identify it when he was free. He brought his subordinates along and left the cell, then closed the gate.

Outside the door, the subordinate licked his lips. His face was filled with greed as he said, “A Silver has never appeared on the slave market of Shattered Star Ring before. It will definitely sell for a good price—this is a huge profit. Boss, who are we selling them to?”

“I’ve contacted the customer,” Peggy said. “We’re going to Floating Dragon Island.”

The subordinate widened his eyes. “that’s that man’s territory!”

“The customer this time is that guy’s subordinate, very generous with money.” Peggy had a gloomy smile as he walked away.

In the prison cell, this Silver was furious. He cursed in his mind, Damn scavengers! Luckily, the Secret Message Bead can only be opened with a password. They can’t take out what’s inside…

…

Star Zone 4, Fawn—Planet Number 122—was a planet without an owner or civilization. The Silvers that sent out the missions were camping there. Since their call for aid, numerous mercenary spaceships had arrived on this lifeless planet, and all sorts of spaceships surrounded the middle and shaped a base. In the heart of it was the Silvers’ traveling spaceship.

Gashley’s spaceship landed slowly, and Han Xiao and the others swarmed out to look around.

The base was filled with voices—most of them were mercenary groups. The Silvers’ mission had attracted many renowned mercenaries in the Shattered Star Ring.

Gashley brought the others toward the main team. They arrived below an even larger spaceship, and about a hundred Sky Ring mercenaries were gathered here. Han Xiao looked up—this spaceship had the Sky Ring symbol on it, too.

“You’re finally here.” A tall woman wearing hooded robe walked over.

It was the Three-Ring Level cadre [Ice Sorcerer], original name Goa, leader of the Sky Ring for this mission. She had light blue long hair, a cold nature, and a void-like voice, just like ice. This was a Mage—although Han Xiao could not feel the magic flowing in her, he could feel the coldness from her.

Seems like she’s an ice element Mage, Han Xiao thought.

Just like the Mechanic class, the Mage class also had complicated knowledge and a variety of styles. Ice mages were hard to deal with, and they had all sorts of annoying skills like slow, freeze, and stiffen.

Goa glanced at Gashley. She saw Han Xiao and the others beside and asked with a frown, “Who are they?”

“Black Star Mercenary Group. We just made a partnership agreement, so they’re here to help,” Gashley said.

“Never heard of them before.” Goa shook her head.

Han Xiao was not bothered. Black Star Mercenary Group’s name was limited to Juberly Hub; it was far from being famous. Compared to Sky Ring, his mercenary group was not noticeable at all.

Goa thought that they were just a bunch of sidekicks, but suddenly, she felt a sense of danger. The senses of a mage reminded her that she had met someone strong, only then did she start to seriously size Han Xiao and the others up. She noticed that two of them had very active cell energy in them.

“Two grade B Supers…” Goa’s expression changed a little. Although grade B Supers were rather common, they were not everywhere. Even in Sky Ring, grade B Supers were at least Three-Ring Level cadres, and this mercenary group with only dozens of members had two grade B Supers; the ratio was very high.

She was the only grade B in this team, their high-level combat power was not even as high as this small mercenary group.

Goa stopped looking at them and said, “Our employer has hired many mercenaries—they’re not short of combat power. However, the situation right now is not very good… Since everyone is here, let’s head over there first. We’ll speak on the way.”

They walked to the Silver’s ship, and Goa explained the current situation.

This Silver had spent a large sum to hire mercenaries to save his captured friends—he was very generous indeed, but the mercenaries still had yet to start. They were stuck at an awkward stage—no one knew the enemies’ location! The scavengers that had attacked the Silvers were nowhere to be found, so no matter how many mercenaries gathered, there was nowhere to start.

Such intelligence lacking missions were very troublesome. The mercenaries used various detection methods, but that group of scavengers had turned on information disruption and could not be located. They did not leave many traces during their crime either. Although they knew that the scavengers would be fencing, they did not know where they would be going to.

If they were further delayed, the people of his race would be sold already. The surviving Silver was very anxious, and he released new requirements. If anyone could provide effective location information, he would give a generous bonus.

“Other than us, Blades and Purple Gold are here, too. Purple Gold went to find a fortune teller, so the enemies’ location might be discovered,” Goa said.

The Blades Army and the Purple Gold Army, two large mercenary armies as large as Sky Ring, were also active in the Shattered Star Ring. The rewards for this mission were divided into two parts, the base reward and bonus reward. The base reward was the hiring fee, and the mercenaries that saved the captives would be given a bonus that was multiple times the base reward. Therefore, in these missions, the relationship between the mercenaries was not only comrades but competitors as well.

Formal mercenaries competed with dignity—they would not burden each other on purpose, or their reputation would be damaged.

Usually, when the enemy could not be located and there were no better detection devices, mysterious foreseeing methods might have an unexpected good result. These abilities required very special talents and strict rules, so they were rare.

The players could not awaken foreseeing type powers. Even if they could learn fortune telling in the Mage class, they would only receive very little information when they used it, so it had a lot of limitations.

The people met the Blades’ team halfway, and they walked with each other. Goa and the leader of Blades chatted casually as they led the way.

Both large mercenary groups had their own uniforms. They chatted with the people they knew, and Han Xiao and the others were conspicuous in the middle of these two groups of people, as those around them sized up this unknown mercenary group.

“Who are they?”

“Seems like Sky Ring’s help, think they’re called something like Black Star Mercenary Group. Small group, not well known.”

“Here to watch probably.”

The mercenaries chatted among themselves, and the players felt uncomfortable. They felt like they did not fit into this crowd at all.

On the way, Han Xiao was pondering on what to do next. He did not know if Goa had plans to hire him, but he did not want to come for nothing. Since they were already there, he did not want to return empty handed.

Many renowned mercenaries of the Shattered Star Ring have gathered here on this planet. I came too late, and I have yet to make a name for myself. It looks like I can’t play a part here.

This was an event that he had not come into contact before, so he had to improvise.

Just as he was thinking, they came to the middle of the base. The Silver appeared in their sights—they had snow white skin, long and cute tentacles above their heads, and stunning clothes made of unknown material that was soft and smooth, and bottom half of the face was covered by an air filtration mask.

This was the first time that the players had seen a ‘Universe Royalty’. They looked here and there and did not realize what was so ‘royal’ about them. It felt no different from other weird looking galactic races.

“If a civilization is strong and ancient enough, the race ruling it will, of course, be royalty. The others will look up to their hobbies as a royal standard. This is an issue regarding societal positions, nothing much to do with their physique.” Han Xiao patted Herlous on his shoulder.

“What did you pat me for?” Herlous rolled his eyes. About this topic, the Sunil clearly did not want to talk to you about it.

The Silver spaceship captain was negotiating with the mercenaries, and he said, “I hope you can quickly set off to save my friends. It’s been delayed for too long; if you people continue to slack, you will not receive any reward.”

“We don’t know the enemies’ location. All detective and tracking methods are no use, and you also did not give us any valuable intel. Thus, we can only wait temporarily. However, do not worry, our friends have already gone to invite a fortune teller. As long as you keep your promise and give the intel provider the bonus reward, I believe that there will soon be a result,” a mercenary said.

“You people of Shattered Star Ring are really greedy and primitive,” the Silver spaceship captain complained. “I dislike this place. No matter what, I just want results—money is not a problem.”

Whoosh!

The wind rolled up the sand, and another spaceship had landed. The Purple Gold Army’s symbol was printed on its body. The crowd split apart, and Purple Gold Army’s team walked down the ship and approached. Beside the leader was a sorcery fortune teller carrying a crystal ball, also a member of the Purple Gold Army, hurrying over from galaxies away for this mission.

Chapter 364 - Floating Dragon Island

The fortune teller held onto the magical crystal ball and mumbled, while the Silvers and the mercenaries watched and exchanged looks.

“Will fortune-telling even work?” Herlous asked. A target that all kinds of detection devices could not find, and a fortune teller could just lock onto it like that? Sunil was a technological civilization, so they had very limited knowledge of sorcery. They had only heard about it and never understood how it worked, so it was normal to be doubtful.

Han Xiao touched his chin. “That depends, there are many strange things in the universe. Something that technology devices can’t do, sorcery can, and vice versa. Of course, as they both improve, the different systems will gradually have more similarities, and it all leads to the same place. The fortune telling of the Mage class is quite useful.”

“Can’t you use your foreseeing ability?” Herlous suddenly remembered that there was a foreseer standing right beside him.

“Mine is passive, passive…” Han Xiao dry coughed and gave a logical explanation.

About ten minutes into the mumbling, a blurred image appeared on the magical crystal ball, and the fortune teller stopped chanting. The fortune teller stared at the crystal for a while, then rubbed his eyes and said unsurely, “I saw a Void Dragon race…”

The crowd was stunned.

Void Dragon race?

What are you talking about‽

The clarity of the fortune telling results depended on the number of traces. Most of the time it would be ambiguous, but it would definitely be related to the truth. The fortune teller said, “I can only see this result, do you have any leads?”

The mercenaries surrounded the crystal ball and discussed, while Goa frowned and said suddenly, “Could it be… Floating Dragon Island?”

The crowd stopped their discussion instantly when they heard this. It was like someone pressed the mute button, and the mercenaries quietened down and exchanged looks. A tint of horror even appeared on their faces.

“Very possible… if there’s any organization in the Shattered Star Ring unafraid of revenge, Floating Dragon Island is one of them.”

Maple Moon noticed how stiff the people were. She tugged on Han Xiao’s sleeve and asked curiously, “What kind of place is that?”

Han Xiao squinted his eyes and said, “Wanted criminals can’t get supplies from lawful civilization’s planets, but some neutral territories dare to take in galactic pirates, scavengers, and other criminals. Floating Dragon Island is one such neutral territory.”

“Then isn’t that a gathering ground of criminals? Why don’t these civilizations just get rid of all of them at once?” Bun-Hit-Dog cut in.

“Not to pursue one’s past sins in neutral territories, this is the unspoken rules between the civilizations in Shattered Star Ring because of one and only one reason—these long-lasting neutral territories all have a strong ruler.” Han Xiao seemed to have remembered something interesting. The edges of his lips rose up as he said, “The ruler of Floating Dragon Island… is someone beyond Calamity Grade!”

Beyond Calamity Grade… which means higher than grade A‽

The players’ faces changed. They finally understood why these mercenaries all had such grave expressions.

They knew absolutely nothing of the strong people of this grade, but Han Xiao knew very clearly.

If grade A was a calamity at a planet-scale, above grade A was a whole new level, more than enough to become the king of an area through the galaxy. Not many civilizations wanted to mess with someone of this level. For example, at her peak, Hila could reap the souls of every life on an entire planet in seconds, making an entire planet deadly silent!

When the strength of a single being reached such a level, there were not many rules that could restrict them anymore. Some galactic civilizations could not do anything to them even if they used the power of their entire race. It was horrifying indeed…

Luckily, there were few monsters at this level even throughout the entire universe. In the Shattered Star Ring, there were only four known beings beyond grade A, fearsomely famous and lonely.

The ruler of Floating Dragon Island was one of them, and Han Xiao happened to be very familiar with that guy. In his previous life, the Great Mechanic Han had once come into contact with that guy due to a mission.

Void Dragons were galactic beings, and their bodies were tens of thousands of meters long. They lived in the universe, and the dark energy everywhere to them was like air to humans and water to fish. The bodies of Void Dragons contained special powers, and when they died, their flesh would turn into ice shards and ash, leaving an enormous skeleton floating in the universe, turning into a comet.

When they reached close to the end of their life expectancy, the Void Dragon race would wait for its death beside the corpse of one of its race, hence forming a graveyard in the form of comets. Floating Dragon Island was a large graveyard. It was rumored to have twenty-four sets of Void Dragon skeletons, captured by its current ruler then embedded into the surface of an empty planet, the ruler then used their great strength to tear away a part of the land, equipping it with all kinds of anti-gravitational, ecological maintenance devices, maintaining its galactic voyage, turning into the Floating Dragon Island it was now.

Back then, when Han Xiao knew about this, other than being shocked his biggest conclusion was… that dragon was damn rich!

The people contemplated. According to the fortune telling results, the scavengers were most likely going to fence their goods on Floating Dragon Island, so many mercenaries wanted to back away.

“Sorry, I’m quitting this mission.” The captain of one of the middle size mercenary groups made the decision after long consideration. With him as the first, more mercenaries followed and left. Spaceships took off one after another and disappeared.

Floating Dragon Island was a gathering ground for criminals, an extremely dangerous place that place did not really welcome formal mercenaries. They might just bump into their enemy there. Furthermore, saving someone in that kind of place… if they broke the rules accidentally and enraged the ruler, it would be a problem to even make it out alive. Most of the mercenaries wimped out.

The Silver was angry and shocked. The action of these mercenaries going back on their word made them furious.

Only Sky Ring, Blades, and Purple Gold were left. These three groups had a strong background—at least the criminals in Floating Dragon Island would not dare to touch them. It was certainly different to have the confidence since they had relationship and background.

Here comes the chance! Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled. The Silver would definitely be in shortage of manpower, so he stood out of the crowd and said with a smile, “Do you still need mercenaries?”

The three large mercenary groups looked over. The Silver spaceship captain nodded immediately—it was really a timely offer. These renowned mercenaries were just full of promises to save the captives moments ago, yet they all wimped when they heard the location. What good did their accumulated good name do? They did not even match up to this uninvited mercenary group!

Goa frowned and said, “Floating Dragon Island is filled with brutes, pirates, and scavengers everywhere. It’s very dangerous, and even though you’re our partner, Sky Ring’s name cannot protect you. If you get killed, it will be for nothing. That place is too dangerous for you guys, so it’s best you reconsider.”

From what they saw, eighty percent of this small mercenary group’s confidence to do this mission was because they were Sky Ring’s partner, but she felt that she had to make things clear.

If a direct member was killed, Sky Ring would take revenge, so the brutes would consider before they did anything. However, although partners could act alongside them, if they were killed, Sky Ring would not stand up for them. That was the difference.

“No worries, my people are not afraid of danger.” Han Xiao smiled, and his impression of this female mage became better. They clearly could just hire them as combat power, yet she actively explained the dangers involved—although she seemed cold, she was actually quite kind.

Chapter 365 - Don’t Wimp, Just Do It

This time, Gashley explained softly, “There’s no need to worry, all of Black Star’s people can revive.”

“What‽” Goa was shocked. She did not know about Han Xiao’s team previously. Only after she listened to Gashley’s introduction did she understand the uniqueness of Black Star Mercenary Group. “A group of undying, no wonder they have the right to become Sky Ring’s partner…”

She did not continue her attempt to persuade Han Xiao anymore.

Han Xiao suddenly had an idea, and he said, “We only know that Floating Dragon Island is the location, but we don’t know the scavengers’ identity, nor do we know who they’re dealing with. It would still be finding a needle in a haystack—do you have any other ways?”

The Purple Gold Army fortune teller shook his head, saying that his fortune telling could not divine such details.

Han Xiao was relieved. He coughed and started acting. “I’m a foreseer, too, and I felt something just now and noticed some new clues.”

The people were surprised, and they looked over.

Han Xiao remembered that he still had the Character Summon Card of Destiny’s Child, and there were five more usages, so he could just give it a try. He asked, “If I can provide reliable intel, is there any other reward?”

The Silver spaceship captain nodded and said, “Of course there is.”

“I want to suggest a reward.”

“What do you want?”

“Mechanic class advancement knowledge.” Han Xiao smiled; this was a good opportunity to make a request.

The Silvers discussed for a while and agreed to Han Xiao’s request. Far away in the Sea of Star Spirits, class advancement knowledges were not that precious—they were basically everywhere. He just had to tell a friend back there, and it could be sent over immediately—it would not even cost them anything.

Upon getting the confirmation, Han Xiao used his Destiny’s Child Card. His vision changed, entering a blurry image, and he saw some bits and pieces.

After losing focus for a while, Han Xiao’s vision recovered. Destiny’s Child’s ability was very promising, so Han Xiao already knew the customer’s rough appearance. They just had to ask around, and they should be able to find the target.

He described the intel, and the Silver sent the appointed class advancement knowledge into his communicator.

Han Xiao used his potential points to learn it immediately, and a new knowledge entered his mind.

_____________________

You have learned [Rapid Assembly]!

_____________________

This is the difference… Han Xiao sighed. A knowledge that he could not even learn in the Shattered Star Ring, the Silver could transfer it to him easily. That was the civilization difference, and even he was tempted to kidnap these Silvers.

But it was just a thought. He threw that suicidal idea away very quickly. He now had a faction base, and he did not want to become someone who was chased around everywhere.

After the hiring procedures were completed, Han Xiao requested for the other two class advancement knowledge regarding compression technology as well. Seeing that Han Xiao was the captain, Silver agreed with all of it—Supers looking for new knowledge was very common.

A mission was triggered on his interface, and the basic reward was one of the knowledges required for compression technology. If he successfully saved the hostages, he would then receive the other knowledge. The experience reward was more than 4,000,000, plus some monetary reward.

And the players’ reward was only money.

After settling everything, without further ado, Han Xiao and the others boarded Sky Ring’s spaceship and followed the three large mercenary groups to Floating Dragon Island.

…

In an unknown region of the Shattered Star Ring was a DarkStar base, where the Superiors of the DarkStar organization were having an emergency meeting.

“The carrier this time was kidnapped.”

“Did Godora notice our plan?”

“No, this is just an accident. The people over there chose the carrier to be a Silver, and he was kidnapped by a slave trader.”

“That’s good then. The intel shows that the fence location seems to be Floating Dragon Island. What do we do?”

“Send people over to rob those bought slaves. Find the carrier and retrieve the cargo. If outsiders don’t have the password, they can’t take out the Mutation Source and the Super-Gene Extractor inside. These two things cost the organization a lot, so they cannot be lost.”

“Who do we send to carry out the mission?”

“Since it’s this important, let [Ember] go. He has yet to fail since joining DarkStar.”

Not long after, a stealth spaceship left the DarkStar base and headed toward Floating Dragon Island.

…

“Only paid for fifteen Silvers?”

Peggy was already very close to Floating Dragon Island. He contacted the customer again and came to know of the new request. There were seventeen Silvers in the spaceship, so two of them unsold. He thought about it, then told his subordinate to bring two Silvers to him. One of them was that carrier that called himself the DarkStar emissary.

In front of the hatch at the side of the spaceship, two Silvers were kneeling before Peggy. Scavengers surrounded the two of them, anticipating a good show.

“Open the hatch,” Peggy said.

A subordinate opened the inner hatch, but the outer hatch remained closed. The two Silvers saw this and guessed what the scavengers were about to do. They were terrified and struggled more violently, but they were firmly pressed down.

Peggy signaled for the other Silver to be moved out of the inner hatch. The inner hatch then closed, and the outer hatch opened. The body of this Silver was exposed in vacuum. He slowly floated away as his eyes bulged and his limbs moved everywhere. After struggling for a while, his organs shattered, and he tragically died.

“Hahahaha…” The scavengers laughed out loud as they saw this from the windows. This was the entertainment of scavengers.

The carrier Silver panicked and said, “Aren’t you going to sell me? I’m very valuable! I have a lot of money to pay for myself, why do you want to kill me‽”

Peggy’s eyes were dark and cold, his face twisted. “You’re my property, so I can do anything I want to you. I dislike it when people bargain with me, and I dislike high up races like yours even more. Every time I see people like you, I’m reminded of the pureblood Godora *ssholes. Arrogant people all deserve to die.”

As he said that, he waved again. The subordinates did the same thing—they threw this Silver out as well, and he died rapidly in a vacuum.

The spaceship then sped up and left the area right away, leaving only two Silver corpses floating in the cold universe.

…

At the same time, the spaceships of the mercenary groups were about to land on the other side of Floating Dragon Island.

This was a land that sailed in the universe, like a galactic island. It had many stabilizers and accelerators at its base, and a translucent sphere covered the entire floating island, maintaining the atmosphere and gravity.

The construction style of Floating Dragon Island was rough. It had a city that looked like an enormous dragon spreading its wings when looking down from above, and many mechanical digging devices were fixed on the ground. The drills acquired the Void Dragon skeletons underground—it was a very valuable material.

Countless ferocious looking modified spaceships were docked at the pier, painted with different symbols. These all belonged to scavengers and galaxy pirates. There were quite a number of them who were rather notorious, such as these with a wanted reward of more than 100,000 Enas.

The mercenary group spaceships landed successfully, after going through the procedures, the people walked into the city together, criminals with anarchic looks could be seen on the streets everywhere.

The three large mercenary groups all wore uniforms, which attracted a lot of attention. Many criminals were openly sizing them up.

The air was filled with hostility, sending chills down spines. Because they knew that there was danger everywhere, they had all equipped themselves fully back on the ship before they came. The players wore Sunil Enlistee Class armor, and Han Xiao wore Amphiptere.

The three large mercenary groups did a wide range of businesses, so they had made quite a few enemies. Although these people were looking at them with hatred, they did not dare to do anything due to their fear of the name of these three large mercenary group. On the other hand, Han Xiao and the others who clearly did not belong to the three large mercenary groups attracted more attention.

Frowning, Herlous said softly, “Black Star, I’m feeling the stares from at least three Supers of the same grade. They are looking at us like they want to eat us.”

Han Xiao smiled and said, “We’re walking with the people of Sky Ring, Blades, and Purple Gold. Of course, these brutes will transfer their hatred naturally onto us. See, these people are the role models.”

Looking over following Han Xiao’s finger, a group of galactic pirates leaned against the war and pointed at them while they were chatting, their eyes filled with hostility. The leader of the pirates spat out phlegm, which happened to land on Maple Moon’s armor as she was at the edge of the team. Their expression was fearless.

“Then aren’t we in more danger?” Herlous was shocked.

“Do you know what’s called full resource utilization?” Han Xiao smiled.

Before Herlous could react, Han Xiao suddenly bent his legs and bounce started his dash toward that group of galactic pirates. Without a single word, the scythe extended, and he slashed down.

These pirates did not expect this at all—they fired hastily.

Ding ding ding!

Fire sparks flew, and the bullets were all deflected by Amphiptere mechanical suit. Han Xiao was like a grim reaper; he slashed sideways and cut four pirates into half, blood splashing onto the floor!

“You’re asking for it!” The pirate leader was right beside them. He furiously pulled out a war axe with flame enchantment and slammed the axe down on Han Xiao. This was a grade C Pugilist.

Han Xiao’s hands grabbed the axe tightly—it could not even move an inch further. He shook the scythe, and its blade expanded into electromagnetic chain blades, which tied the body of the pirate leader like a rope. Then, he activated Flaming Will, and the scythe tightened strongly.

Swoosh!

The health bar of this pirate leader was drained instantly. Without being able to scream, he was chopped into pieces right away!

Herlous was stunned.

The last second, they had still been chatting, but the next second, he had gone out killing. Was he really this prone to fits of anger‽

Chapter 366 - Slave Market

As a neutral territory, there were not just criminals in the Floating Dragon Island; there were also residents, workers, and troops that the ruler used to maintain security called the Dragon Guards. This was a chaotic place, but no matter what, they had to pay a tax when entering the island, representing their respect for the ruler. No one dared break this rule.

Floating Dragon Island was a typical low-security area. Combat there was allowed. As long as residents and workers were not killed and buildings were not destroyed, the Dragon Guards would never bother about outsiders killing each other. The atmosphere there was lawless, chaotic, and brutal. The city did not have a proper city plan, and the buildings were all over the place. There was no sun or moon in the sky, only lights from the city lighting up the floating island, making the sky a patchwork of darkness and colorful radiance.

Villains liked this place, not just because this was a neutral supply site—they also liked the rules there. As long as they did not cross the line of the Dragon Guards, they could use violence as much as they wanted. In this place, killing and being killed both did not seem like a big deal.

Han Xiao’s sudden act of violence caused a chain reaction. The sound of machines sounded in the street, and the entire street’s brutes raised their guns and aimed at him, looking ferocious as if they were going to rush forward anytime.

At this time, all the people from the three large mercenary groups drew their weapons, not taking any steps back, and surrounded Han Xiao to back him up. They displayed their strong attitude to protect their friends.

The villains suddenly hesitated. Overcome by fear, they sheathed their weapons and backed off unwillingly. Other than not wanting to be in trouble with the three large mercenary groups, the Dragon Guards would also appear if their battle became too intense.

Stared at by villains from all directions, the hundreds of mercenaries walked past this street, and only then did they sheathe their weapons. They continued walking forward, and no one expressed any opinion about what had just happened, like it was just the most common thing.

Goa glanced at Han Xiao and did not blame his sudden action at all.

All the mercenaries backed them up, and no one took it as a big deal—it was a cooperation that needed no explanation. Not just Herlous, even the players were shocked.

“Keeping a low profile is useless here,” Han Xiao said. “You have to flash your claws and fangs to intimidate potential enemies. There is also an unspoken cooperation sense in the mercenary industry. Every mercenary on the same mission is a trustworthy teammate. As long as the trouble is not way out of line, everyone will be with you. What concerns you also concerns me.

“Furthermore, killing some criminals here is a norm, and it was a good way to express our toughness. No one will say anything about it.”

Han Xiao had skipped the quarreling and talking part straight away and jumped to fighting because, here, if something could be settled with violence, there was no need to talk.

Herlous now understood what Han Xiao meant by full resource utilization. They were acting together with the three huge mercenary groups, so they had the number advantage. Thus, it was a suitable chance for them to show their fists.

This unspoken cooperation instantly made the players feel closer to the mercenaries.

Deep into the city of Floating Dragon Island, there were far fewer criminals on the streets. They locked onto the target’s identity through the customer that Han Xiao described from his foresight—Horlaide, the owner of a local slave market and also the subordinate of a certain direct descendant of the Floating Dragon Island ruler. He managed a part of the business.

“Now this is tough. He’s Floating Dragon Island’s ruler’s subordinate, so if we rob him of his slaves, it will be disrespectful to the ruler…”

On the streets, the leaders of the mercenary group gathered and discussed the issue. Sky Ring, Blades, and Purple Gold gave Han Xiao enough respect, so the four of them were discussing the action plan.

The current situation was quite a problematic one. Although the three large mercenary groups did not fear any criminals there, they did not dare mess with Floating Dragon Island’s ruler.

“People of Floating Dragon Island cannot be enraged, or we will certainly be dead. We have to think of a plan,” the leader of Blades, Porter, said in a very firm tone.

The Purple Gold’s leader, Cerleni, contemplated and said, “If Horlaide has already bought the Silvers, we cannot snatch them back with violence. The best way would be to rob the captives first before Horlaide makes the payment. Since we know who the customer is, we can wait for the scavengers to arrive, set up an ambush in advance, then snatch the captives back when they are still on their way. This way, we will not have a direct conflict with Horlaide.”

“Then,” Goa said, “firstly, we have to confirm if Horlaide has already received the captives. As long as he has yet to buy the captives, this plan is workable. We have to contact him… but if we contact him as mercenaries, it might raise suspicion. A buyer will not want someone to have an eye on what he wants to buy. The Dragon Guards might cause trouble for us.”

This plan had a prerequisite, which was that Han Xiao’s foresight was reliable. Since they did not have many clues, they could only choose to believe. Anyway, if the intel was incorrect, Han Xiao would not be able to escape the responsibility, and since someone was taking the blame, the other three leaders had no problem with it.

Han Xiao recommended himself and said, “I’m experienced, so I can disguise myself as a buyer to test him.”

The three leaders thought that this could work. They made a simple plan—Han Xiao changed into the face simulator, took off his mechanical suit, and changed his clothes. He now looked like a captain of a galactic spaceship—this kind of customer was very common.

The slave market was not dirty or messy, but luxurious and gorgeous instead. Any information about the slaves was displayed in books for customers to choose from.

The Floating Dragon Island had its middleman in the slave business. They bought slaves from scavengers and sold them to the large customers.

“I want to buy some slaves…”

As soon as he entered the market, Han Xiao expressed his intention, disguising himself as a normal customer. A fatty approached and introduced him to slaves of different races—there were many varieties.

After not really listening for a while, Han Xiao purposely acted as if he was unsatisfied and said, “I don’t want these rough deformities, and I don’t want these cheap low-class slaves. I want to see what rare species you have here. Do you not have anything worthy of such standard?”

At this time, a short and skinny guy walked over, wearing luxurious clothes. His fingers and neck were covered in many expensive pieces of jewelry. He smiled and said, “Hehehe, of course, I have the good stuff here.”

“Who are you?” Han Xiao asked.

“Horlaide, the manager of the slave market. Trust me, the things here can definitely satisfy your needs.” Horlaide did not have any doubts. He was very passionate toward customers.

Han Xiao sized him up, then nodded. Seeing Horlaide make a hand sign for ‘follow me’, Han Xiao followed behind him. The two of them took the lift to the bottom floor, and a white corridor full of twists and turns appeared in their vision. There was a pure white alloy gate every so often, and the gate had a small window in it.

After walking to it, only then did Han Xiao realize it was all single cells behind the gates. Inside was fully white and very clean, and there were many different creatures.

“Please allow me to introduce you to these high-quality slaves…” Horlaide smiled confidently and explained smoothly. Han Xiao occasionally responded as he observed every slave in the cells. Most of them had a numb face, and some of them were scratching the walls in rage. Quite a number of them were Supers—the slaves here were indeed more valuable and precious.

The corridor end came very soon, but there were no Silvers in those hundred or so cells.

Horlaide stopped the introduction and asked, “Who have you picked?”

Han Xiao dry coughed and said, “Are there any other goods?”

“Haha, looks like you’re a picky customer; I love a challenge.” Horlaide laughed in a very exaggerated way, then snapped his fingers and said, “There’s one last good product. She can definitely satisfy your requirements.”

The wall at the end of the corridor opened, showing a new space. Seeing that, Han Xiao felt relieved. There was only one cell, and it did not look like it had Silvers inside, which meant that these captives had yet to arrive on Floating Dragon Island.

He walked up, looked at the window curiously, and suddenly his stopped breathing completely subconsciously. Inside was a woman whose beauty was almost unbelievable; from the aesthetic standpoint of humans, she had an almost perfect face. The Great Mechanic Han was astounded by the very first look.

This woman looked very young. She had long hair, and covered in blurry stardust, she looked almost ‘transcendent’. She appeared to be a normal Galaxy Human Race. She wore heavy alloy cuffs all over her body, a type of cuff specially made for Supers. The material used could make energy flow slower to a certain extent, making it hard to control it, hence reducing Supers’ explosive power. She wore a self-destructive collar, so any strange movements would decimate her skull.

Yet, this woman was very calm. Completely different from other slaves, she was neither numb nor enraged. She closed her eyes and sat in the corner, very relaxed, not caring about the situation that she was currently in at all.

When Han Xiao was observing her, this woman opened her eyes in a flash, and a pair of attractive eyes that looked like they contained the sea and the galaxy looked into Han Xiao’s eyes. She was staring into the one-way window in the prison, but it was like she knew someone outside the window was looking at her.

Looks like a very strong Super… Han Xiao thought and went back to being calm. When he was shocked by her beauty, it had been a completely subconscious reaction. He got rid of this emotion very quickly, and after looking at her, he realized that he did not know this woman.

Just as he was about to look elsewhere, a new mission was triggered in the interface! The trigger was obviously this woman!

Chapter 367 - Aroshia

_____________________

You have triggered the mission [Visitor from Afar].

Mission Introduction: From your first look at her, these eyes were already printed on your heart and soul, mysterious like the fog. Like a dark well, a deep abyss, a voice appeared in your heart—you want to bring this woman away.

Mission Requirements: Save her from the slave market and stay by her side for 6 days.

Reward: 1,800,000 Experience, one unknown reward.

_____________________

Is this mission introduction an introduction to a love game‽ Han Xiao was covered in goosebumps.

Just one look triggered the mission—this woman was certainly not ordinary. He had never seen this character in his previous life, so he had completely no impression of her. Maybe back then no player discovered her, so she was one of the hidden characters that had not been exposed.

“What’s special about her?” Han Xiao asked.

“The projector shows her body structure is not a normal universe race,” Horlaide said. “She has the blood of some kind of an ancient creature in her body, and no match could be found. It’s unknown what race hybrid is she. Through the energy detector examination, the energy reaction in her body far exceeds normal creatures, and it fluctuates. The lowest is at least at grade C Super level, and the highest even went beyond grade B…”

“Why is such a strong Super controlled by you people?” Han Xiao was surprised. He pointed at the cuffs and self-destructive collar and said, “These things can’t kill a grade B Super.”

Horlaide rubbed on his ring and said with a smile, “Of course, we don’t have the ability to control Supers above grade C, but she doesn’t know how to use the energy in her body. She has no combat power; plus, it was her own choice to stay here.”

Han Xiao was stunned in place.

“There are some problems with her memory, so she can’t remember most of her experiences, only language, but her intelligence level is not like an infant. She has very high intelligence and can speak and communicate…”

“So, she suffers from amnesia?

“Haha, it’s not that simple.” Horlaide pointed at his head and said, “Normal people suffering from amnesia will be afraid and curiosity toward their identity and the environment they’re in, but her mind activity is very unique. She does not search for who she is, why is she here, or what is she going to do. She does not have that curiosity and impulse, and she does not panic at all from not having memories, like a person who’s dreaming, half awake. She’s staying here peacefully, without any intention of searching for her memories. Her life form is very special, and it seems like she does not have instincts or desires. She needs neither to consume food nor excrete, such a unique being.”

Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled. The stranger this woman was, the bigger the secret it contained. Thus, he became quite curious. “What’s her name?”

“I named her Aroshia Cecolama Doranis…” The name had a total of fifty-six words, and it took Horlaide quite some time to finish rattling it off. “I usually call her Aroshia.”

Han Xiao’s eyes twitched. [What’s the point of giving her such a long name? Do you have too much spare time?

The experience of this sudden mission was quite an amount, and there was also an unknown reward. The reward had a certain correlation with the mission difficulty, so Han Xiao decided to give it a try. Since he could not rob Horlaide, he would use money to purchase her. “How much is she?”

A standard businessman smile appeared on Horlaide’s face. “Not expensive at all, only 300,000 Enas.”

“Farewell.” Han Xiao turned on the spot and left with an expressionless face. [Are you learning from me! Why does a profiteer have to make life hard for another profiteer‽

Horlaide chased hastily and yelled, “We can negotiate if you feel it’s too expensive. How about 200,000? 100,000? No? 50,000? Okay, count it as I’m making a loss, I will sell it to you at 10,000. That’s the lowest!”

Han Xiao was full of doubts. A discount of 97% off, why would there be such a thing? Something strange was going on. Thinking of the six days in the mission requirement, he was alarmed.

After some consideration, Han Xiao temporarily placed this mission aside and continued his testing. “Now that’s a good price, but I still want to buy other rare slaves. Do you not have any other goods?”

Horlaide grinned and said, “Haha, you’re quite lucky, there’s going to be a new batch of rare goods coming in very soon. When they come, you can take a look again.”

This badge of new goods should be the Silvers. Luckily, they’re not here yet. The ambush plan still has a chance.

“That’s great! I will come to look at the goods again and buy that Aroshia at the same time.” Han Xiao purposed acted contented and expressed his sincerity in wanting to buy, but he did not pay the money no matter what. As he was getting ready to leave, Horlaide had no choice but to let his subordinate sent Han Xiao away.

Horlaide was the only one left in the underground prison cell corridor as he mumbled, “What will he pay then? He definitely doesn’t want to buy Aroshia…”

When he took over this slave market, Aroshia had already been locked here. The last owner had told him that there was no need for special treatment, just sell her normally. However, there was one customer who bought Aroshia, and a few days after, Aroshia appeared out of nowhere in the prison cell again, giving him quite a shock. The customer rushed back in rage, and only then did he know that Aroshia would suddenly disappear after being brought away, then return to the cell in an extremely strange way.

Horlaide asked the previous owner, then he came to know Aroshia had already existed not long after Floating Dragon Island was built. The owner back then reported the situation to the Superiors, and this message went to the ears of Floating Dragon Island’s ruler. That beyond grade A boss came to take a look, and with his belief of ‘if he didn’t understand it, kill it’, he wiped Aroshia out, turning her into ash.

Yet, a few days later, Aroshia appeared once again as if nothing had happened. The boss then came to kill her once again, and after repeating for more than thirty times, a conclusion was made. This was a Space Wonder, an unexplainable strange phenomenon.

Through observation, only one ‘Aroshia’ would exist at one time. If she died, she would revive again after some time, but the memory of the time that she spent before she died would disappear, going back to her original state of amnesia. If she left this cell, she would also disappear from the other places. No matter what building was there, she would go back to where the cell was.

From the concluded pattern, whether she was dead or bought, Aroshia would not leave there for more than six days.

Floating Dragon Island’s ruler was very carefree, so he let the slave market deal with a Space Wonder. The owner sold her as a slave, scamming the buyers’ money and making money with zero cost.

Horlaide shook his head. He subconsciously looked at Aroshia’s cell, and Aroshia, who had originally been sitting in the corner, was now standing in front of the window suddenly. He could only see a pair of deep and calm eyes through the window!

Horlaide was shocked. He took a while to calm down, and only after that did he leave.

In the cell, Aroshia’s eyes moved, following Horlaide.

However, this was a single-sided window; the outside could not be seen from inside the cell.

…

“I’ve asked around, and the Silvers have yet to arrive.” Upon returning to the team, Han Xiao shared the intel. The other three leaders felt energetic.

“Great, the rescue plan can be carried out!” Purple Gold’s leader, Cerleni, said. “Time is scarce, and we don’t know when will the scavengers arrive. Since we don’t know their identity, its best to split up and lay an ambush on every route toward the slave market. There is only one chance, and we can’t miss out on any suspicious target. It’s a must to save the Silver captives before they are sold to the market.”

They decided their division of labor for the ambush. The ambush areas extended from the pier all the way into the slave market, and there had to be mercenaries in every street and every intersection.

By using the distance from the slave market as a measurement, the ambush could be divided into four layers. The first layer was the furthest away, near the pier; the fourth layer was the closest to the slave market, right beside the market.

The three leaders had considered that, unlike them, Black Star was not unafraid of criminals, so Han Xiao was in charge of the third layer. This location was a little safer than the pier full of criminals, and the last layer locked down by Goa’s team.

With some simple disguises, every team went to their position, set up the ambush, and waited.

Chapter 368 - Scrimmage

A bronze bullet was thrown in the air casually, and a fixed star bolted pass the floating island at this moment. A flash of light passed across the buildings on the street and shone on the spinning metal bullet, reflecting the light onto Han Xiao’s handsome face just centimeters away like an arc mirror. The bullet spun a few rounds and reached the peak point, then fell slowly. At this moment, a droplet of bright red blood splashed this way, like a shot from a precise sniper; it hit the dropping bullet.

Pa!

With fingers closed, the bullet was caught. Han Xiao opened his hand, and the bullet was lying there quietly in the middle of the black mechanical suit glove, painting a warm tint of red onto the cold metal.

Not far away, an arms fight was underway between two groups of brutes that looked like galactic pirates. The sound of growls, ferocious laughs, and firing mixed together into a deafening noise. The brutes who fell onto the ground and died found their peace, and blood splashed across the entire street like leaves rolled up by the wind. At the side of the street, a group of Floating Dragon Island residents were watching the show stealthily. Han Xiao and a few players sat on the scaffolding of a drilling machine by the side of the road and watched this fight from afar.

“Tsk tsk, another fight. How many times has this happened in the past two days?” Han Xiao shook his head. He was covered in the mechanical suit at this time, but his helmet was folded, exposing his head. The players beside him were wrapped completely in Sunil Enlistee Class armor.

“This is the seventh time,” Bun-Hit-Dog replied instantly. Reporters sure had a good memory.

They were waiting. The Black Star Mercenary Group was guarding the third layer. They had split up and were standing by around various intersections. It had been two days, and in those two days, just the street that Han Xiao was in charge of had already witnessed seven group fights between brutes. The temper of the criminals was like a fuse, easily lighting up with just a tiny spark. It had made the player realize clearly how dangerous this place was. Three of those seven times had been different brute groups provoking Han Xiao. The Great Mechanic Han was very civilized and kind, so he helped them to cremate their corpses for free.

After wiping out three batches of brutes and showing their fangs, they had a much more peaceful time.

At this time, the brutes in the midst of the intense fight fired a cannon in the wrong direction, collapsing a small half of a house. It made quite a loud noise and killed many residents who were watching the show. In a split second, all the brutes stopped fighting, and terror appeared on their faces. They ran in all directions without caring about anything else.

Not long after, the sound of a flying device shooting across the sky could be heard. Three small, low-altitude flying devices, which were about eight meters long, had appeared. They were covered in full dark-golden color, designed like a dragon spreading its wings. A tiny dragon symbol was carved on the ship body. They were the Dragon Guards’ transportation. The three flying devices caught up to the brutes, and rows of cannons extended from below their bases, which shot out golden lasers, penetrating these brutes with ease. After chasing for a while and killing more than half of the escaping brutes, only then did the Dragon Guards turn around and leave.

Only the Dragon Guards were allowed to operate combat flying devices in Floating Dragon Island. If civilians were killed, the Dragon Guards would be out to enforce the law immediately. Han Xiao had seen scenes like that a few times over the past two days, and he felt that this rescue plan was really dangerous. If they could not save the captives quickly and accurately, the risk would increase largely if they got stalled.

At this time, Goa sent him a message. “Blades’ people locked onto the suspected target, action!”

Han Xiao received the location information. All the mercenaries had joined the same channel and shared the location of the suspect. The suspect had just landed at the dock, and they were guarding many large metal boxes. It was indeed a slave trader team. One mercenary in the Blades’ team could shapeshift into a half-wolf half-dog beast, so his smell was extremely sensitive. He could smell that these slave traders had the scent of Silvers on them, so they locked onto the target.

Cerleni of the Purple Gold Army commanded, “Do not alarm them, continue following. Porter, Black Star, you guys bring your people and gather here secretly and set up an ambush on their route. We outnumber them, so we must defeat them with one fast and heavy wave of attacks; don’t get stalled. Goa, bring the people of Sky Ring and guard the exterior. If we fail, you’re our insurance.”

Since the target was already locked onto, there was no need to continue waiting. The plan sounded quite reliable. Of course, Han Xiao did not have any objections, so he summoned all Black Star members, split up, and headed toward the ambush location given by Cerleni. It happened to be the junction between the dock and the city area, a very chaotic place.

…

Peggy walked down from the spaceship. All the slaves were in large, electrified boxes, controlled by cuffs and self-destructive collars, waiting to be brought to the buyer.

Thinking that they were going to make a huge fortune, these scavengers were filled with excitement. Peggy was not that excited, however. He brought the team and headed toward Horlaide’s slave market.

Entering the dock streets, this slave trader team was very conspicuous, attracting the attention of many brutes on the street. Many people were tempted to make a move, and there were also people who recognized Peggy. They greeted each other from far away and did not have any further communication. Peggy was a renowned slave trader in the Shattered Star Ring, so he had done business with quite many pirates and scavengers. He had some prestige, which meant that would not be attacked on Floating Dragon Island.

After walking for a while, Peggy suddenly stopped. His pupils constricted almost into a vertical line, and his head gradually turned flat like it was going to turn into a snake head. The snake scales on his body became clearer and harder, and he opened his mouth and flicked his forked tongue in the air. Peggy was a shapeshifting Esper. Some kind of snake blood in his body had gone through atavistic changes, so he had extremely sharp senses. He noticed that he was being followed and a hint of murderous intent in the atmosphere. His strong intuition told him he was going to meet something if he kept walking ahead.

“The smell of enemies, they came for me. Who could it be?” Peggy’s eyes were cold. He flicked his forked tongue in the air and stopped walking. Then, he waved his hands to command his subordinates. “Return along the same route, back to the spaceship.”

Then he turned on the communicator. “My dear Horlaide, I’ve arrived at Floating Dragon Island. Come to retrieve the goods yourself this time.”

“What happened to you? You normally bring the goods yourself. Why do I need to go there this time, and why are you shapeshifting for nothing? You look just like a snake, so ugly.”

“I noticed murderous intent—someone is onto me,” Peggy said impatiently. “It might be related to the captives. I feel someone wants to cut off our goods. I’ll wait for you in the spaceship.”

“It’s too troublesome for me to retrieve the goods,” Horlaide said unhappily. “I don’t want to go to the dock filled with pirates and scavengers.”

“Then you can invite the Dragon Guards to protect you. You’re the ruler’s subordinate, after all, so you certainly have the ability to order them.”

“You’re making this hard for me.” Horlaide’s expression collapsed. He did not have the authority to order the Dragon Guards. Although they belonged to the same organization, he definitely had to pay if he wanted to ask people for help, and he was unwilling to do any actions that increased the cost.

However, Peggy insisted—he trusted his sense for danger. Horlaide could only compromise, irritated, before they hung up the communication.

In the dark, the tail from Blades Army was confused as he reported the information to the leader Porter. “Why are they walking back?”

Furthermore, Han Xiao, Cerleni, and Porter had already set up their ambush along the streets ahead. When they received the message, they all frowned.

“Caution, the target did not continue ahead. According to the route, he seems to be going back to the spaceship. Did the deal go south with the buyer?” Porter doubted.

As Peggy had finally shown his face, Cerleni searched him up in the database of his army, and he found Peggy’s intel. He was shocked and said, “This isn’t good. That scavenger is called Peggy, and his Esper power is shapeshifting into a snake. He has extremely strong senses, almost like short-term foresight, so he might have noticed danger!”

Originally, their plan had been to not raise any alarms, but this snake was too sensitive; the opponent had already been alarmed.

At this moment, Goa, who was guarding the exterior, sent a message. She said with a heavy tone, “There’s an issue. Horlaide has left the slave market, and he seems to be heading toward the dock. It’s highly likely that their terms changed into the buying retrieving the goods himself.”

The people’s expression changed. Han Xiao pondered and said, “Then there’s no other way; we attack straight away and make the rescue. We can’t have the two parties meet. We have limited time, so it’s best to act immediately.”

The original plan had not been bad, but reality was full of unexpected changes. Cerleni felt that Han Xiao was right—the only way now was to attack urgently. He commanded the people and approached the target rapidly. At the same time, he gave another order to a few people and told them to start the spaceship in advance, so when they snatched the hostages, they could enter the spaceship and leave as fast as possible.

Peggy went back to the dock filled with brutes, and when he was still hundreds of meters away from the spaceship, the mercenaries finally closed in on him.

“Go!” Cerleni did not have the time to care about anything else. With a yell, more than two hundred mercenaries tore their disguises apart. Their combat suits shapeshifted, and all kinds of powers exploded and dashed toward Peggy’s team!

The helmet quickly extended from the mechanical suit with one thought of Han Xiao, protecting his head. He turned and said, “Let’s go, too.”

He took out an electromagnetic firearm and fired from far away while charging forward. Behind him, more than fifty players wearing the same style armor were holding high caliber machine guns and firing, like a wave of iron, swarming forward!

“There really are enemies!” Peggy narrowed his eyes. Fortunately, he had been cautious. He ordered his subordinates to quickly pull out their guns and fire, and as the cunning man that he was, he secretly shot other brutes to pull other groups in.

The dock was a large squire, and there were no residents. This was the most dangerous place. The mercenaries exchanged fire with Peggy and his men, and quite a number of stray bullets hit the brutes nearby, bringing waves of growls.

“Who’s hitting me‽”

“My eyes!”

“Damn mercenaries, you want to kill us‽”

The dock was most chaotic. Groups of brutes were affected and joined into the battle.

An intense scrimmage soon broke out!

Chapter 369 - Dropped Bead

Bang! Bang! Bang!

It was a hail of bullets!

There were more than two hundred mercenaries, more than one hundred people at Peggy’s side, and hundreds of brutes joining in. As if that was not enough, there was a total of seven grade B Supers in the battle, so the dock was chaotic and filled with the sound of explosions. The target of the mercenaries was very clear—get straight to the camp to rescue the prisoners. However, Blades and Purple Gold had been stopped by the brutes halfway. They had encountered two grade B pirates and were in an intense battle.

The two of them could not withdraw. Han Xiao’s troops entered the battlefield from the weak side, quickly passed Blades and Purple Gold’s team, and closed in on Peggy. Seeing this, the two mercenary groups immediately changed their battle tactic from charging to protecting Han Xiao’s team forward. Cerleni said loudly, “Black Star, we will take care of your surroundings!”

The battle had caused too huge a commotion, so the Dragon Guards might appear any time. The mercenaries’ most important mission was to rescue the captives and leave; it was a race against time.

The players showed their powers, tearing open a gap ahead like a sharp knife. Herlous swept with his Battleship Slicing Blade, and anyone below grade B was all thrown to the side. He was very fierce, and white flames shot out like he had an infinite amount of them.

Suddenly, a blazing Pugilist beam shot them from the side. Han Xiao’s mind made a command, and the Hovering Shield Shuttle turned into a shield and protected him. He was blown back more than a dozen meters, hitting a few brutes on the way. Not far away, a grade B Pugilist pirate was attacking the Black Star Mercenary Group.

“I’ll deal with him; you continue ahead.” Herlous immediately turned and dashed toward this person. He reached out his hand and swept the Battleship Slicing Blade, sending out a brilliant flash of light. Then, he entered an intense fight with that pirate, energy flames surging.

All the strong enemies were stopped by his teammates, so Han Xiao could concentrate on the objective. Peggy’s people were retreating to the spaceship, and there were only a few dozen meters left. They could board in less than ten seconds, while there was still a wall made of brutes standing before Han Xiao.

“No time to delay—I’ll have to use an explosive method.” Han Xiao’s eyes turned firm. Blinding electric current burst from inside the mechanical suit, covering his entire body with electric snakes. He had activated [Snake—Devil]. His attributes were doubled, and the enemies around him were blasted away.

Then, he activated the magnetic connection on Aggression Armor and Bat Wings Flying Device with nerves connection. These two pieces of equipment flew out from the equipment boxes hovering in midair, rapidly assembling onto his body. With two modes both equipped, his speed rose steeply. Like a shovel, his arms flipped the enemies in front of him away, and he quickly charged into Peggy’s team.

Boom!

A loud bang, instantly flipping many people over!

Peggy’s subordinates fell like wheat. The bullets that they fired lit up countless fire sparks on Han Xiao’s armor, but they were all deflected. They could not penetrate Han Xiao’s defenses.

“You lot, don’t fight, board the ship immediately!” Peggy’s body expanded, tearing his clothes apart, turning into a bright golden python more than a dozen meters long. His snake body tried to wrap around Han Xiao and stall Han Xiao all by himself. He just had to do it for a few seconds, and the dust would settle.

With the energy from the power burst, Han Xiao turned all the mobility modules to their maximum output. The ground cracked, and he shot up into the sky. Like a mirage, his mechanical palms grabbed Peggy’s snake head, slapping Peggy onto the ground.

At the same time, the power structure of the exoskeleton was boosted, and the gear turning speed soared. Amphiptere’s biological muscles suddenly expanded, and a huge force flew into his arms.

Bang!

The snake head was crushed into the ground, and cracks spread out. The head was covered in exposed flesh and blood, and his body twitched rapidly!

He was just a grade C shapeshifter—he could only be crushed when facing Han Xiao, not even lasting one second.

Peggy was dizzy. Iron fists were seen in his snake eyes once again, and terror appeared in his eyes. His snake body disintegrated into tens of thousands of small snakes and spread out. This was a special way to use Peggy’s shapeshifting Esper power, and his last rope to hang on to save his life. He had escaped many deadly crises by relying on this ability.

Han Xiao’s punch missed, and he saw the small snakes scattering in an instant, blending into the chaotic battlefield.

He shook his head—his goal was to rescue the prisoners, so there was no time to waste. He had to put away the thought of chasing. He turned around and defeated Peggy’s subordinates, snatching the metal boxes with the prisoners inside at a crucial moment.

Peggy’s scavengers lost their will to fight and scattered.

Seeing this, the mercenaries of Blades and Purple Gold was rejoicing. Cerleni said, “Send the people back to our spaceship immediately. Do not continue to fight. Withdraw from the battlefield quickly.”

Snatching the Silvers meant that half of the mission was completed. They changed direction, aiming to return to the mercenary spaceships and leave Floating Dragon Island immediately. The mercenaries turned from offensive to defensive, protecting the boxes of prisoners through the chaotic battlefield.

At this time, five Dragon Guard flying devices appeared. Horlaide was in the leading flying device. When Peggy was attacked, Horlaide had immediately been informed. Knowing that the goods that he wanted had been cut off, Horlaide had become very anxious. He had immediately spent some money and invited a Dragon Guard team captain that he knew, who picked him up the flying device and quickly dashed toward the dock.

“Captain Theon, these mercenaries robbed the things I wanted. Don’t let them escape.” Horlaide looked down on the battlefield and immediately saw the conspicuous mercenaries. He was gnashing his teeth in anger. Beside him was the Dragon Guards’ small team captain Theon, wearing their uniform.

Theon gave a faint smile and said, “Don’t worry, just brutes causing trouble. No one can fight us on Floating Dragon Island. All units, fire!”

The subordinates controlling the spaceship asked, “Captain, who are we attacking?”

“Everyone.” Theon waved casually.

Five flying devices fired toward the ground. The density of the golden laser was like heavy rain, pouring down and killing brutes one after another. The brutes fighting immediately fled—no one dared to fight back. Even grade B Supers could only escape.

The cannon fire followed like a shadow, chasing the mercenaries. Mercenaries were knocked down from time to time, and the Dragon Guards made a broadcast.

“Everyone, listen. Stop running immediately. Surrender without resisting or die!”

“Sh*t, the Dragon Guards is involved. We’re being targeted!” Porter was furious. He could see the flying devices following right behind them, obviously targeting them.

The good situation had taken a sharp turn downward. With the Dragon Guards’ firepower, by the time they arrived at the spaceship, they would have suffered heavy casualties.

At this time, a laser hit near the Black Star Mercenary Group, causing an explosion, and a few players were blasted away, including Li Ge.

Li Ge was on the ground, his bum hurting. He was about to stand up when he suddenly caught a glimpse of a black bead on the floor.

When Peggy shapeshifted and tore his clothes apart, the black bead that he had taken from the Silver had also fallen out, rolling onto the battlefield.

“What’s this?” Li Ge picked up the black bead, and a notification popped up from the interface.

_____________________

You have received an unknown item. Giving it to a special character will give you a very high reward, or you can take it to be identified.

_____________________

Unknown item? Should be something good. He just did not know where it came from.

Li Ge’s eyes flashed. He hid the bead secretly without informing anyone and went back to the team with a plain expression.

Chapter 370 - Sudden Change

“This team of Dragon Guards is together with Horlaide,” Goa hastily said in the communication channel. “Their target is the Silvers as well!”

Cerleni’s expression was not looking good. If they surrendered, since the guards and Horlaide had already made a deal, the Silvers would still be taken away and given to the buyer, which meant that the rescue mission would have failed. If they did not surrender, the price of so many casualties would be too much for them to pay. He was in a dilemma, but the gunfire did not stop. He had no time to think.

“As long as the Dragon Guards can be kept under control, the problem will be solved,” Han Xiao said in a low voice. This was what the others thought as well.

Following his train of thought, Cerleni yelled, “Are you crazy! Killing the Dragon Guards is the biggest crime there is here!”

In this territory, committing a crime and attacking the law enforcers were a completely different thing. With that beyond grade A boss here, even if these Dragon Guards were mostly normal people, they could do whatever they wanted to the brutes and the wanted criminals.

“I never said anything about killing or injuring. We have an ice Mage here; she can freeze their flying devices.”

Not waiting for Cerleni to respond, Goa brought the people and arrived at the dock. She immediately said, “I’m attacking!”

Without any delay, her eyes suddenly turned into snow-white color, and a magic symbol appeared on her forehead. She murmured the spell, and the magic ring on her pale white fingers was flashing. The magic energy in the air gathered, fused, condensed, and formed. The magic language was deconstructed and then reconstructed into the laws of nature, changing reality.

Suddenly, a large amount of low-temperature water vapor appeared in the air. Frost spread out from under Goa’s feet, extending all the way to near the flying device. Five ice pillars rose from the ground and captured the flying devices like claws. The low temperature made the flying devices shut down. The flying devices continued to fly forward with their inertia, and the ice pillars extended with them, turning them into ice sculptures. The ice pillar became the bridge between the ground and the flying devices, freezing the five flying devices in midair.

Goa was a grade B Mage, so she had a very strong control. Although the flying devices were frozen, nothing was hurt or destroyed.

The driver of the aircraft pressed around on the control panel in panic. “All systems are temporarily out of order, restarting, hiss—so cold!”

Theon was furious. “How dare they fight back! Report to the above! Request back up! Don’t let them escape!”

Since what was done had already been done, the mercenaries could only seize the opportunity to run away. They gathered and boarded their own spaceships. Like before, Han Xiao boarded Sky Ring’s. The pilot, who did not take part in the battle earlier, had started the spaceship long ago. When everyone had boarded the spaceship, it slowly rose and flew away from Floating Dragon Island.

The Blades’ shapeshifting scout had confirmed that there was the smell of Silvers in the boxes long ago. When they opened the boxes, as expected, inside were fifteen Silvers, hugging each other and cowering in the corner with terror on their faces.

They could not see what had happened outside. The sounds of explosions all along the way had already frightened them very badly. When the box was opened, the Silver screamed in terror, and the antennae on their head trembled so fast that they even formed afterimages. It was really cute, and it made Han Xiao feel an inexplicable impulse of wanting to pull them out.

“You’re safe. We’re mercenaries hired by your friends here to rescue you.” Goa casually used a calming spell and calmed the Silver’s emotions. She told the team members to take out translators for these Silver so that they could communicate.

After quite some convincing, these Silver finally calmed down. Goa contacted the employer, and the two groups of Silver met each other and broke into tears.

The employer counted and said with surprise, “Only fifteen, where’s the other two of my friends?”

“Short of two‽” Goa was shocked. If they had missed two people, the reward might be reduced.

The rescued Silver said with faces full of sorrow, “They were thrown into space by the scavengers.”

Hearing this, Goa breathed a sigh of relief and said softly, “Lucky lucky, they’re just dead.”

Han Xiao was surprised by what she said.

There really aren’t any good people among mercenaries, such a black heart.

The following morning, the employer said, “You have completed the mission very well. Please send our friends back. I will pay for your reward as we agreed.”

After working hard for so many days, they could finally earn the reward. Joy appeared on every mercenary’s face.

Knowing that he was about to get the last two class advancement of the compression technologies, Han Xiao was secretly excited.

Boom!

Suddenly, the spaceship trembled violently, and they almost fell down. The pilot said hastily, “Sh*t, Floating Dragon Island has sent spaceships after us!”

Their expressions dropped. They came to the window and looked behind the spaceship. The three mercenary group spaceships had already left the Floating Dragon Island’s man-made ecological hood and entered the space. They were gradually going further from the Floating Dragon Island.

However, a few Floating Dragon Island spaceships had followed them out, chasing behind their spaceship and firing at them. Beams hit the shield one after another, making their ships tremble continuously.

Theon had reported to the Superiors with a lot of added components, saying that the mercenaries attacked the guards first and broke the rules. Hence, the Floating Dragon Island spaceships planned to chase them even to the edge of the universe.

On the Floating Dragon Island’s dock, groups of brutes were watching this ongoing chase. Floating Dragon Island wanted to make an example, expressing that anyone who disobeyed the rules would have to pay.

“We only froze their aircrafts. What’s the big deal!” Porter was raging.

“Quickly activate the jump engine. As long as we enter the jumping state, they won’t be able to chase us,” Goa ordered loudly.

The driver mercenaries controlled the spaceship and dodged the attacks the best he could, cracks started to appear on the shield, but at the same time they were speeding up as well, the artificial intelligence sound echoed in the spaceship.

“Activating Jump Engine, power two percent… seven percent… fourteen percent… eighty-three percent… Powered up successfully. Starting pre-jump warm up.”

The spaceship gradually shook the enemies off as its speed increased rapidly. The universe outside the window turned blurry, and they were about to enter the jump.

However, something unexpected suddenly happened. Just one second before they entered the jump, the mercenary group spaceships became stationary without any sign. All energy and inertia disappeared without a trace, and the mercenaries did not even feel any vibration.

Suddenly, the air inside the spaceship started buzzing. It was like everywhere was filled with sound, turning into a horrifying wave of sounds, almost deafening. Not only did they started to wobble, they even fell onto the ground.

“You people attacked my adorable subordinates right in my house, and yet you want to leave this easily?”

The mercenaries’ spaceships flew backward from the same route like they had been grabbed by an invisible, enormous hand. All thrusters stopped working, and no matter how the driver tried to control the spaceship, it was all useless.

The players were shocked. They did not know what exactly was happening. The Silvers were just as confused and shocked. Freedom was right before them, and the enemies’ spaceships had already been shaken off. Why were they all controlled all of a sudden?

The faces of the mercenaries had already changed long ago.

“She’s here…” Cerleni said with a very long face.

Goa was filled with shock. “We only caused a small kafuffle, how did it attract Floating Dragon Island’s ruler’s attention‽”

“Maybe she was just too bored…” Han Xiao was very speechless. Even he did not expect Floating Dragon Island’s ruler to get involved personally in something so small. It was like two ants fighting on the side of the road. How bored could a person be to stop and get involved‽

The mission was almost completed, but an accident came out of nowhere. Furthermore, the cause of it was someone that he could not match up to at his current stage at all. He felt extremely unlucky.

Han Xiao stared at Herlous with disappointment on his face.

What the hell! I clearly brought along a main character type person. How could we be this unlucky? Has this main character expired? Is it too late for a refund?

The struggle of the spaceships was useless. They were pulled back to the Floating Dragon Island’s dock by the invisible force field. The doors were pulled open by the force field, too, and the mercenaries braced themselves and walked out. In front of such great power, there was certainly no point in resisting.

Han Xiao did not have any good ideas for the time being. He could only improvise.

The dock was gathered with people at this time, all extending their necks and enjoying the show, and that Floating Dragon Island ruler was hovering in midair. When the people on the ground looked up, their faces were all filled with admiration. This was the respect toward absolute power.

The throne made of Void Dragon skeletons was hovering in midair, and a tall, curvaceous woman sat on the throne with crossed legs. One hand was placed casually on the throne handle, and the other was holding her chin, looking down on the people with the legendary boss sitting position. The smooth black long hair hung from the throne. It was at least two meters long. She was wearing a tulle-like black dress with a wide open neckline, but there was no gully, meaning that she had a flat chest.

The crotch of the skirt was very high, exposing two snow white long legs crossed over each other. The black dress and white legs made a very strong visual impact, giving out a seducing feel. Her body was enchanting and seductive, but her face could not be considered beautiful or stunning, although it was quite charming. Age had left no mark on her face, and her eyes were full of intelligence. The edges of both her eyes had symmetrical black marks—the marks were like black thorns. She was glancing through the people with curiosity.

This woman had many names—Floating Dragon Island’s ruler, Land Ripper, Absolute Power, and so on. She was the creator and ruler of Floating Dragon Island—[Dragon Emperor] Ames.

Ames was a force field Esper. The strength of her force field could even tear apart land to create Floating Dragon Island, so controlling a few small spaceships was a piece of cake.

Chapter 371 - Differential Treatment

Talented intelligent creatures could awaken Super genes. Through various training, the cells would create special power—this was energy. The energy was like a running river; cells and genes were like the stones under the river. As the river grew larger, after days and days of flowing, the genes would start to evolve, gradually becoming perfect. It was like compressing the million years evolution.

Grade A was a benchmark, also called Calamity Grade. It was a high-level power in the galaxies, and Supers fortunate enough to reach this grade were very uncommon. When the genes evolved to a certain level, it would meet an indestructible barrier ahead without exceptions. In other words, ‘there were no road ahead anymore’.

In the exploration era before the Galaxy Calendar, the three large civilizations had still been fighting each other intensively. The world had thought that all types of power were different from each other. That was until Professor Stuart Ona of the Federation of Light invented the energy rank theory. Only then did everyone know that ‘Energy’ was a similarity that all Supers shared. Then it was fused into a large system, forming today’s grading standards. Back then, grade A was seen as the finishing line of evolution, and no one broke through the barrier of grade A.

The war was a double-edged sword. Countless talented grade A Supers died, but at the same time, the war was also a catalyst. The potential of those who survived would be forced out to the maximum extent. Toward the ending stage of the war, there was finally one Super that broke through grade A. It was a completely different level, and it shocked the world.

The civilizations never thought the strength of an individual could reach such a level, a level that could match up to the strong armies of the three large civilizations. Although it was still small compared to the endlessly vast galactic battlefield, no matter how strong the group strength was, it was not as shocking as when an individual had this level of power. The existence of an individual beyond grade A was intimidation on its own, and this was one of the many reasons that lead the three large civilizations to stop the war.

When peace came, the existence of beyond grade A individuals still had a very deep meaning, and their position was very high. Gradually, the grades above grade A gained detailed divisions. One grade higher was grade S, and there were even higher grades. However, people still called Supers above grade A ‘beyond grade A’. It was a memorial in history and a respect for the strong.

In the current Galaxy Calendar, there were only four known beyond-grade-A Supers in Shattered Star Ring, all with fame, glory, and countless titles. Ames was mostly known as [Dragon Emperor], containing both the meaning of her throne made of Void Dragon skeletons and the creator of Floating Dragon Island, which was the most famous thing that she had done.

At this time, Ames was hovering in midair. Everyone on the dock felt pressure deep in their hearts. More Dragon Guards had arrived, surrounded the mercenaries, and pointed countless firearms at them. The members of the three large mercenary groups could not figure out Ames’ attitude toward them—there were scared.

The Silver prisoners stood aside, and Ames knew roughly what had happened with just one look. She said with an interested tone, “Silvers… I see, so you’re the mercenaries hired by Silvers?”

Her voice was not crisp at all. It was rather husky and magnetic instead.

“Yes,” Goa said, “Silvers were getting sold to Floating Dragon Island, so we chased here. We are very sorry for dealing accidental damages, but we hope you can let them go.”

She wanted to make a final attempt. She could only hope that Ames would forgive them for the sake of the Silvers, since the Silvers were Universe Royalties and had a very strong background.

Ames only smiled faintly, completely not caring about the Silvers’ status. “This is the Shattered Star Ring, not the Sea of Star Spirits.”

Then, she controlled the throne and flew toward her residence in the heart of the Floating Island while leaving a sentence behind. “Bring all the mercenaries to me.”

The Dragon Guards brought everyone to the center of the Floating Dragon Island, and the mercenaries had no choice but to follow. At least Ames did not kill them immediately, so there might still be hope.

However, they did not lighten up at all. Looking behind, the Silver captives, which they had gone through so much hardship to rescue, were being brought by another group of guards toward the slave market. Horlaide was in the team, too, and he had joy all over his face. The Silvers issue in Ames’ eyes was just a small matter. She did not want to bother about it at all—it was just because she had heard the report of someone making trouble, only then did she decide to casually strike. The other issues were left for her subordinates to deal with, which benefitted Horlaide.

Horlaide had retrieved the Silvers finally, and regardless of whether Peggy was alive or dead, he did not even have to pay, making him the biggest winner.

The mercenaries’ rescue originally made him very anxious, but now, he only felt it was funny. These people spent so much effort, yet it had led to him getting the biggest profit, what a complete joke! Horlaide felt very good. He sneered at the mercenaries and left with the Silvers.

The people of the three mercenary groups were very upset and downcast. Porter was straight forward—he had been cursing all along the way in his native language. Nobody liked the feeling of everything going to waste.

The team escorting them happened to be Theon’s team. Theon pushed Han Xiao and sneered, “You people are done for. You dared to attack the Dragon Guards. Lord Ames will definitely use her great power and turn you people into powder!”

Having been pushed, Han Xiao turned around and glanced at Theon.

“What you looking at? Keep walking.” Theon yelled.

Han Xiao was pushed again. The strength was like a weak breeze, not able to move him at all. Han Xiao shook his head and forgot about Theon. He pondered about the upcoming situation. From what he knew about Ames, as long as her subordinates were not killed or hurt, there was a possibility to turn the situation around. Although Ames was protective, willful, and her mood was very hard to guess, she could not be considered bloodthirsty.

The center of the Floating Dragon Island was Ames’ residence, a huge fortress-like palace with dragon bone decorations everywhere. They passed one room after another until they reached the luxurious hall, waiting to be dealt with.

After some time, Ames floated in from the side gate of the hall. The throne stopped before them—she held her cheeks and said casually, “You attacked my subordinates. Although there was no injury or casualty, I need to punish you. Wilsander, what’s our rule?”

Someone walked out from the side. He was almost like bamboo, making people worry that a slight wind would blow him away. He had a pair of horns on his head, red skin covered in lines, a tail, and bony wings behind his back. This was a hybrid as well; he had some kind of Demon gene.

This guy was called Wilsander, the commander of the Dragon Guards and Ames’ direct subordinate. He stepped out of the crowd, narrowed his eyes, and casually stroked his beard. “According to the rules, all who fight back will be executed.”

The people all became nervous.

Ames nodded and said, “Then the people of Sky Ring, Blades, and Purple Gold shall be imprisoned. Tell their army captain to pay a ransom.”

“Ahem…” Wilsander coughed and said cautiously, “The rules say executed…”

“My words are the rules,” Ames said coldly, showing her dominance.

Feeling wronged, Wilsander’s eyes twitched. “Then why did you ask me?”

With an innocent look on her face, Ames blinked. “I was just asking randomly.”

She basically did not do any management and had forgotten what rules she had set before. She only asked because she felt like it, and she changed it as she liked; she was indeed very willful.

“Contact your captain and tell them to make the payment, then I will let you go.” Ames had a bit of a relationship with the three large mercenary groups. She occasionally hired them to do some stuff. The three armies never asked money for it, and every time, the captain personally did the things for her, all to create a good relationship with her. As the saying went, ‘don’t slap someone with a smile’. Ames did not want to make things difficult for the people of the three large mercenary groups.

Hearing this, Goa, Cerleni, and Porter heaved sighs of relief simultaneously. They did not know that Ames knew their captain—they only felt that they had escaped death.

However, Ames turned to look at Han Xiao with a playful face and said, “Now it’s your turn. If you have nothing much to say, I’ll start attacking.”

Unlike the three large mercenary groups, this small Mercenary Group was a nobody. There was no need to give them special treatment.

The atmosphere became tense, and the emotions of the three large Mercenary Groups changed.

These mercenaries were not unaffected—they had fought alongside each other and had already made a connection with each other. They could not watch their comrades get killed in front of their eyes, and they all became anxious.

The air around became stagnant—it was Ames’ force field starting to gather.

“Oi! This differential treatment is way too obvious!” Herlous felt like his bladder was shivering.

Chapter 372 - Getting Employed (1)

“So, it has still come to this…”

Han Xiao had already thought up many scenarios on their way to. He had a certain understanding of Ames. The air of a powerful being revolved around her. With her level, most things that were unsolvable to most other people could be fixed with a snap of her fingers. However, she was not one to be fond of thinking, and she mostly just did whatever she wanted.

If they could, who would not want to live life like her? The power that Ames possessed guaranteed her a free life.

On the other hand, this also meant that she was not a very ambitious person. The other four powerful beings who had surpassed class A had all built up their own factions, with Ames’ forces being the most carefree. She basically did not care about managing her ‘faction’. Ames seemingly did not have any ambitions, so the other civilizations and major powers in the Shattered Star Ring left her to her own devices as they did not want to get into conflict with this neutral party.

The best way to deal with this kind of neutral character was to bait them with benefits. As long as they were treated kindly, and if could present to them with something of interest, then he most likely would not be in any serious danger in front of them.

Han Xiao just so happened to have something that might just pique Ames’ interest.

As the force field slowly inched toward them and froze the air in the process, Han Xiao cleared his throat and said in a deep voice, “Please wait a moment, Your Excellency. I hope to offer a piece of information in exchange for the lives of myself and my group members. I believe that you will be interested in this.”

Ames lifted her finger, and the force field immediately stopped expanding, instead acting like a shapeless barrier that surrounded the group. Second Prince tried to poke at the barrier a few times and felt that the air just twenty centimeters away from the group had become rock solid.

Ames remained silent and looked at Han Xiao with amused eyes, as if telling him to speak quickly.

She was not fond of killing people, so she wanted to hear what this little mercenary had to say to save himself. One’s struggle at the brink of death often made for the most entertaining show, and it might be able to cure her boredom for a short while. She did not care that these people were as good as formless ash in front of her and was willing to give her time to listen, just like how humans studied other animals.

Han Xiao prepared for a bit and then started his performance.

“It hasn’t been long since I came to the Shattered Star Ring, and I have mostly stayed in the Juberly Hub. One day, I met a person on the street. He looked like your usual Galaxy Human and didn’t seem to be too old. He was also dressed like an ordinary traveler. Just as we passed each other, he called out to me and said something made zero sense to me at the time…”

“What did he say?” hurried Herlous. He noticed that Ames was starting to yawn, seemingly losing interest in this story, and quickly tried to get Han Xiao to get into the main topic.

Han Xiao coughed and continued. “I was completely confused back then, as I didn’t know the man, let alone what he was talking about. But now, I finally got the meaning behind his words…”

“Oh my god, c’mon!” Herlous gritted his teeth. They were already at the point where they could almost see the reaper’s scythe on their necks, yet he was still trying to act dramatic‽ He still had a planet to save. He could not die there!

“He said, ‘When you meet Ames, tell her to stop waiting. I still don’t want to see her.’”

Bang!

The force field collapsed instantly, knocking the surrounding people out of the room before they slammed back onto the ground. They were still grimacing from the pain when they saw Ames lazily getting up from her throne. However, her face was no longer expressionless and was instead filled with both joy and anger. It was like she had finally received the news that she was waiting for, but it turned out to be bad news.

The people present were shocked as they did not know what could cause someone as powerful as her to suddenly lose control of her emotions and power.

Ames slowly floated down to the ground, and her black hair cascaded down to her legs. She stepped onto the warm and bony ground surface with her bare feet and slowly walked toward Han Xiao, with her power blasting out at maximum. She then questioned threateningly, “What did that person look like‽”

The lower-ranked Dragon Guards were all knocked out by the force field’s collapse and were struggling to get back up on their feet even after they have recovered their senses. Han Xiao had to let out a deep breath to calm his nerves. Ames approached him with such a tremendous pressure around her that it was as if she could use the Conqueror’s Haki 1 . It was difficult to just open his mouth. “I don’t remember the details, but he looked like a poor person with messy hair, and he didn’t appear to be different from the average passerby… Oh, I remember. The most notable thing about him were his eyes. His pupils were sort of shining, like…”

He pretended to be unsure about it, as if the word was stuck on the tip of his tongue.

“His eyes are dark like the emptiness of space, while his pupils are like a bright star in the endless darkness, lighting up the whole universe despite its flickering light… Is that what you mean?” asked Ames.

“Yes… yes, yes. That’s it.” Han Xiao could finally let out a deep breath. Ames must have thought about the person that he wanted her to think about it. The situation was under control.

Ames seemed to dwell in her memories as she murmured to herself, “Why don’t you want to see me? Does our promise mean nothing? Didn’t you agree to find me again when I became a big name in space?”

The guard captain, Wilsander, was shocked. He had never seen this side of his boss. It was as if she had become an abandoned teenage girl in love, and he could hardly take it.

Ames was like a goddess in his heart. Strong, beautiful, and mysterious. He had been moved to his core the first time he saw her, and he had decided to give up on developing his own faction to instead work under her out of respect for her. He had stayed under her wing ever since, managing this chaotic dumpster day after day…

Yes, he was secretly in love with his boss. This was also his motivation for doing his work.

At this moment, Wilsander could not have been more jealous of those underlings who were blasted away by Ames’ sudden outburst. If he had been knocked out like them, he would not have had to witness this shocking scene.

“Who is that man that she’s speaking about? It can’t be her lover…” Wilsander felt bitter in his heart, but he also felt a strong sense of curiosity toward this mysterious person.

After Ames got back to her senses, she returned to her throne and stared at Han Xiao for a good while before saying slowly, “Since he has already chosen you to send the message. I will give you two options—disintegrate into dust or work for me.”

“I am more than willing to work under you,” said Han Xiao.

Becoming Ames’s employee was much better than getting a game-over on the spot. Ames’ past was full of mystery, but Han Xiao knew her secret. A powerful character like Ames had been a focus of the players’ attention in the past. The players were able to put together her story from various mission descriptions, and this information was then released onto the forums. Han Xiao basically knew more about her than she did herself, as he also knew about her future.

With the advantage of information, Han Xiao had finally chosen this plan to save himself and the others. The mysterious person that he had spoken of was a special person to Ames, and he held an important position in her heart. However, this person had gone missing a long time ago, and Ames had been constantly trying to hire mercenaries to look for him.

That person was someone with genuine foresight ability. Making himself the messenger for that person automatically made Ames think that Han Xiao was important to him, and his life would no longer be in any immediate danger.

Ames had also never told anyone about this, so she would never suspect that Han Xiao somehow knew about her past and was using it to his advantage. In her eyes, it was far more probable that Han Xiao was simply a random small-time mercenary that person had predicted would go there and so was used as the messenger.

Who knew that even someone as strong as Ames would not even suspect Han Xiao’s words?

Although the Great Mechanic Han did not like being a replacement, he would not let his pride get in the way of his survival. Whenever his strength was clearly not enough, he would not foolishly try to fight his opponent head on.

Even if he had once been someone who was worshipped by all, he would never let this restrict his actions. Han Xiao had only been able to escape from Germinal all those years ago because he was able to hold himself back. He had no problem of doing it again.

But of course, Ames was much better than Germinal. At least she was maintaining a neutral position, so Han Xiao would not be forced to burn any bridges with anyone. However, she was a million times more powerful than the Germinal Organization, and this meant that trying to escape from her clutches would be astronomically more difficult than getting out of the Germinal base. Even if Han Xiao tried all sorts of ways to make himself stronger, it would still undoubtedly be a long and arduous journey.

This was not an optimal scenario for him, but even he could not go against the universal law of the strong ruling over the weak.

Han Xiao sighed secretly.

He was afraid that for a good part of his future, he would have to tightly wear the label of the ‘Dragon Emperor’s Subordinate’ around his head. That label was to be both a protective charm and a new responsibility.

_____________________

You have made contact with a new Faction!

Floating Dragon Island: Cold (0/300)

Chapter 373 - Getting Employed (2)

Ames seemed a bit lost and floated away after signaling for Wilsander to deal with the rest of the matters.

The mercenaries were shocked. Just what was happening? She was just about to kill everyone in the Black Star Mercenary Group a short while ago, yet now they had become her underlings? Were they really people in the same line of work?

“How come I didn’t know about anything you said?” Herlous said quietly. “You couldn’t have been lying, could you?

“You don’t know a lot more things,” replied Han Xiao with a calm expression. “She is someone at the top of the food chain. Do you think it would be that easy to trick her?”

“That makes sense.” Herlous took what Han Xiao said at face value. If Han Xiao could not even trick him, how could he trick the “Dragon Emperor” of the Shattered Star Ring?

Just as the guards were about to take away the other people from the three big Mercenary Groups, Goa shuffled close to Han Xiao and said, “We’re getting locked up, and you’re the only one who can move around freely. Now that you’ve become Ames’s underling, see if you can convince those people to let the Silvers go. You’re now the only one left who can complete the mission.”

Porter, Cerleni, and the others also all threw glances at Han Xiao as they were getting dragged off, telling him to improvise.

Those mercenaries had been rendered completely useless within an instant, and although they did not understand how Han Xiao suddenly became Ames’s subordinate, he was now their only hope.

The Silvers rescue’s all on you now, buddy!

Wilsander walked over and led the others out of the hall to go to another giant building.

“Don’t worry. Since Ames has already recruited you, we’re now colleagues. Ames treats all her subordinates decently, so you don’t have to worry. I’m now taking you to go see the Head Butler. She will assign you with your duties,” explained Wilsander passionately.

Han Xiao nodded. He was obviously familiar with the pros and cons of working under Ames. Most of her underlings were random fodder, and she only had three important subordinates. The first was the Head Butler, who was also her cousin. The second was Floating Dragon Island’s logistics manager and a skilled Mechanic. The last was Wilsander. Although he seemed like quite a pushover right now, he had once been a big-name pirate who roamed the stars.

The three each took care of their own jobs and were Ames’s trusted people. Some called them the ‘Dragon Guard Trio’. Most of the players in the past who came to Floating Dragon Island received missions from these three.

Han Xiao went back and forth with Wilsander for a while to get close to him. He had a certain understanding of Wilsander and was able to quickly get on the latter’s good side.

After chatting for a while, Wilsander could not hold back his curiosity any longer and held Han Xiao’s shoulder as he asked, “Hey, Black Star. The person you were talking about earlier… What’s his relationship with Ames?”

“I’ve only met each of them once. How would I know?” Han Xiao’s eyebrows rose up as if they sensed something. “It seems like you have feelings for Ames…”

Wilsander did not become awkward at all upon hearing the remark and instead laughed aloud. “Haha. Although she has never answered my pursuits, my handsome appearance and bravery will surely be able to win her over sooner or later.

Handsome… Han Xiao carefully scanned the other person. If we go back the Demon Tribe’s standards, then maybe your looks would at least be considered to be normal.

In truth, that person was not Ames’ lover or anything of the sort. That person was her teacher. In the player’s eyes, that person was an extremely mysterious travelling merchant. Chance encounters with him could give them the opportunity to buy unique items off of him, and they might even be able to trigger some legendary questline. That person actually did not want to meet Ames, so Han Xiao was not really lying to her. He even let her know about this news earlier so that she did not have to continue waiting for him all that time.

Ames’ past was clouded in mystery, but it was not because she came from some extraordinary background. She had originally been a very normal girl. She had been abandoned by her family at a very young age and taken in by her teacher. She had then awakened her powers and built her foundations as an Esper under her teacher’s wing. These two went way back, and the teacher had left her with a promise before leaving for an unknown reason—to find her again once she had made her name known throughout space. However, after she had rose up to her current heights, her teacher was still no way to be seen, giving Han Xiao chance to pull the earlier trick.

They arrived at a tall building. It was the Administrative Center of Floating Dragon Island in name and was there for people to conduct their daily business. When the group arrived at the rooftop, they saw a large office with ten or so assistants working their *sses off inside. The Head Butler was giving out documents behind a table. Ames’ cousin had the appearance of an ordinary woman and was Ames close friend.

“Jenny, these are the new recruits. See if you got any jobs for them,” said Wilsander the moment that he walked into the room.

Head Butler Jenny did not even look up at and continued to deal with the documents. “Name, power.”

Her words came out so fast, as if she did not even have a second to spare.

“Black Star, Mechanic, grade B…” Han Xiao and the players each stated their basic information.

Right after they finished, Jenny said, “Black Star, go report to the Logistics Manager. They’re in need of a new skilled mechanic there. The others will all join the guards. Your information has already been registered. Uniforms and badges will be given to you in two days.”

The players had become part of the guards, while he became a logistics worker. His mechanic skills just so happened to be good enough for the manager. He did not mind this arrangement, and the officer feature of the faction interface could finally be put to good use now that he was splitting up with the players.

After they left the hall, Han Xiao said in a quiet voice, “Herlous, you will be the temporary leader of the other members. Protect them and make sure that they don’t cause any trouble.”

“I know.” Herlous nodded. “You be careful, too.”

Having Herlous as the leader should decrease the chances of the players doing something stupid in his absence… However, aside from the few idiotic players, most of these pro players could handle themselves well enough. Although they were slightly shocked by the sudden turn of events, they trusted Han Xiao and would take things one step at a time.

“Haha. I will take care of your team. They will get to form a squad of their own.” Although Wilsander did not look the type, he was actually a very easygoing person. Han Xiao had also been able to get on his good side from their earlier conversation, and so he was willing to lend a hand to help.

…

Floating Dragon Island’s logistics work mainly included the repair and maintenance of the device that kept the floating island afloat. Han Xiao went alone to the logistics department and was met with a massive high-tech garage. This department had the lowest number of people compared to the other two on the island.

As Han Xiao stepped through the door, he saw a six-armed, human-sized, two-legged insect walk up to him. What was interesting was that this creature had a mechanic’s uniform on.

“You must be Black Star. Welcome. We’re currently very shorthanded right now, and it’s nice that we finally got a new mechanic.”

This arthropod was the Logistics Manager. Its species could only make clicking noises when they spoke, and the special communicator that he wore turned that voice into that of an old man’s. His translated name was Haier.

Haier was a very high-level mechanic who had been working for Ames for a long time.

Han Xiao had already met the three top dogs on the island within the short period of time since arriving on the island, and he could already tell how carefree Ames was with choosing her subordinates. The Head Butler was her cousin, Jenny; the Guard Captain Wilsander was of Demon Tribe and even used to be a pirate; the logistics manager was an arthropod.

“Our work includes maintaining the island’s boosters, anti-gravity device, life-sustaining device, and mineral collector. We also sometimes create and repair spaceships…”

Although Haier had a scary appearance, he was actually very kind and took Han Xiao on a short tour around the logistics department after his short explanation.

After learning about his work, Han Xiao was pleasantly surprised. Logistics work could actually be quite beneficial to him, and he did not even have to work that hard. With the interface, he could create a lot more blueprints from doing all the repairing and maintenance!

Moreover, the logistics department did not really set any strict rules or regulations on its employees, so many spent their free time working on their own machines. Although this was never explicitly stated, it seemed like they could also use the rare and unique materials on this island for themselves. Such as the Void Dragon’s skeletons…

After the standard introductory procedure, Han Xiao officially became one of them.

For the next few days, he followed Haier to familiarize himself with the work on the island. He was quickly accepted as another member in the department. The players were also faring quite well on their end. Most of the other Dragon Guards were normal people, and they did not dare cause trouble with the team of Supers led by Herlous. After being dispatched on and completing a few missions, they slowly transformed from random outsiders into the enforcers on the island.

…

In the slave market, Horlaide was very excited when he found that the Silvers had been captured. He had been trying to find a client for these past few days. Many buyers had secretly offered him their prices, but he was not happy with all of them and was still in the middle of the bargaining stage.

That day, Horlaide received a communication request from the base.

“Haha. You’re still alive.” Horlaide made fun of the caller.

“I almost died.” Peggy had a raspy voice. He had nearly kicked the bucket after getting beaten up badly by Han Xiao and barely made it out alive and back onto his ship. He wanted his money. “The Silvers have already been handed to you. Where are you going to hand me my pay?”

“What pay?”

“What do you mean?” Peggy frowned. “Are you not planning on paying me?”

“No, no, no. You need to understand something. Your cargo was taken away by the mercenaries,” Horlaide slowly reasoned. “I had to work to get them back. Why would I pay you money?”

Peggy had an ugly face as he switched off the communicator. “Filthy merchant!”

The Silvers were a Super valuable cargo. He knew that he had no way of dealing with Horlaide. He was the one who had gotten beaten up and lost the cargo. Nothing could be done no matter how mad he got. A criminal lived by the code of the survival of the fittest, and even he could not do anything about Horlaide breaking their promise.

“That bunch of stupid mercenaries!” Compared to Horlaide, the mercenaries were the biggest reason that he had failed so badly. He hated them to his bones and gritted his teeth as he smashed apart the communicator with his palm.

Just as Peggy was getting angry all by himself, an ordinary-looking spaceship docked next to him.

“Ember, we’re here.”

Chapter 374 - Your Friend DarkStar Is Now Online

This spaceship had specially been dispatched for a mission by DarkStar, and it had been re-outfitted to look like a normal traveler ship. A group of people walked off the ship and stepped onto the Floating Dragon Island’s docks. The savage inhabitants of the island who were at the docks glared at these seemingly unsuspecting common travelers.

The DarkStar people kept their heads low and headed into town. After making several twists and turns in the streets, just as they were about to pass by the alleyway between two houses, a muscle man walked in front of them and blocked their path. A group of brutes also appeared from behind them, pincering them.

“This isn’t the kind of place that ordinary people should visit. I suggest you guys pay up for that advice…” The pirate who acted as the leader of the ambushers said this as he calmly pointed his gun at the newcomers’ leader.

The other pirates also smiled creepily. However, their leader failed to make any more sounds after that sentence, and they started to feel like it was odd. One of the lackeys lightly shook the leader’s shoulder, and suddenly, the leader’s head came rolling off and fell onto the ground.

His clothes also fell onto the floor, and black-colored dust wafted off them.

The pirates’ hesitation instantly changed into fear, and they turned ran. However, they could not get very far before they all disintegrated into dust particles, leaving piles of clothing on the floor.

The DarkStar’s people could not even be bothered to spare another glance before they quickly went on their way as if they had long become used to this scene. This was their captain’s ability, Ember. The ability could, to an extent, control carbon molecules, making it a huge control to all carbon-based organisms. As long as his enemies had even a speck of carbon molecules in their bodies, he could deal some devastating true damage to them by a thought of his mind. Even energy-protected Supers would be dealt with heavy damage by this ability. His Esper power’s potential rating was an A+!

Ember was a member in DarkStar’s plan to nurture a new generation of trump cards. The information in the Secret Message Bead had been bought from a research organization in another part of space at a very high price. DarkStar had already been working with the other group for many years, and this time, they each sent disguised parties, the carriers, of mixed species and races that ‘coincidentally’ came to the Shattered Star Ring to do business.

The Silvers were responsible for transporting the goods this time, but they got into an accident, and both the carrier and the Secret Message Bead were lost. This team was specifically dispatched the lost Secret Message Bead.

Ember brought his group to a hideout to rest. There were anti-detection devices already prepared in the room for them. He then sent out some of his men to search for information. The men returned before long, and the whole group gathered in the room for a meeting.

“We got the info. The Silvers are confined in a local slave market. We have already marked the location on the map. We should now try to get in contact with the carrier.

“So, what’s the plan? Do we raid the slave market and rescue the carrier directly?”

“Only saving the Silvers would be too suspicious. If we’re going to do it, we should break all the slaves out.”

After everyone had finished discussing with each other, Ember slowly opened his mouth and said lightly, “Let’s not use to resort to force yet. We are, after all, in the Dragon Emperor’s territory. I will go look for the slave market people and try to buy the Silvers back.”

…

Beside a large mineral burrowing device on Floating Dragon Island stood Han Xiao. He was currently carrying out repairs for the device with a group of workers surrounding him as they watched him work.

After screwing in the last nut, the device whirred back to life, and the workers were able to go right back into their work. Han Xiao turned and left while opening up the interface.

The machinery on Floating Dragon Island is all gigantic, and the level of technology used is also much more advanced. Although I still don’t have enough knowledge to reverse engineer blueprints for them, I did manage to come up with the blueprint for the Dragon Guards’ aircraft.

He had been secretly learning the fighter aircraft’s blueprint over the past few days of logistical work. Its name was ‘Dragon Butterfly Aircraft’. It was an anti-gravity hovercraft capable of atmospheric flight, and it was extremely fast and agile. Its size was average and allowed it to carry six to ten passengers. This was a blueprint that Haier had developed himself, yet Han Xiao had been able to learn it without anyone knowing.

The Great Mechanic Han had always been thinking about building a multi-passenger transport. With these new blueprints, he could finally overcome the technical difficulties that he had faced in the past, as well as greatly increase the capability of the transport that he had in mind. He constantly utilized the free time given to logistics workers to design the structure for his new transport.

After he returned to his personal garage, Han Xiao was faced with a giant sphere-shaped machine that was hung up in the middle of the room by several chains. His manufacturing speed had increased several folds recently in part due to the [Instant Deconstruction and Assembly] ability that he had obtained from the Silvers. He had already put in ten potential points to max this ability out.

The best part of working for the logistics department was that he had mountains of raw materials that he could use whenever he wanted. He did not even have to care about production costs. However, only Haier was allowed to use the more valuable materials, such as the Void Dragons’ bones.

Han Xiao was incredibly envious about this. Void Dragons’ bones were unbelievably hard, and even on their own, they were harder than all types alloys that he could currently produce. One of the more advanced blueprints for a higher-level battle suit required Void Dragon bones as the material for its core. That suit was even stronger than Amphiptere without the bones, and being imbued with the Void Dragons’ special power made it several times stronger than Amphiptere.

That blueprint was not too hard to learn and could be obtained as long as one had the necessary knowledge. The hard part was gathering the materials required to build it. Floating Dragon Island was one of the only few places in the whole Shattered Star Ring that produced Void Dragon bones. If he could get his hands on enough of those bones, he could build himself new battle armor that would be upgraded from the ‘snake’ label.

Aside from the bones themselves, the liquid that could be extracted from the Void Dragon marrow was also extremely precious. However, Haier carefully watched over the stock of these materials. This was a clear show of the benefits that the Floating Dragon Island carried with it. Even without Ames managing the island’s affairs seriously, it was still able to amass countless goodies.

Now that I have finally blended into the crowd, it’s about time that I went to find Horlaide to talk about the Silver issue. I am also in a much better position now to make deals with the island’s people.

Han Xiao knew that he could not trust the people from the big three mercenary groups and could only rely on himself for this.

Once again, Han Xiao visited the slave market. However, unlike usual, someone hurriedly called out his name just as he was about to stride in through the main gates.

“Black. Black Star! Please wait!” Theon rushed over while out of breath.

“Oh, it’s you.” Han Xiao gave him a glance from the side.

Theon’s face was currently badly beaten up, with bandages all around it, and he looked like he had gone through a botched surgery. His subordinates who followed behind him did not look any better.

Theon coughed with a horrified look on his face. “Could you please stop your subordinates from bullying us…”

“What are you talking about? We’re colleagues, man. To improve the capability of the Dragon Guards, I have tasked my group members with carefully organizing combat practices with you guys. How could you call us bullies?” Han Xiao said with a meaningful tone.

“I did wrong. I really did wrong. I will apologize however you want!” Theon sobbed in the open, and it was unthinkable how this was the same person who had been acting so high and mighty just several days ago.

Theon’s pride came from the sole fact that he was part of the guards, and he had thought that he could look down on all the foreign visitors of the island. However, Han Xiao had suddenly become his ‘colleague’. He did not even know that misfortune could arrive so fast without notice.

A few days ago, Han Xiao had been too lazy to teach this guy a lesson himself, so he had just thrown a few missions for the players. They were part of the guards anyway, and they were just about getting a kick out of beating him up. Even after Theon went to find the guard captain to complain about this matter, Wilsander simply turned a blind eye to it and could not be bothered to step in.

Theon could not stand being beaten up all the time like this anymore. However, he was not brave enough to just quit his job either. He was like an ant on a flaming-hot pan and had been waiting for technician Han every day over the past few days.

“Haha, why’re you apologizing?” Han Xiao said cheerfully. “You were only following orders and didn’t do anything wrong.”

“How can I get you to forgive me?” said Theon with tears and snot all over his face. If he had known that this would happen, he never would have acted so unreserved like he did before.

“There’s a saying that one’s well-being is invaluable. How much do you think your wellbeing is worth?” Han Xiao’s smile turned to a wicked one all a sudden.

Theon felt his body shudder at that sight, and he said through gritted teeth, “One thousand….”

The Great Mechanic Han was shocked and let out a gasp. “You price yourself that low?”

“Then it’s 1,500…”

Han Xiao shook his head and clicked his tongue. “Looks like my friends need to help you establish a sense of self-worth.”

“2,000! That’s all I have in my account. It’s my savings over all the years. I’m begging you, please! I only have this much…”

“Sigh. Let’s just consider it as me giving you a discount. Too bad I’m just this kindhearted, right?” Han Xiao then took out his communicator and pulled up the transaction menu before swiping his eyes over Theon’s underlings and chuckled. “How about you guys?”

His smile was basically that of the devil’s to the group of people. They were all horrified and made the transfers without a second word. After hearing the sound of the successful transaction, Theon felt his soul leave his body. Not only did he lose the portion of the money that Horlaide had secretly paid him earlier to get him to act, he had also lost most of his life savings.

Han Xiao was all smiles and sunshine once more when his purse was filled up with the 34,000 Enas from the guards. He swung his arms around as he turned and entered the slave market.

Theon’s team receiving the money in secret was one of the main reasons that the mercenaries’ rescue operation had failed right at the end. It was not Han Xiao’s style to just get a little revenge when he could. He would take back what he had lost because of Theon with full interest.

After he entered the slave market, he was led to Horlaide’s office by the workers.

Horlaide’s face scrunched up into a smile as he welcomed Han Xiao passionately. “Take a seat. Would you like anything to drink?”

“Don’t bother. I will be going straight to the point here. I’m taking the Silvers away. Name your price.” Han Xiao went into topic without any delay. Horlaide knew that he was the mercenary from earlier, and he also knew that he had now become a colleague, hence the passionate tone.

But Horlaide was considered someone who worked under the Head Butler. Since violence would obviously not be a wise choice, he came this time to negotiate.

Horlaide put on a fake smile and said, “What happened earlier was a misunderstanding. I’m sorry for any inconvenience that it may have caused you. However, what’s done is done. The Silvers are now on the market. Things are also not easy for me. I hope that you can understand.”

Han Xiao raised an eyebrow, as he smelled the smell of someone in the same line of business as himself. “Don’t bullsh*t, you already have a plan.”

Horlaide chuckled. “I’ve heard that your client cares a lot about their own. I believe that they will be very generous with opening up their purse. How about this? You help me convince them about the deal, and I will give you ten percent of the transaction fee.”

“How much are you planning to ask for?” asked Han Xiao.

“200,000… per person!” Horlaide raised up a single finger while smiling creepily. This price was, without a doubt, ridiculous. It was several times more than the market price. It was obvious then that the Silver client was the prey that Horlaide had laid his eyes on.

Chapter 375 - Customers First

Han Xiao squinted and stared at Horlaide without saying anything. After a while, Han Xiao shook his head and said, “I won’t help you to persuade them. Keep the money.”

Horlaide was surprised. “Why?”

“Everything has rules.” Although the reason Han Xiao became a mercenary was to earn cash, since he had already started this job, he would follow the rules in the industry. He had strong morals as betraying the employer was the worst crime that one could commit. Thus, he declined Horlaide’s offer to trick his employer.

“Don’t you want to earn money? That’s the reason you choose to be a mercenary, right? Fifteen people could sell three million Enas. Let’s say if you only get ten percent, that’s still a lot of money that you can’t earn while serving others. Because I’m your colleague, that’s why I decided to share some of the benefit to compensate the reward you lost after your mercenary group failed the mission. Do you really want to let go of this opportunity?” Horlaide asked as he shrugged.

“Sorry, my creed is honorable. I don’t do shady business.” Han Xiao was not lured by the amount of cash. He did not want to follow Horlaide’s intent. He wanted to have an image of being trustworthy. Moreover, he had accepted the mission from the Silver; however, it was not for money but to earn knowledge.

On top of that, the mission still had to depend on whether or not the Silver would reach an agreement on the negotiation. If they did, then what was the need for mercenaries? Han Xiao would not get any reward.

Horlaide made a duck face. “All up to you. I will talk with your boss myself.”

Han Xiao took out the communicator and called the employer. The face of the Silver showed up on the screen. The Silver was surprised when they saw Han Xiao. After thinking for a while, they finally remembered that Han Xiao was one of their mercenaries. They asked in confusion, “Why did you call us? Where are the guys from Sky Ring? Oh right, where you are now? When are you coming back?”

Han Xiao shook his head. “There have been some accidents. We got attacked, and the hostages were sent to the slave market. The people from Sky Ring, Blades, and Purple Gold have all been captured, so I am in charge of the mission now. I found the manager of this slave market, and he wants to negotiate with you.

“Hehe, your comrades are in my hands…” Horlaide straightened his clothes, and he started to list his demands.

The Silver raged. “That’s too expensive! We can’t accept that price!”

“Sorry, you are in no position to talk back,” Horlaide said back in a deep and firm voice. The hostages were in his hands, and he was confident that the Silver wouldn’t abandon their people. Three million Enas was a lot, but the Silver’s pockets was deep enough, so they could still squeeze enough money.

“We’ll need time to discuss.” The Silver ground his teeth, but he could not reject the offer.

“Call me after you reach a conclusion, but there is a time limit. A lot of our dear customers really want to buy your friends, so you are not the only buyer,” Horlaide threatened.

Han Xiao turned off his communicator and left without any expression. Horlaide wanted to wave, but he did not move an inch, sitting on his chair.

As Han Xiao stepped outside of the door, a man wearing a mask was trying to get into the room. They brushed past each other’s shoulders, and time froze at that moment. Han Xiao’s hair all stood up, and he felt something sharp pointing on his forehead.

Both of them looked at each other as if they exchanged punches. The scene froze in place, the environment all lost its color, and only their eyes were visible.

The next second, color and sound broke the ice. They acted like nothing happened and kept on walking.

After several steps, Han Xiao looked back at the man. With greater power, he also had a better sense on the outside world. He felt endangered after getting close to a powerful being, and that was the feeling that the man in the mask gave Han Xiao. It was not only strength, but the aura of the man hinted the smell of blood of the dead. Only people with strong senses could notice this detail.

Han Xiao’s instinct told him that the masked man was also here for the Silver.

I wonder where he is from…

Han Xiao shook his hand and contacted the employer.

The Silver was upset. “Why are the ones rescuing captured? Now what? Do we have to pay the money?”

“Don’t rush to a decision,” Han Xiao replied. “It seems that the hostages are still save. I will think of another way.”

“… Okay. Remember, you must prioritize their safety.”

After the call ended, Han Xiao grabbed his hair and felt a headache coming on.

“What should I do? The hostages are all with Horlaide. Right now, I am a member of Floating Dragon Island, so I can’t draw attention. Um… There’s only one way to force Horlaide to give up the hostage. I need to persuade Jenny and Ames…” He suddenly had an idea and hurried to formulate this plan.

At the same time, Ember, the masked man, also went to try and buy the Silver.

“How much are you offering?” Horlaide asked.

“Fifty thousand per person.”

Horlaide shook his head and seemed disinterested.

Ember frowned. “This price is already fifty percent more than the original price. Why are you still refusing?”

“There’s someone who’s paying more,” Horlaide replied.

“Seventy thousand,” Ember added.

Horlaide still shook his head.

“A hundred thousand. That’s my final offer.”

“Not enough.”

“Then how much do you want?” Ember was patient.

Horlaide laughed. “The generous buyer is offering 210,000 per person. Of course, the deal is not yet settled. But… if you are able to pay more than 200,000, then that fact might change…”

“Okay. I will think about it.”

Ember nodded and left the slave market.

“Leader, how’s the negotiation?” his team member asked.

Ember took off his mask and calmly said, “Change of plans. We will take the hostages by force.”

DarkStar had the money to pay, but it was not worth it. Even if they settled on the price, there was a chance that the manager would increase the price again.

What kind organization was the DarkStar? They were the bad guys! If they obeyed such orders, what would happen to their dignity as villains?

…

On the planet of the Fawn Galaxy, there was conflict among the Silvers.

“They have already named a price. What are we waiting for? Let’s get the money!”

“Wait a second. This whole thing looks sketchy. Did the mercenaries work together with the slave market managers to scam us? Everyone in Shattered Star Ring is a greedy goblin. We need to prepare for this possibility,” someone in the group said.

“In the end, safety comes first. Sky Ring, Blades, and Purple Gold have all fallen, so how can we trust this Black Star Group? If they push over their limit and try to be heroes, they might bring more danger to the hostages. Let’s just give the money.”

“What if they don’t release the hostages after we meet their demands,” one man said in worry.

After some chaotic discussion, in the end, the captain stayed calm and made the decision. “The reason they failed last time was because they were outnumbered. I am going to trust them one last time. We will have the Black Star Mercenary Group try one more time, and if they can’t do it, I believe they will give us an accurate reply. Giving the money is our last option.”

…

A team of players rode an aircraft and scouted around an area.

Li Ge was on the aircraft. He dodged out of everyone’s sight and took out the Secret Message Bead.

“What is this thing?” Li Ge mumbled to himself. “The instructions say that there will be a bonus reward if I give this to a specific person, but there is no hint on who the person may be. I do have to activate it myself…”

Li Ge had a lot of experience in gaming. With items that did not have clear instructions, the player would have to take the initiative and show this item to different NPCs. If an NPC reacted differently compared to the rest, that should be the ‘specific character’.

“Let’s do this.” Li Ge made up his mind.

Chapter 376 - Steel Body!

Goa, Cerleni, and Porter’s teams were all locked inside the Floating Dragon prison. They contacted their respective leaders and paid the bail. They could not leave before the higher officers went to pick them up and apologize.

During the time of imprisonment, everyone was disconnected from the outside world. They were bored to death. The only topic that they could talk about was Han Xiao.

“I wonder if Black Star saved the Silvers,” Porter muttered.

“Even though Black Star is working for Ames, what can he do? There’s no way he’ll be able to save them.” Cerleni was pessimistic about the situation. He shook his hand. “Well, I can’t blame him. If I was in his situation, I wouldn’t be able to do anything either. On top of that, he is with Floating Dragon. We can’t be sure whether he will still be a mercenary or not.”

“We have already asked him for this favor. Let’s just trust him.” Goa frowned.

Cerleni was frustrated. “I want to believe that he can do it since he is our last hope, but is there anything that he can do?”

“… I don’t know.” Goa sighed.

The mercenaries’ morale was low. They tried to trust Han Xiao, but their brains told them that this mission had already failed.

…

“Are you looking for Ames? She’s not here, left a few days ago.” Jenny read the documents without looking up.

“Where is she heading?” Han Xiao was surprised. Ames always stayed on Floating Dragon Island.

“She said she was in a bad mood, so she wanted to fight someone,” Jenny replied with a cold voice like a businessman. She adjusted the Data Storage Glasses and said, “She was unpleased with the message that you brought back.”

Han Xiao’s eyes flicked. The only people that could match Ames were the three Supers of the same grade in the Shattered Star Ring… He hoped that there would not be any crazy news a few days later.

He planned to fudge Ames to release the Silvers, so he had to wait for her return. Han Xiao did not want to revolt when Ames was not home since there was too much risk. There was also no need to do that as the Floating Dragon Faction gave him quiet some benefits. Head Butler Jenny was tough unlike Ames, and Han Xiao barely even considered persuading her.

Since Ames is not present, according to the management rules, I am temporarily the highest officer,” Jenny said. “We strengthened the defense of Wilsander, and Haier is protecting the Gravitational Core. Everything is in order, so don’t you dare make other plans, or else you will regret it.”

Han Xiao understood the hidden message of Jenny. He had only joined the faction for a few days, and although the other members did not reject him, Jenny still kept on eye on people from the Black Star Mercenary Group. It was her responsibility as the Head Butler to clean up Ames’ mess. Jenny wanted to warn Han Xiao to not do something stupid.

Han Xiao smiled and ignored Jenny’s warning. He left the office, went back to the Logistics Office, and got his next job. Haier took half of the workers to camp around the Energy Core of the floating island. The rest of the workers were on standby in the headquarters while dealing with the daily maintenance tasks. Han Xiao was assigned to remain in the headquarters.

After losing half of the workforce, the workload suddenly increased. Everyone was extremely busy, and the Great Mechanic Han had to spend his time fixing aircrafts and equipment without doing anything else.

…

A few days later, in the Slave Market, Horlaide made a call to Han Xiao and asked, “Has your employer decided to pay the price?”

“Not yet,” Han Xiao answered while fixing a burrow collector.

“Hey, don’t waste my time. Tell them that I will only wait three more days, or else I will sell to other buyers.”

Horlaide was pissed and hung up the call right after he finished his sentence. He took a sip from a hallucination drink and got high.

“If the Silver is not playing, then the man in the mask is the next highest bid buyer…”

In his eyes, Ember was his plan B. No matter what happened, he would certainly end up with tons of cash. Thinking about the huge sum of money, Horlaide smiled even wider, thrilled. He chugged the drink and hummed a delightful tune.

At the same time, pairs of eyes were hidden in the shadows, staring at the Slave Market.

That was the day DarkStar would attack. Ember had made an infiltration plan to steal the hostage rather than have a straight on battle. They did not know that Ames had left, so they were being cautious. Ember’s Esper potential was Class A+, but he was still developing, so he was currently in Class B+. Against Ames, who could one shot him, even Ember had to swallow his pride and be meticulous on his operation.

Following the DarkStar Team were the Galactic Pirates. When Ember was undercover, he found a few new teammates. He made an empty promise that he would evenly split the profit while showing part of his plan, and that was enough to bait the pirates. The pirates could help them to cover DarkStar’s real purpose. If they were exposed, the pirates could also draw attacks from them and create chaos.

“Have you cut the power?” Ember asked in the communicator.

“I just infiltrated the Floating Dragon Island’s main system. I’m planting the disruptive device now. I need two more minutes to temporarily cut of the electric supply to the district of the Slave Market. The surveillance system will be down, and the system won’t detect anything. The whole thing will last for seventeen minutes. It should be enough for your operation.”

“Good.” Ember nodded.

For this operation, DarkStar was equipped with high-tech equipment. They had slit the team in two, with one going after the electric supply and making it look like a technical problem. Although there would be some movements, it would not trigger the alarm. This created the opportunity for Ember to do his job.

As soon as the two-minute-mark hit, the entire lights in the district shut down, and the place was plunged into darkness. Then the whole street turned noisy, with people wondering what had happened.

Ember close his eyes and used his Esper vision. He felt the carbon particles around him and the objects that he had hidden in the Slave Market. He flicked his fingers and released his Esper power.

Inside the Slave Market, the stones on the corner of the wall cracked, and small metallic balls dropped out of the cracks. The balls then released a strong invisible sleeping gas, which filled the entire building. The gas only affected the nervous system, so it would not do any harm.

Flop, flop…

The workers of the Slave Market fell on the ground one after another. Horlaide was shocked at the sudden power outage. Before he could get up, he had already passed out from inhaling the gas.

Ember’s Esper power could control carbon molecules to a certain degree. He could split and combine molecules to turn carbon into different states, such as from solid to gas. There were a lot of materials containing carbon, and with his current power, controlling a few rocks was a piece of cake.

Under the cover of darkness, the team infiltrated the Slave Market. The room was pitch dark, but the Carbon remains were lying around, which showed the structure of the room. Ember quickly found the underground prison and confirmed that their targets were there.

Because of the power outage, all the locks in the Slave Market had deactivated. Ember and his team walked through the prison with ease as they opened the door. The prisoners all rushed out of the room with tears dripping down, as if they were being saved.

“Are you here to save us all?” the Silver asked with surprise as they walked out, thinking that they were the mercenaries rescuing them.

But they quickly found out that they had jumped out of the pan and into the fire.

The members of DarkStar all wore their masks. Ember said to the other thrilled pirates, “As promised, I only want the Silver. The other slaves are yours.”

This time, a group of brutes walked out of the crowd and said, “It’s not fair. The Silvers are the most valuable. Who do you think you are…”

Ember did not wait for them to finish. The expressions of the brutes turned sour and filled with pain. They opened their mouths, but no screams came out. Starting from the skin to the flesh, everything turned into ash, and their bodies collapsed in an instant.

“Anyone else want to talk?” Ember asked coldly.

Everyone froze. They could not believe their eyes, so they quietly obeyed the order and gave up the thought of getting the Silvers.

“Target acquired. Let’s get out of here and do the interrogation in a safe house.” The members of DarkStar quickly left the scene.

…

A few minutes earlier, when the power was cut, the logistics office received a report. The system gave the task of repairing the problem to Han Xiao.

“Emergency mission?” Han Xiao was repairing a burrow nearby. He dropped everything and headed to the Slave Market district.

Seeing that there were no lights nearby, Han Xiao turned on his detection radar. He suddenly stopped as he could not detect anything in the Slave Market. It was evident that there were disturbance frequencies in the area.

“Something’s fishy.” Han Xiao’s face turned serious as he realized that something bad was happening. He activated his jetpack and rushed toward the Slave Market. As soon as he reached there, he smelled the dense sleeping gas.

_____________________

You inhaled strong anesthetic gas. Calculating the effect…

Your Endurance is over 100 points. You are immune to hypnosis.

Your Endurance is over 150. You are immune to drowsiness.

_____________________

The place was dead quiet. He activated on his night vision and saw the workers lying around.

What is happening here? Did someone rob this place? Who has the guts to do this?

Han Xiao raised his suspicion.

At this time, sounds of footsteps came from the stars. Ember brought the Silvers up the stairs, and he saw Han Xiao standing at the doorway. “They found us!”

On the other hand, Han Xiao was even more shocked upon seeing someone rescuing the Silvers.

Who the f*ck took over my job‽

Did our employer find another mercenaries? Are we on the same side?

Han Xiao could not determine the identity of the other man. Before he could say anything, Ember tried to control the carbon molecules in Han Xiao’s body and turn him into dust.

Hum!

The Esper power went directly through the armor and acted on Han Xiao’s body.

_____________________

You received Ember’s [Carbon Atom Deconstruction] attack.

You received 1146 True Damage.

You received Ember’s [Carbon Atom Deconstruction] attack.

You received 988 True Damage.

Your Ability [Steel Body] activated. All True Damage is nullified!

_____________________

Through the interface, Han Xiao saw the ‘-0’ damage that filled his screen.

Nothing happened!

Ember’s expression froze behind the mask. He could feel the carbon molecules in Han Xiao’s body, but he could not move them like those of other people. He suddenly felt the molecules in Han Xiao’s body tighten and become as hard as stone.

Looks like he’s an enemy!

Han Xiao focused, and the armor covered his body. He entered battle mode and used [Wrath of Garrett] without hesitation!

Chapter 377 - Seize the Opportunity!

The burning light beam burst like a golden spear breaking through the darkness, hitting Ember’s face!

Boom!

Flames exploded!

Before the light had vanished, a shadow rushed out at swiftly. Han Xiao’s reaction was exceptionally fast. The handle of the scythe popped out from the arm armor and slipped into his hand, expanding into a large black scythe with one swing.

The scythe and the shadow clashed.

Clank!

The sound of metal colliding!

A crystal-clear hand grabbed the scythe, and the two of them competed in strength.

Han Xiao glanced at the hand. The skin of Ember became like a diamond, and the blade could not slice through.

The ground below him moved, and the carbon element was extracted, turning into dust particles, climbing up his legs and rapidly hardening.

Han Xiao hastily jumped back in shock, dodging before the mud hardened, tearing apart the yet to form diamond.

Carbon elemental control? Troublesome power… The analyzer in the mechanical suit detected the material that was controlled—it was all carbon. Han Xiao was experienced, so he immediately guessed the opponent’s power, and he felt it was quite hard to deal with.

This kind of atom controlling Esper power was very rare, its effects were usually very well-rounded—able to attack, defend, control, and even building materials. Many natural materials contained carbon, and the opponent’s power happened to be the nemesis of carbon-based life.

Han Xiao was discreetly shocked. Luckily, he had the True Damage immunity talent, otherwise he would have died.

[Steel Body] had come from the Germinal Organization leader. Of course, at this stage, the leader’s strength was not a big deal anymore, but that old man was a main character-type figure after all and a BOSS to boot. The effect of this talent was very strong, and it gave complete immunity to True Damages. True Damage ignored all resistance and could be very dangerous. Even the tankiest Pugilist would suffer from True Damage, and with this talent, it was insurance for safety.

Up till now, Han Xiao had gained two molding abilities in total, the other one was [Basic Strengthened Life], which gave him a lot of health. His health could even match up to Pugilists of the same level despite being a Mechanic. It was disgustingly tanky… and Ember was suitably disgusted right now.

[Carbon Atom Deconstruction] was a new way to use his Esper power that Ember had only obtained after reaching grade B—it was a lethal skill to low-grade Supers. It worked by directly breaking down the molecular structure of the opponent’s body. The difference between the opponent’s energy and level needed to be determined before taking effect. if the target failed to match up to a certain standard, the target would then take True Damage. Usually, anyone whose grade was lower than Ember’s could not match up to that standard, but Han Xiao was different. Although his level was lower than his, he happened to have True Damage immunity.

“Run!”

Ember suppressed his shock. His trump card did not work, and his other powers were all ordinary combat methods that did not have enough destructive power. It was not the time to fight, and there was no time to think.

Hum!

The power field spread out. The ground and the walls rippled like water, and countless carbon molecules were extracted and reformed. The powder sized molecules surrounded Han Xiao like black silk then quickly hardened into diamonds with various shapes—spikes, barriers, cages, and so on—stalling Han Xiao.

Clank!

Spinning carbon dust was everywhere, moving around like waves, solidifying from time to time. The arbitrary shifts of material form were magnificent!

Han Xiao bared his teeth. The dust ribbon was dense, hard to predict, very swift, and kept attacking, so it really tested his reaction speed.

Amphiptere quickly planned the dodging route, allowing Han Xiao to maneuver around and dodge, barely avoiding the attacks one after another. The movement was very difficult to do—he was like an epileptic patient doing a street dance!

But it was very effective as well. Despite looking like he only barely made every dodge, he was very steady!

As Han Xiao was stalled, Ember took the Silvers and escaped out the doors. Han Xiao, of course, could not let the Silvers be just taken away like this. Just as he was about to give chase, the mechanical suit suddenly activated a warning, notifying that him there was a high energy reaction behind his back!

He slid and dodged!

Boom!

All kinds of attacks hit where he originally stood, creating a large crater. Han Xiao looked back to see those pirates that had taken slaves for themselves firing at him. Dozens of Supers surrounded him with murderous intent.

“Quickly, kill the witness!”

“He’s alone, let’s attack together!”

Han Xiao was surrounded and could not withdraw. Ember and the others vanished from his sight. He frowned and had no choice but to deal with those brutes.

He was alone, so the opponent used their advantage of outnumbering him. He could not defeat them quickly. Han Xiao decided to use the communicator in his mechanical suit to call for help.

After fighting for a while, these galactic pirates realized that they could not defeat Han Xiao at all, and Han Xiao even defeated quite a number of them. Quickly, they started to get anxious.

“This guy is quite strong. Don’t waste time anymore, we have to go!”

“No, he saw our identity. If he reports it to the guards, we will be immediately exposed!”

These brutes had disagreements—half of them wanted to retreat, but just as they were about to leave, the roof of the slave market was suddenly blasted away. Everyone was shocked. They looked up in surprise, and a few Dragon Butterfly Aircrafts were circling in the air, shining their searchlight down. There were more aircrafts heading here from afar.

These guards were all players that Han Xiao had called. Taking advantage of their job, they arrived at the scene to back up very quickly. Herlous waved behind the high concentration glass.

All the brutes were startled! It was like a thief getting caught by the police during the act!

Han Xiao withdrew and backed off, leaving the area covered by the attacks as the tip of his mouth raised.

Want to gang bang me? I have backup, too!

All the aircrafts fired lasers at the brutes.

Boom boom boom!

Golden lasers poured down like a thunderstorm, and the pirates fell in swathes. They were terrified!

“It’s Dragon Guards! Run!”

“Split up!”

They were panicking and could no longer afford to care about Han Xiao. They scattered and fled, and the aircrafts split up to chase them.

Han Xiao did not chase after them immediately. The Dragon Guards were up in the air and could chase more efficiently. He did not want to act on the ground, so he was waiting for his Bat Wings to arrive. Ember escaped first and was already long out of his sight, but Han Xiao had not only watched him escape—he had secretly left a mark on him.

“Herlous, a group of mysterious people had snatched the Silvers away. I’ve marked them on the radar, and the intel has been sent to you. Don’t let them get away!” Han Xiao drew a glowing route on the map and sent it to Herlous. “They have a Super, grade B as well, who can control carbon molecules. He careful, maintain the shield. Don’t get into combat with him before I arrive!”

“Okay, I see them, following now,” Herlous replied.

At this time, Wilsander sent a communication and asked in a very low voice, “What happened‽”

Han Xiao described what happened, emphasizing heavily on the fact that the enemy attacked Floating Dragon Island’s property with malicious intentions and that he was the star that stopped the enemies.

Look at how arrogant these people are, completely disrespecting you, Guard Captain. If you don’t go ahead and thrash them, aren’t you ashamed‽

He was worried that Wilsander might not have heard the key point and repeated this part three times.

“Okay, alright, I got it.” Wilsander hung up the communication hastily, fearing that Han Xiao might repeat it a fourth time. However, Han Xiao had already achieved his goal. This phrase cycled in Wilsander’s head, and he could not forget it even if he wanted to. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.

Exactly, who doesn’t know that us Dragon Guards control the entire city? Yet, these people dared to violate the rules. They’re completely disrespecting the guards. Are they challenging me‽ Today, these people dared to rob the slaves. Tomorrow, they will dare to bomb the island. Unacceptable! If I don’t thrash you people, what kind of Guard Captain will I be‽

Wilsander thought for a while and turned furious. He ordered the guards directly under him to move out.

Ames happened to be out, so the guards were on standby all the time. They were at the highest alert level and were very efficient. Aircrafts soared through the sky one after another.

The residents and outsiders on the ground all looked up surprised. They had never seen all the guards striking at the same time. What happened‽

Han Xiao looked at the mess around him and saw the unconscious Horlaide. His mood immediately improved. “You deserve it for wanting to trick me of my money.”

He wondered, when Horlaide woke up and saw all his slaves gone and his home destroyed, what expression would he have. Thinking of the face that Horlaide had back then when he got the Silvers, Han Xiao felt warm inside.

He looked at the interface; there was a new message. It said that he had caught the criminals in the act, provided the intel, and stopped the enemies. His relationship points with the Floating Dragon Island had increased by 400, rising from Cold to Neutral.

Han Xiao suddenly thought of something. Making use of the time during the wait, he walked down to the underground prison cell, came to the secret door’s location, bursting through the wall with violence, exposing Aroshia’s cell.

Those brutes had not discovered this secret door, so Aroshia was still locked inside. Ember had actually noticed the secret door, but his target was just the Silvers, so he did not bother to tell the others about it.

Han Xiao tore the cell door open and reached out his hand toward Aroshia.

He still remembered that he had the [Visitor from Afar] mission, which required him to bring Aroshia away for six days. Hack then, he did not buy her because Horlaide asked for money, so now was the chance!

If he did not seize the opportunity like he always did, he would regret it!

He was not going to leave anything for Horlaide!

Aroshia looked up and stared at Han Xiao’s hand. Confusion appeared on her face, and she did not move.

“Right, she doesn’t have memories and curiosity.” Han Xiao thought of Horlaide’s introduction. He decided to simply go forward and opened her cuffs and collar. Then, he grabbed Aroshia’s hand and walked outside.

As expected, Aroshia did not resist. She let Han Xiao pull her away with a calm face, like a boat floating along with the waves.

She stared at Han Xiao’s face the whole time. Although she acted like a puppet, her eyes were very bright at this time like she was in deep thought.

Chapter 378 - Confidentiality Failure, DarkStar Exposed

Hu!

The bottom of the equipment box shot out a blue flame and flew over from afar. The parts assembled automatically, and Amphiptere turned into Flight Mode.

“Report position.” Han Xiao quickly geared up, grabbed Aroshia, and flew into the sky. He did not worry about Aroshia being hurt during the high-speed flight at all—she had extraordinary power inside her body. Even if she did not know how to use it, the resistance that she had still protected her.

Herlous sent the coordinates, and the Tactical Screen displayed a three-dimensional map, marked with Herlous’ aircraft. The spinning speed of the turbos on Han Xiao’s wings soared, shooting out a jet plume, turning from stationary to high-speed flight in an instant. No buffering was needed—the mechanical suit could eliminate most of the load, and Han Xiao could endure the rest.

Aroshia was held in front of his chest. Her hair was dancing, and her eyes were closed, but she was not hurt.

After Han Xiao derived the Dragon Butterfly Aircraft, he had made improvements to his Bat Wings, adding anti-gravity thrusting technology, substantially increasing their speed.

During the flight, Han Xiao contemplated the opponent’s identity. Ember’s carbon element control made him think of a theoretically existing remarkably strong Esper power—Particle Control. It surpassed the limit of a single element control, almost all mighty, able to form and deconstruct any matter. If the energy was strong enough, it could theoretically control the deconstruction and reconstruction of planets, form lives, or even change the particle construction and create antimatter. With preparation, it could complete particle collisions without any machinery, simulate all sorts of phenomena, or even carry out high concentration compression, creating black holes!

This type of Esper power relating to the origin of matter was too horrifying. It was like the Almighty Creator, listed in the ‘Extremely Dangerous Esper Power Restriction Treaty’ by the three Universal Civilizations. Inside was about a hundred theoretically-possible highly-dangerous Esper powers. For some powers, even existing was a sin!

However, individual pursuit usually conflicted with the masses. The highly dangerous Esper powers inside the treaty were ranked by someone, turning it into the ‘Most Desired Esper Power List’. Luckily, most of these Esper powers never appeared.

Particle Control was always in the top five. There were not any witness reports, and it was rumored that it could not be individually awakened, only formed through fusion. Another rumor was that Esper power was a ‘live creature’ with consciousness, some types of energy field type life, expressed as a large stream of energy, floating across the vast universe. It was said that the host of that power had appeared before, but because that person could not withstand that enormous energy, the host died of gene collapse. However, there were no witness reports, so no one knew if it was true. After all, there were countless rumors in the universe. Some people even spread the rumor that [Dragon Emperor] Ames was actually a man.

Although carbon molecule control was far from particle control, there were similarities. It was very iconic and unique. Furthermore, the name [Ember] in the combat information that he saw felt a little familiar.

Suddenly, Han Xiao had a flash of insight, and a part of memory surfaced in his mind.

“Code name Ember… carbon molecule controlling power… DarkStar’s strongest individual‽”

Han Xiao was shocked and surprised.

From the little information that he had exposed from that short contact with, Ember had allowed Han Xiao to guess his identity. Ember wanted to keep it confidential, but he had already failed in front of Han Xiao.

The reason that Han Xiao could confirm the target was that the combination of the code name ‘Ember’ and that power in one person were too iconic. In his previous life, with the Mutation Disaster as the boundary, the fight between Godora and DarkStar turned direct. Ember made a name for himself then. His power was very hard to deal with, and the war forced out his potential. When he reached grade A, the strength of his Esper power made a huge leap, and he then became the strongest Super in DarkStar.

Millions of Godorans died at his hand. One quote that he was known for was very popular among the players in the DarkStar faction in that version.

“I was fated to become Godora’s nightmare, to make them reflect on their backward traditions with slaughter. The bloodline belief that they firmly hold onto goes against the ways of reproduction and nature, and it was this mindset that created us. After their confession, they will then swallow the fruit that they have created through the thousands of years of pure blood belief. On their ruins, DarkStar will rebuild Godora! By then, there will be no pure blood, no one Superior because of their bloodline. Discrimination will no longer exist, and no one will be inferior from the moment they are born! Hybrid is inclusion, progress, and equality; we will eliminate the decay. Let life and hope bless Godora, praise Gal.”

Of course, although this sentence sounded very epic, DarkStar marked themselves as revolutionaries. They believed that revolution needed sacrifice and the resolve to reach their goals by any means necessary. Other races like Sunils were heavily damaged because of that. In the eyes of Lawful Factions, no matter how good DarkStar made themselves look, they were still a chaotic and evil terrorist organization.

The ironic thing was, Ember was not a hybrid Godoran. He belonged to another race, but he had been raised by DarkStar from a young age, forming a firm hatred. However, this hatred had absolutely nothing to do with him. As seen from this, the indoctrination of DarkStar was certainly rather good.

Ember was still in the secret cultivation stage, not yet achieving his peak. Han Xiao was the first outsider to know Ember’s identity, and he was doubtful about it. DarkStar’s actions always had a purpose—everything that they did was to go against Godora—why did they target the Silvers?

Does DarkStar want to use this group of Silvers to threaten the Silver Civilization? Impossible, this is just a group of tourists. They don’t have that much power. Even if they caught the entire Silver Parliament, the Silver Civilization won’t be threatened, what does DarkStar want?

Han Xiao’s eye moved around.

Could it be… these Silvers have other secrets!

The sight of aircraft appeared ahead. The hatch opened, and Han Xiao flew in, Herlous approached. “The target has no intention of fighting back. They don’t have a fixed route, and I don’t know where their destination is.”

“Continue chasing.”

Herlous nodded. He saw Aroshia beside and was shocked by her beauty. He said with surprise, “You are?”

“Don’t ask, I’ll explain next time.” Han Xiao temporarily did not have time to deal with Aroshia’s problems. He stared at Ember and the others through the window.

…

“We can’t shake off this aircraft. The other guards are coming to help, so we’d better withdraw as soon as possible,” a subordinate said hastily.

Ember’s expression was very serious. The aircraft following them did not fire, making him feel an imminent pressure.

The plan had been very complete originally, and the root cause of the current situation was the witness that entered the scene amid the chaos. It would all have been fine if he had killed him in an instant, but not only was that witness a grade B Super, he was even immune to his Carbon Atom Deconstruction. Unbelievable! He had never failed when he used this against anyone weaker than him!

It was a known fact that Ames’ organization was weak. However, the thinnest camel was bigger than a horse. There were very unique people under the Dragon Emperor.

The survival of the witness had messed up all his plans. That person was definitely one of the Dragon Guards, which was why he was able to call the guards there. Ember was speechless, and he could only feel that luck was not on his side.

Luckily, he found other criminals to act together, with these brutes drawing their attention. Floating Dragon Island would not know their identity of belonging to DarkStar.

They could not wait till it was safe to begin the interrogation of the Silvers. Ember made an eye signal, and the team members exchanged code words in the middle of escaping. It would increase the risk of being exposed, but they could not care so much anymore.

However, an accident occurred.

All the Silver were confused, and no one matched the code word—the carrier was not among these people!

The expression of the DarkStar people changed instantly. They were stunned.

Chapter 379 - Slaves? I Don’t See It

Ember’s expression changed. He glanced at the expressions of all the Silvers, and the horror in their eyes did not look like they were faking it. They really did not know the code word.

His composure almost collapsed. Luckily, he thought of another possibility in time.

“Do you have any other friends?”

The Silvers did not dare to not answer. One of them said while trembling, “The—there were originally seventeen of us, but two people were thrown into the universe during the trip here. They are already dead.”

The carrier died and was thrown into the universe?

The DarkStar people were stunned, not knowing what to do. The carrier’s dried corpse could have floated anywhere by then. There was no way they could find it.

Ember was stunned as well, but suddenly, he thought of something. The slave traders definitely would have searched through the carrier’s clothes. If the carrier did not hide the Secret Message Bead properly, the slave traders might have taken it. There was still a chance!

However, this would mean that they had rescued the Silvers for nothing, and they were targeted by Floating Dragon Island… Ember’s face froze. He felt miserable.

If they had known earlier, they would have gone to find the slave trader first, but before this, he did not know what happened to the carrier. Rescuing the Silvers first was a logical assumption for their next act. The carrier belonged to a partner organization, and after they retrieved the Secret Message Bead, they would rescue him if they could. If they could not, they would just kill him, but now this step was skipped. That damn slave trader had completed their job, but the bead was lost. Furthermore, Ember initially only wanted to steal the people secretly. All this commotion was an accident.

In conclusion, he was extremely unlucky!

Truly frustrated, Ember waved his hand, and countless dust shot out from the ground, turning into a silk-like curtain, shrouding the aircraft chasing them, blocking its vision. This layer of dense black dust was made of graphite, so the image from the detection device immediately became twisted and blurry. The aircraft was blinded, and it hurriedly slowed down.

“I’ll chase, Herlous, but don’t follow me. He can kill you easily.” Han Xiao stopped Herlous from jumping out of the ship. He did not want this cadre that he had spent so much effort obtaining to be killed, so he flew out alone.

Breaking through the graphite barrier, Han Xiao focused and looked over. Then suddenly, he was a little stunned.

Ember and his people had fled with their powers and vanished without a trace, only leaving the Silvers behind, who were hugging each other while shivering. They were meaningless to Ember now, so they had been abandoned. Not only did that make it easier for them to escape, it would also calm the Dragon Guards down.

At this time, the graphite barrier was dismissed and fell onto the ground. This meant that Ember was already far away, and the aircraft had left the area of his power.

“He ran so fast.” Herlous was surprised. As he was about to make the order of continuing the chase, Han Xiao suddenly raised his hand, stopped him, and said, “Don’t chase anymore. No point.”

“Why? Is it okay to let them escape?”

“Just say we can’t catch them.” Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled. “Didn’t you guys notice? These brutes have really helped us!”

They were stunned before looking over at where Han Xiao was pointing at to see the Silvers on the ground. Then, they realized, and surprise appeared on their faces.

That’s right! Our hiring mission is to rescue the Silvers!

After so many things, the Silvers had finally been rescued in a strange way. Furthermore, they were in Han Xiao’s hands. Han Xiao was not going to let go of this opportunity. The difficult part of rescuing the Silvers was Horlaide, and this part had been solved just like that. He almost wanted to thank DarkStar.

Han Xiao’s words were even more useful than the Guard Captain Wilsander. They all listened to him and stopped the chase. Very soon, the other players came in aircrafts, protecting the Silvers again.

Wilsander requested for communication. “The other brutes are all captured. The people you’re chasing are the only ones left. How’s it going?”

Han Xiao shook his head. “They escaped. There was a very strong Super.”

“Why are you guys the only ones with a problem? If this gets out, these outsiders will doubt the authority of us Dragon Guards. More and more people will challenge us, threatening the security of Floating Dragon Island, destroying the peace of the residents. The long balance will be broken, and the world will turn into chaos. I don’t even dare imagine it. When Lord Ames returns, my position in her heart will collapse.” Wilsander complained nonstop.

Han Xiao’s mouth twitched. Don’t you have any idea? Your impression in Ames’ heart was collapsed from the start…

He did not have the heart to break Wilsander’s fantasy; they would not be playmates if he did. Actually, creatures at their grade were the same as parameciums in Ames’ eyes, and her subordinates were just domestic parameciums…

Han Xiao cut off Wilsander’s complaints and said, “Don’t worry, I know who they are.”

At this time, a new idea surfaced in his mind. The reason that Ember did not have fears was because they kept things confidential. However, he did not know that his identity had been revealed by Han Xiao, and when his identity was exposed, he would definitely be very confused. Not knowing where he exposed any information, he would never be able to guess what was unique about Han Xiao.

Since he was the only one that knew about this intel, he could take advantage of it, revealing DarkStar’s identity to Floating Dragon Island. Coincidentally, Ames had not been in a good mood recently. If someone beyond grade A targeted DarkStar, even Han Xiao would pity them.

DarkStar doesn’t want to cause trouble? No problem, I will help them cause tons of trouble. I’m a man who wore the red scarf before after all. Helping people is something I should do.

Because of Mutation Disaster, DarkStar would definitely be his enemy, so he was very happy about this plan.

Furthermore, Han Xiao made a new discovery. Even Ember was sent out. These Silvers definitely have a big secret, and DarkStar is trying to do something huge!

He asked the still horrified Silvers, and after that, he caught a few key points. Firstly, DarkStar did not want to rescue all the Silvers but a certain one. Secondly, this person had definitely been in contact with DarkStar before, or they would not have exchanged code word. This person was likely a secret employee, and even his friends did not know his identity. Thirdly, one of the two Silver that died was DarkStar’s target, so Ember had just retreated temporarily. It definitely did not mean that he had given up. Fourthly, this was probably not the first time that a similar operation had been carried out.

By connecting these points, Han Xiao smelled a conspiracy. It was so confidential and cautious—this thing was definitely very important to DarkStar. He was suddenly very motivated. If he could break DarkStar’s plan secretly, not only would he anger them, he might even profit from it.

Furthermore, he was in the shadows, and the enemy was under the light. This was his biggest advantage.

The only problem was… he did not know what DarkStar wanted to do. There was a serious lack of intel.

…

The guards cleaned up the ruins of the slave market. Unconscious people were carried aside, and Horlaide’s eyes opened slowly. He had finally awoken.

Horlaide looked up. He was still lost and confused. Then, he stared directly at the ruins before him, slowly coming to recognize this familiar outline. His mouth gradually opened wide, and his expression turned horrified.

Then, an almost deafening scream soared into the sky!

“Argh!”

The guards beside hastily covered their eyes and felt shocked. “Tsk, this high note is comparable to a Psychic Blast.”

After he finished screaming, Horlaide fell flat on the ground. His heart was twitching, and he almost suffocated.

He still remembered the last thing that he had seen before turning unconscious. He had been sitting in his luxurious chair, sipping on a drink, and feeling excited about the huge sum of money that he was going to receive. Alas, now, his home was gone, and he had suddenly become broke. He had fallen from Heaven to Hell in an instant.

His composure collapsed! Horlaide’s luxurious shirt was covered in dust. He was in a mess. He hastily grabbed one guards from the side and asked with a trembling voice, “What has happened? Why did my home turn into this!”

The guard described what had happened. Knowing the enemies had been captured, Horlaide’s eyes sparkled, and he hastily asked, “Then what about my slaves? Where are they? Give them back to me now!”

At this time, a voice full of justice appeared from the side.

“Horlaide, don’t worry. I will definitely catch back all the slaves for you, minimizing your damages!”

Horlaide turned and looked over immediately. He was very surprised.

The owner of the voice was Han Xiao, he walked over with wide strides, and behind them followed all the slaves, including the Silvers.

This group of slaves had all been rescued by the guards. Han Xiao had just discussed with Wilsander and received the authority over the slaves, so he had gathered all of them.

“These are all my slaves.” Horlaide was overjoyed.

Han Xiao’s face was filled with justice, he patted his own chest and said, “Don’t worry, if the slaves are found, I will return them to you immediately. We are colleagues after all.”

“Found? You have already brought the slaves, quickly return them to me.” Horlaide was confused.

Han Xiao widened his eyes, looked around, and said, “Where are the slaves? Tell me, I will definitely catch them for you.”

“Stop playing dumb, right behind you!” Horlaide was agitated.

“Behind me?” Han Xiao looked back with confused, then shook his head, and said, “Only those wearing cuffs and collars are slaves. I only see a group of free people. Where are the slaves you’re talking about?”

Now Horlaide understood Han Xiao’s intention. His expression changed instantly, and his lungs almost exploded out of rage.

Chapter 380 - Released

The brutes had snatched the slaves, so they no longer belonged to Horlaide. Then, the slaves had been rescued by Floating Dragon. Han Xiao had unlocked all of the slaves’ shackles, so no one could prove that they had once been slaves, and no one could object if he said that they were free people.

Horlaide could not defend himself. When slaves were lost, they could only be caught back, but he did not have the authority. The only way was to bribe and request the guards to do it. However, Guard Captain Wilsander was standing right by the side at this time, with no intention of intervention, clearly in favor of Han Xiao position. With approval from the Guard Captain, who would dare act?

Horlaide saw Theon among the guards. Theon trembled and hurriedly retreated to the back of the crowd. Seeing this, Horlaide knew that he could not rely on Theon—this guy was completely fearful of Black Star’s people.

Looking at Han Xiao’s calm expression, Horlaide was furious, but for the slaves, he could only endure that anger. No longer proud, he came to Han Xiao. With a voice that only two of them could hear, he said angrily, “Alright, you win. You only need the Silvers, right? They’re yours. The other slaves have nothing to do with you. I can buy them back, give me a price.”

Han Xiao had the upper hand, and Horlaide could only endure the pain and give up the Silvers. He was ready to make a huge sacrifice and exchange for other slaves, otherwise his business would be done for.

“I just said, there are only free men here.” Han Xiao shrugged.

Horlaide got the wrong idea. His expression turned livid, and he said, “Don’t go too far! You want all the slaves, but the Head Butler won’t let you get away with it!”

“Take it all? Hehehe, don’t you understand? They are not slaves anymore,” Han Xiao said coldly.

“Are-are you insane‽” Horlaide said in a shocking tone. He had thought Han Xiao wanted more money, but now he understood. Han Xiao was planning to let all the slaves go, really giving them freedom. It was too wasteful. He found it difficult to understand. What did Han Xiao want to get out of saving those unrelated slaves for free‽

At this time, an aircraft landed. Head Butler Jenny and her people rushed to the scene. Horlaide’s eyes lit up, as if he had found someone to rely on. He gave Han Xiao a stare and hastily ran up to Jenny.

“Head Butler, I—I hope to have my slaves back…” Horlaide explained what was going on and complained, “That newly joined Black Star wants to release my slaves, how can he do that? He’s disrespecting you.”

“I know.” Jenny nodded lightly and walked toward Han Xiao.

Horlaide immediately felt confident, he followed behind and kept sneering at Han Xiao.

Jenny came to the front of Han Xiao and said, “Black Star, you did a good job. If you had not disrupted the enemies’ actions, they might have succeeded. It would have been a heavy blow for the Dragon Guards’ prestige, and it is just when the Dragon Emperor is not at home. You did well. I will add this contribution to your file, increasing your trust authority. People who make contributions will receive physical reward. You can ask for monetary reward or something else…”

She paused and added, “Although it’s a little late… Welcome to Floating Dragon.”

_____________________

+300 Floating Dragon Reputation.

Current relationship: Neutral (700/1000)

_____________________

Han Xiao nodded, not surprised by Jenny’s attitude at all. When he was chatting with Wilsander earlier, Jenny had joined the communication channel as well. He had contacted Jenny privately long ago and achieved a consensus. Only Horlaide had been in the dark, still thinking that he had found a life-saving straw.

The more Horlaide listened, the more he felt something was wrong. Why did Jenny not sound like she was helping him but was praising Han Xiao? He suddenly could not sit still any longer. So, he carefully cut in and said, “Head Butler, about the slaves…”

Jenny glanced at him and said, ” We only buy and sell slaves; we never catch them ourselves. Since they are free, let them go.”

As always, Jenny handled official things the official way. Floating Dragon was a neutral organization, and they would at most partake in the slave trade as an intermediary business. They would not catch slaves themselves.

Since Han Xiao was the hero of this case, she would take care of this, giving him a suitable amount of privileges, agreeing to Han Xiao’s actions. Moreover, the profit of the slave business was basic, and every year, Horlaide also corrupted part of the sales numbers. She had always known but just did not bother, so that day, she had no reason to speak up for Horlaide.  ( NovelFull )

Horlaide was stunned. A sense of indignation echoed in his chest, almost exploding it. Looking at Han Xiao’s mocking expression, he said uncontrollably, “I suspect that the attack was led by Black Star in the first place in order to save the Silvers. Yes, it must be so. The brutes were all his hired helpers, and by the way, he also let go of a group of them. That group was certainly his people!”

The more Horlaide spoke, the more agitated he became. Although it was a flash of insight, he felt that it was a very logical guess.

Han Xiao raised his eyebrows and said casually, “We are colleagues, how can you frame me?”

Although Horlaide dumped the pot to him, which was a very malicious act, this guess did not make sense at all because they had an alibi, and it came from Jenny.

Jenny had been unsettled by this new guy, so she had arranged people to monitor them secretly, and this time, that became the most powerful piece of evidence! Therefore, Jenny was completely unaffected. She frowned and said, “That’s it, Horlaide. You’re attempting to frame your colleague for nothing. You’re temporarily suspended, and when you’ve calmed down, I’ll give you a new job.”

Horlaide’s heart turned cold. Knowing that the situation had not been fixed, he gnashed his teeth in hatred. Suddenly, he remembered that he had dealt with Han Xiao earlier with this method too, and Han Xiao took revenge with the same method. This time, he became the helpless party. A sense of weakness flooded his body. His eyes rolled, and he fell straight down, passing out once again.

Anyway, nothing could be changed, so he might as well sleep for a while longer. That way, he would not die from the anger from being laughed at by those around him.

Not caring about Horlaide, Han Xiao coughed and said, “Jenny, I…”

“You should call me Head… Forget it, call me by my name then.” A strange look flashed by Jenny’s face. Usually, only boss Ames, Wilsander, and Haier called her by her name because her style made her subordinates fear her. This was the first time that she had heard a subordinate call her by her name, so she felt a little strange.

“I know the identity of the people who fled. They are not ordinary brutes…” Han Xiao kept his voice low and said, “They come from DarkStar.”

Jenny’s eyes focused, and she said with a low voice, “When you’re done with the things here, immediately find me to do a detailed report.”

Then, Jennie hurriedly left with her people, leaving only the logistics group there to clean the ruins.

Han Xiao and others came to the side. All rescued slaves were staring at him with different looks on their faces. They finally had their freedom, and they did not want to lose it again. They were not sure how they were going to be arranged next.

Han Xiao stepped out of the crowd, looked around, and said, “My name is Black Star, leader of Black Star Mercenary Group. Remember my name. I gave you freedom, so you owe me. Maybe, if one day we meet again, I might need your help. Now, go.”

All the slaves froze. One asked while trembling, “We… Can we really leave?”

Han Xiao waved his hand and signaled that they could go at any time.

A man carefully walked away, looking back every few steps. Eventually, after a few dozen meters, he found that no one had stopped him. He was overjoyed.

“We’re really free!” The crowd could not believe that freedom had come so easily.

The slave that walked out first did not run away immediately. Instead, he turned around with a face of gratitude and gave Han Xiao a native sign of appreciation. He shouted, “Black Star, I will remember this name.”

One by one, the slaves left with gratitude, showing Han Xiao a variety of etiquettes. Han Xiao did not feel much, but the players behind him felt a sense of accomplishment and comfort. They held their heads high and felt that they had done a good thing.

Herlous was the most empathetic. He patted Han Xiao on the shoulder and praised, “Beautifully done.”

All members looked at the figure of Han Xiao with eyes full of goodwill, and at this moment, their approval of Han Xiao increased. To have the players love a character, in addition to strength, there was another condition, charm, and approval. Han Xiao had been creating a very positive image in the eyes of the players, and the act of releasing the slaves made his image increase once again.

Bun-Hit-Dog recorded this scene faithfully.

Han Xiao turned around. Surprisingly, there were several slaves of the same race who remained in place and did not leave.

“Why don’t you go?”

These few people obviously knew each other. They looked somewhat similar to one another, They exchanged looks, and one of them said, “Us brothers were once mercenaries, but when we followed a small mercenary group and carried out a mission, we were met with danger. Most of the members died, and only the few of us here were fortunate enough to escape. However, we were then caught by the slaver and imprisoned for more than a year. Our team has long been destroyed, and we have no place to go. We hope that you can take us, give us a job. You are our savior, so we are more than willing to work for you.”

Chapter 381 - One Step Ahead (1)

Han Xiao was quite surprised. He had initially only wanted to let the slaves go, so he had thought all the slaves would be in a hurry to leave. He honestly did not expect someone to stay voluntarily. He asked in detail and decided to take in those three people.

The three Volga brothers were Tamihalatinians, a small civilization in the Shattered Star Ring. Its advancement was similar to Sunil before the disaster, able to navigate the universe to a certain extent. They belonged to the Magic-type civilization, focused on the spiritual branch. Their race specialty was mind communication, and through one look at each other’s eyes, the exchange of information could be completed, omitting speech to a certain extent. This had the strongest effect between close siblings.

The cornerstone of the civilization was the Magic Mines. They used materials containing magic power as energy to power their technology. They had religion, and their fertility rate was very high. They reproduced through mating and were oviparous 1 . Their hatching time was about one year, but while the average human gave birth to one in a year, Tamihalatinians gave birth to many at once. They had always been troubled by the expanding population.

Tamihalatinians looked similar to humans but shorter. Their average height was 1.6 meters, and they had white skin with rune patterns. The more conspicuous characteristic was that they had white pupils, like a whole piece of white crystal. Tamihalatinians had high psychic talent, and if awakened, most would become a Psychic.

The oldest brother and second oldest were both Psychics, and the youngest was a Mage, all grade C Supers at about LV 70 or so. Although their strength was average, they happened to make up for the class vacancy in the mercenary group. With them, the mercenary group finally had the five Super classes, filling up its ability.

Mages can bless and enchant, adding new abilities for machinery, and they are able to indirectly enhance my combat capability.

Han Xiao was contented. The Black Star Mercenary Group had gained three new cadres, increasing nearly 10,000 Faction Reward quota, which had reached 185,000.

The three brothers’ faces were filled with admiration. They were very grateful and accepted the Han Xiao’s arrangements. Even if they were free, they still had to continue to serve as mercenaries. Rather than acting alone, it was better to join Han Xiao’s group. In addition to repaying his kindness, they could also look after each other.  ( NovelFull )

After taking in the three brothers, next was to solve Aroshia’s problem. Han Xiao thought about it—the mission requirement was to take her around for six days. There had to be a reason, and it would not be completed smoothly. Although he was not clear about the specific reasons, he just had to do as he was required.

What made him troubled was how to deal with Aroshia’s identity. Should he make her a mercenary as well? However, although Aroshia had high energy response, she did not seem to know how to use it or battle with it. It was not clear as to whether it was her racial talent or personal strength, and she had completely lost her memories. He was unable to uncover her identity as there was no way to communicate.

Everyone else was waiting for Han Xiao to explain the origin of this beauty.

“Her name is Aroshia, also a rescued slave. Temporarily, she will be following us,” Han Xiao said.

Frenzied Sword was puzzled. “Why keep her? Why does she not speak?”

He had wanted to ask this question for quite some time. Since she had appeared with Han Xiao, Aroshia had not once opened her mouth. Although she fitted extremely well with the human aesthetic and stunned the players, they were also puzzled. What in the world is wrong with this beautiful woman?

“Amnesia.” Han Xiao pointed at her head and said, “That is why I worry about her running around and simply took her away. Anyway, she has no place to go.”

“Such a beautiful girl is sick. How unfortunate…” Second Prince shook his head.

“You don’t know sh*t. It’s called seizing the opportunity.” Bun-Hit-Dog gave Han Xiao a look that felt like he was saying, ‘I understand you brother’. Maple Moon and Rainy Kim beside glared at him.

Han Xiao rolled his eyes. These people… why do they have such pure thoughts in their mind?

Frenzied Sword looked at her here and there. He felt Aroshia behaved too calmly to be a person who had amnesia. “I think she is strange. Can she communicate?”

This reminded Han Xiao that Horlaide had said that Aroshia still remembered how to speak. He immediately put a translator on her and asked, “Can you speak?”

Aroshia sniffed. Finally, there was a reaction. “Yes.”

The voice sounded like a clear stream, crisp and ethereal. Listening to it made all of their hearts comfortable, as if a pair of soft hands were soothing their ears, which made the players very satisfied since they had enough of Bun-Hit-Dog’s noisy voice.

“Do you really not remember anything?” Han Xiao felt energized—being able to communicate was good indeed.

“Yup.”

“Then are you willing to follow us temporarily?”

“Sure.”

“Er, then do you need anything?”

“Anything.”

“You lost your memories. Don’t you want to know who you are?”

“It’s fine.”

Hearing this answer, the people took a breath of cool air and felt like they could see a holy glow.

How can this amnesia patient be so calm? No, this is not just amnesia; it’s time to take your medicine, beauty!

Han Xiao was completely out of ideas. He smiled helplessly and said, “Alright then, my team will take care of you. You…”

At this moment, Aroshia suddenly approached Han Xiao, leaning to his face. Her nose sniffed like a puppy then said, “I think I can feel some sort of presence on you…”

Han Xiao froze. He was surprised and asked her about it, but Aroshia shook her head and said, “I don’t remember. It just feels familiar.”

“Strange…”

Han Xiao could only suppress his doubts. He told his people to settle down. Anyway, Aroshia did not eat, drink, or excrete—she was very easy to raise. This was supposed to be a characteristic of energy life forms, but Aroshia was a normal biological life form. He did not know the reasons, but regardless, the benefit was that he did not have to worry about starving her.

Han Xiao took the aircraft all the way to the office building before going to the top-level office to see Jenny.

Jenny looked serious and asked, “Can you confirm that they were from DarkStar?”

Nodding, Han Xiao described what happened in detail, hiding about the interface and other private secrets and changing it into the fact that he recognized Ember. Then at last he added, “Ember is the next generation ace level combat power cultivated by DarkStar. Their action this time definitely hides a huge secret. Although we are a neutral organization and the conflict between DarkStar and Godora has nothing to do with us, since they dared to cause trouble on Floating Dragon Island, they have to pay the corresponding price.”

Jenny nodded and pushed her glasses. Then she frowned and said, “DarkStar has never had any conflict with us. There was definitely a reason for what they did this time, but I have no interest in understanding their intentions. I just want someone to be held responsible. Fortunately, you recognized their origin, otherwise DarkStar would really have done a hit and run. When Ames returns, DarkStar will pay the price for this.”

Having successfully caused trouble for DarkStar, Han Xiao nodded secretly. To deal with a large organization, methods like this were the best way. DarkStar was secretive and strong, and unless he waited for the storyline to begin, Han Xiao had no way to deal with them. However, DarkStar had handed him a chance. How could he not seize it?

With Ames’ personality, coupled with her recent bad mood, DarkStar really walked into the barrel of the gun. Unfortunately, Ames was not on Floating Dragon Island at this time, or she might just have wiped out the future ace of DarkStar in his growth stage. That would have been a very heavy blow for DarkStar.

Floating Dragon’s side would not disclose this information so that DarkStar would think that they were safe. Then, Floating Dragon would deal with it when the time came. Only because Han Xiao had joined Floating Dragon Island could this new plan succeed, and Floating Dragon was one of the biggest organizations in Shattered Star Ring.

All this time, Han Xiao had played his advantages very well, and at this time, he finally flapped his wings in the galaxy. The intricacies of the relationship between various civilizations were hundreds or even thousands of times more complex than on Planet Aquamarine. Even small waves could turn into monstrous tsunamis after going through many catalysts!

Chapter 382 - One Step Ahead (2)

“You made a contribution. What reward do you want?” Jenny asked.

“I want to gain access to the Void Dragon bones,” Han Xiao said.

Jenny nodded. “Haier is in charge of the warehouse. I’ll let him know to give you a limited amount of Void Dragon material.”

Haier managed logistics, so the movement of all rare materials required his approval. Han Xiao’s request was very normal, and Haier naturally would not refuse.

Han Xiao was content. Void Dragon materials had a price but no supply—it could be regarded as a type of faction specialty. Whether he was going to sell the materials or keep them to build machinery, Void Dragon materials were of great use.

After Han Xiao left, Jenny leaned back in the chair, and her eyes behind the lenses were flashing. “Black Star Han Xiao… Not the kind to succumb and tremble under Ames, has many secrets, claims to be a foreseer, and all of his subordinates are immortal. With such power, if their number was higher… Alas, although such a person of great assistance, I don’t know if it’s a good thing.”

After a pause, Jenny stopped frowning. “Never mind, it doesn’t matter who he is, as long as Ames is still here, it’s enough to suppress all accidental factors.”

…

Walking out of the building, Han Xiao was content. He had reaped quite a good harvest this time. He intended to take a good bath, go to the warehouse to collect the materials, and then count his profits.

But all of a sudden, he had a flash of insight, and a possibility surfaced in his mind.

( NovelFull )   “DarkStar’s goal is the two dead Silvers. If I was them, with the remaining Silvers being a dead end, the next step would be to find other stakeholders. So, there’s a great chance DarkStar will find the slaver that escorted the Silvers.”

Han Xiao realized this with a shock, and his footsteps paused. He immediately changed direction and rushed to the dock, quickly disguising himself on the way. He took off the recognizable mechanical suit and weapon, and he put on the simulation mask.

He was secretly glad that he had become aware of this in a timely manner. Little more than an hour had passed after the attack, so there was a good chance that Ember and the others would hide for a period of time to avoid the limelight. It was the best time for him to seize the opportunity and understand DarkStar’s motive.

Let me see what the DarkStar really wants. Han Xiao grinned, revealing a malicious smile.

…

At the same time, on some street of the exterior of Floating Dragon Island, Ember was hiding in the shadow between the houses with the others. An aircraft passed by from above and did not see them.

Ember and the rest had escaped from the reconnaissance range, so they were basically safe.

This operation ended up with no result, so no one looked happy. Ember suppressed his annoyance and ordered in a low voice, “It’s not good to delay. We need to find that slaver to complete the mission as soon as possible. We can’t stay long on Floating Dragon Island.”

A Mechanic who was good with electronic equipment said, “Found the information. The slave trader is called Peggy, still in Floating Dragon Island dock.”

“Good, he has not left Floating Dragon yet. This is very advantageous for us.” Ember’s morale increased as he took the others and rushed to the pier.

He had a hunch that Peggy definitely knew the whereabouts of the Secret Message Bead.

…

The dock had far fewer spaceships than usual. There were two reasons for this—the first was that there had been too much unrest in recent days. During the last scrimmage in the pier, Ames had struck and shocked many brutes. They had hurried away and did not dare to stay, afraid of getting into trouble.

The second was that the route of the Floating Dragon Island was about to pass by the borders of two civilizations in Gelock Star Cluster, which was a sensitive area that often had friction. Energy detection buoys and patrol fleets were everywhere, and the degree of alert was very high. If they left Floating Dragon Island in this area, the risk would largely increase. The patrol fleet would not save their cannons on a group of wanted criminals, so many people chose to leave before this.

Peggy had such thoughts as well, so he was preparing to leave Floating Dragon Island.

Although Horlaide had made him lose a large chunk of income, there were still other slaves on board his spaceship. He sold them to other individual customers, making up for the cost of the trip. However, he still did not make a profit, so his unhappiness was not hard to imagine.

Therefore, an hour ago, when Peggy had heard that Horlaide’s slave market had been blown up, he had laughed like a 200-pound fat man, making no attempt to hide his glee.

“That profiteer deserved to go down the drain.” Peggy was in a very good mood. His legs were on the control panel in the captain’s room, and he murmured, “The Silvers have been rescued again… unfortunate. If I can rob them…”

Then he shook his head. The possibility existed only in his imagination—he fully understood that the Silvers were now a hot potato. In addition to the mercenaries, other unknown forces coveted them. The water was very deep, and his group of slavers had no ability to intervene anymore. He had no desire to die yet. Han Xiao, who he had encountered, had almost beaten him into snake soup. In retrospect, the fear of that mechanical suit warrior still lingered in Peggy’s heart.

“Start the engine, let’s go.”

( NovelFull )  Numerous drivers controlled the spaceship manually. The bottom of the spaceship spewed plumes, and just as it was the fixed rail of the dock, an announcement came to the spaceship’s system.

“All captains, please note that we will encounter large meteoroids ahead. Three minutes till contact. By then the shield will be fully activated. No spaceships will be allowed to enter or leave.”

The observed image from the radar appeared on the screen. A large, dense patch of white blocks were approaching at high speed, all meteoroids. This situation had made it too dangerous for an aircraft to move alone. Peggy hastily told the people to extinguish the engine and stayed, relying on the protection ability of the Floating Dragon Island and make plans after this wave of meteoroids

Hum!

The people in Floating Dragon Island could originally see the universe through the artificial atmosphere, but once the shield was activated, the sky seemed to be concealed by a golden curtain. The whole of Floating Dragon Island turned into a golden American football. The plasma energy core operated at its highest power output, and the golden shield surface shot out high-energy light arcs from time to time.

Not long after, the overwhelming group of meteoroids arrived. Their size varied, and the largest was equivalent to one-third of the floating island. Yet, Floating Dragon Island simply rushed in head-on. Numerous meteoroids hit its golden shield, bursting circles of golden ripples. The collision energy waves spread far in the universe, leaving traces behind.

On Floating Dragon Island, the ground was obviously vibrating. Han Xiao had just arrived at the pier at that time. He had changed his clothes, taken off the mechanical suit, and put on black hooded robe bought from a shop on the street, making him look very mysterious. His face had changed because of the simulation mask, so no one could recognize him.

Coming to the dock of Peggy’s spaceship, Han Xiao turned on the communicator and searched for nearby channels. He found Peggy’s and sent a communication request.

Not long after, the communication was accepted. Peggy’s face appeared on the screen, and he said, “What do you want?”

“I have something to ask you about the Silvers.”

Peggy’s heart tightened. He had already decided not to intervene in the event of the Silvers, so he did not expect that he would still be implicated. He calmed down and asked, “Who are you?”

“DarkStar.” Han Xiao kept his voice low and used the name of DarkStar.

Peggy’s expression suddenly became strange. His first reaction was to not believe him; this sudden stranger was not a hybrid Godoran, and he felt just like the Silver thrown out of the spaceship, just using DarkStar as an excuse. After all, DarkStar was very famous in the Shattered Star Ring—many people liked to use it to intimidate others.

“Do you have proof?” Peggy doubted.

Han Xiao acted tough and said coldly, “I’m the one asking now. The two Silvers that you threw out of the spaceship had something that we want. As for my identity, I do not need to prove to you. As long as you try to refuse me, you will know that the person who killed you is from DarkStar… Of course, if you cooperate, I can pay some money for this information.”

Because the intel was limited, there were only the four points that he had speculated earlier, which was why Han Xiao said this. Fortunately, it had hit the right spot. The carrier had exposed the fact that he was a DarkStar’s carrier to stay alive, and only a few people knew this, including Peggy.

Peggy did not believe it initially, but when he heard Han Xiao’s words, he immediately thought of the bead. Most of it made sense, and he was suddenly stunned!

Sh*t, was that Silver really a DarkStar Emissary! Did they really come to find him‽

Most of his doubts were gone. Now, Peggy was apprehensive and excited.

In his mind, DarkStar was the great pioneer of saving Godora. This time, he had hit the jackpot! However, he killed DarkStar’s emissary, so would there be a problem?

He suppressed his excitement and hesitated, still uncertain of the authenticity of Han Xiao identity. Although he mostly believed, there was still a trace of uncertainty.

Chapter 383 - Excellent as Always, But Don’t Touch the Trophy

After Hesitating for a while, Peggy felt that he would rather believe than not. He explained earnestly, “There was a Silver who claimed to be the emissary of DarkStar. I found a black bead on him. I don’t know what it was, but I thought it was valuable, so I kept it with me. But a few days ago during the scrimmage at the dock, the bead was lost. It might have been picked up by someone…”

Since the bead was no longer in his possession, telling the truth would cost him nothing. The other party was likely DarkStar, not to mention his idol—just based on DarkStar’s style of doing things, if he refused to disclose information, the end could be imagined. According to the risk estimation, compromising was the safest.

Han Xiao narrowed his eyes.

Bead? What is that? I’ve never heard of this event before in my previous life.

Could it be a hidden storyline?

Han Xiao thought it was seemingly possible. The fact that DarkStar had sent Ember meant that it was a very important matter. Perhaps it was a large-scale secret mission that no one had triggered in his previous life.

“You are very cooperative; I will pay a reward for the information.”

( NovelFull )  “I don’t need to be paid.” Peggy rubbed his hands and said, “I just want to be able to join the DarkStar.”

Then it occurred to Han Xiao suddenly. No wonder Peggy did not bargain before revealing the information—he turned out to be a hidden supporter of the DarkStar. At first, when Han Xiao saw Peggy’s information as a hybrid Godoran, he had already guessed as much. The reason that he had chosen to act as DarkStar was not only just to cause trouble—he also wanted to try his luck. As it turned out, he had hit the target.

In fact, the reasoning was not difficult. Peggy was a hybrid Godoran and a wanted criminal, so he was likely to be supporting DarkStar.

Han Xiao had dared to use the name of DarkStar because he considered that Ember would use another identity and keep his identity a secret even if he came to ask about it first. If they used the identity of mercenaries, Peggy would definitely hate them. They might not necessarily get the information, and they also might expose themselves.

With a cough, Han Xiao said seriously, “I’ve seen your convictions. You’re a Godoran with resolve. Our great cause is in need of hot-blooded men like you…”

Before Peggy was happy about it, Han Xiao’s words took a turn.

“However, we have strict screening procedures for new people. To prevent spies from getting in, there is one thing that needs your help. There’s another force on this floating island. Before me, did anyone ask the same questions?”

“Uh, no.”

“Great, we’re one step ahead. This is your chance to do something for the organization. Just like me, they might very likely find you in a while, asking the same questions, and you should tell them that the bead has been thrown into space.”

Han Xiao held back his laughter and said, “After you complete this, DarkStar will accept you at the right time, taking you to the secret base for formal training.”

“Got it.” Peggy was convinced, his face solemn.

He did not think that the Silvers would be involved in so much and could not help but be curious about what secret that bead had, attracting these large organizations to secretly compete for it!

At the same time, Peggy was also annoyed. If he had detected how special the bead was back then, he might have benefitted even more from it… However, it was too late to regret.

The communication ended. Han Xiao turned away from the pier and changed to his original clothes when there was no one around.

“So, what DarkStar wants is a black bead, but its whereabouts are unknown.”

Although he did get something, the intel was still not enough. If he used normal methods, the trail would end here…

However, Han Xiao did not use normal methods.

Since the goal is known, I can try to use Destiny’s Child’s card. Hopefully it will give me some valuable information.

Since he at least needed to know what the target was, Han Xiao decided to use the foreseeing card. Although the intel from Peggy was very little, it happened to just meet the requirements.

_____________________

You used [Character Summon Card—Destiny’s Child]

Usages: 3/5

_____________________

The familiar hazy fog appeared, like a dream scene. Han Xiao’s line of sight passed through the fog, and a black bead appeared in front of his eyes, caught by a palm. Looking up along the arm, a handsome face fixed in the eyes of Han Xiao.

After a full two seconds, the image shattered. Han Xiao was back to the original environment, as if he had experienced an illusion.

Li Ge‽ Han Xiao’s eyes opened wide.

He really did not think that a bead would have been picked up by the players and picked up by this naughty kid at that. No wonder it had not been given to him.

…

Just twenty minutes after Han Xiao left, Ember rushed to the pier and looked for Peggy.

Peggy remembered Han Xiao’s advice, and his expression slightly changed. These DarkStar competitors did indeed come very quickly.

“Who are you? What do you want?”

“I am a mercenary—my employer is one of the Silvers. The prisoners have been rescued, so you are no longer our enemy. Now I want to ask you something, did you kill two Silvers? We want to know the details; I can pay a certain intel fee for it.”

Ember chose to impersonate a mercenary. Only mercenaries knew about the two dead Silvers, so the motive of asking about it was reasonable. Otherwise, it would have caused a lot of suspicion, and they might have gotten reported as the people who attacked the slave market. In his mind, he had not been exposed, so no one would know their DarkStar identity.

But his choices happened cause a coincidental phenomenon; Han Xiao and Ember’s identities switched!

Peggy was convinced. He thought that Han Xiao was ‘DarkStar’, and Ember, who really belonged to DarkStar, became regarded as DarkStar’s enemy!

More coincidentally, because everyone only had a part of the intel, both Peggy and Ember were kept in the dark. Only Han Xiao could barely see the truth, and the actions that he took led the two of them to deviate further from the truth!

“Are you a mercenary‽” Hatred appeared in Peggy’s eyes. It was the mercenaries who had made him make such a huge loss, yet they wanted intel‽ If not for that DarkStar agent’s advice, I wouldn’t even talk to you!

“As long as you are willing to answer,” Ember said, “I can pay 50,000 to make up for your loss. This is a large sum of money.”

DarkStar had deep pockets. Ember directly transferred 10,000 deposit, and he had confidence that he could make Peggy talk.

Even though Peggy was not a money slave, he was also shocked by this generosity—it did not look like mercenaries at all.

His eyes turned around, pretending to be moved by the money, and started talking about the process of capturing the Silvers, only hiding the Secret Message Bead.

As expected, Ember listened to the very end and found the information that they wanted was missing. He had no choice but to make his goal clear. “Did you get a black bead from these two people?”

“What bead? Never seen before, I threw them out of the ship and was too lazy to waste time frisking. The thing you’re talking about is probably drifting in the universe.

Peggy sneered in his heart and lied, following Han Xiao’s advice.

A flash of disappointment flickered in Ember’s eyes.

This was the worst result!

If the carrier’s corpse had accidentally been caught by a star’s gravity, the Secret Message Bead would have turned to dust as well. If absorbed by a black hole, it would also not ever be found.

“By the way, has anyone ever asked you the same question?” Ember suddenly asked.

“No.” Peggy denied it immediately.

Ember frowned and transferred the rest of the reward to Peggy before leaving with a heavy heart.

Now, the trail had been broken. Their task force had no use, so they could only report it to the headquarters.

In the spaceship, Peggy looked at the black communication screen before smiling, full of anticipation.

Joining DarkStar had always been his goal, but because DarkStar was too mysterious, he had not had an opportunity to contact them. That had always been a great regret for him.

And now, the opportunity that he had been dreaming of had fallen from the sky!

I have made a contribution for DarkStar! After waiting for so long, I’ve finally caught the opportunity. I finally, finally, can join DarkStar…

…

Near the ruins of the slave market, the players did not have to return to the guards. They were temporarily settling the Volga brothers and Aroshia down.

They surrounded Aroshia like butterflies. Aroshia’s beauty was over the top, so it was very pleasant to the eyes. Furthermore, she was a beauty suffering from amnesia. With Bun-Hit-Dog as the representative, the hormones of most of the males were flooding, and they chatted with Aroshia excitedly.

Aroshia was very calm. She did not have any interest in the surroundings, so she was only replying from time to time.

On the side, the god players of the various clubs kept their distance, maintained their reserve, and chatted with each other.

At this moment, all the Black Star Mercenary Group players triggered a new mission simultaneously.

_____________________

[Find the Bead]

Mission Introduction: Some time ago, Black Star lost a black bead. Anyone who finds it and gives it to him will get his reward.

Mission Requirements: Turn in the black bead. [Attached—appearance]

Reward: 180,000 Experience, +200 Black Star Mercenary Group Favorability, Sunil Officer Class armor x 1

Remarks: This mission is a competitive mission; only one person can receive the reward.

Chapter 384 - DarkStar Mother Ship

All the game players were in an uproar, surprised.

“How was the mission triggered?” Bun-Hit-Dog was at a loss.

“Should be a sudden mission, but why did Han Xiao only just realize that he lost something important?” Maple Moon grabbed her chin and murmured with a thoughtful expression. However, the concern of the other players was different from her. They did not ask why; they just cared about the reward.

“Officer Class armor!” Second Prince’s eyes were shining.

This was one grade higher than their Enlistee Class armor, so everyone wanted it.

“Competitive mission…”

Hao Tian’s face became focused. Suddenly, the ground shook, he turned around and saw the Frenzied Sword charging off, full of anticipation. Even the ground was cracked. Frenzied Sword had immediately dashed off to find clues, without any delay at all.

Only Li Ge’s expression was different from everyone else’s. His eyes were filled with sparks and explicit surprise.

Black bead… Isn’t that the one I have‽

So, Han Xiao is the special character triggered by the bead! That makes sense.

The bead was in his hands, so did that not mean that he had already met the mission requirement‽

No one knew that he was already one step ahead. Every other competitor was fated to work for nothing. What an excellent feeling!

Deep joy filled his heart. Looking around at the players’ discussions, Li Ge secretly felt great.

At this time, Han Xiao rushed back. Just as the crowd was about to go up to question him, Li Ge pushed everyone away, took out the bead that he had kept close to him, and passed it to Han Xiao.

“Black Star, this seems to be what you have lost,” Li Ge said.

Han Xiao’s eyes sparked, he took the beads and said cheerfully, “How did you know this is my precious? I lost it a few days ago, didn’t expect you to pick it up. You’re really lucky. You’ve helped me a great deal. Let me think… Well, you armor seems to be damaged, so let me give you a new set of armor as a reward.”

A satisfying smile appeared on Li Ge’s handsome face, strongly contrasting the other players, whose faces were all stiff.

What the hell? The mission ended at the beginning? It’s not a competition; it’s a waste of feelings!

Annoyed, uncomfortable, and envious eyes focused on Li Ge, while Li Ge enjoyed the attention and shrugged with pride.

Seeing this, Han Xiao played around with the bead, smiled, and did not speak.

Competitive missions were different to other missions. In addition to the actual reward, as long as Li Ge felt he had an advantage over others, he would give up the bead willingly. This was a characteristic Han Xiao found from Li Ge’s past actions, so he had tailored this mission for Li Ge, making him feel advantaged.

Hence, Li Ge obediently handed over the bead. Even his pride was in Han Xiao’s calculations—he was still kept in the dark and feeling joyous.

Walking to the side, Han Xiao looked at the notification on the interface.

_____________________

You have received an unknown item. Giving it to a special character will give you a very high reward, or you can take it to be identified.

_____________________

The item description of the bead was the same. Han Xiao sized up the bead—it was dark and smooth, giving off magical glow from time to time. He quickly filtered his memories in his mind.

Something from the magic side, some kind of Energy Gem? Enchanting Ball? Hmm… Unlikely, DarkStar took it so seriously. This bead should be more precious, maybe a Secret Message Bead?

A Secret Message Bead was a high-grade magic safe, only unlockable with a special verbal password. Its confidentiality principle was the precise Magic Seal formed by magic patterns similar to a maze—only the password could trigger the ‘eye’. It was very complicated.

Of course, since there was a lock, there was a corresponding method of breaking that lock. With the use of large magic deconstruction instrument to analyze the magic lock, or having high-level Mages unlock it artificially, the Secret Message Bead would thus be ‘pried open’.

What’s important is not the bead, but the things inside.

Originally, he had thought that the bead would trigger a hidden mission, but it seemed like the Secret Message Bead was just a prerequisite. DarkStar’s goal could not be guessed with just a bead—the things inside were the key to unlock the next step.

The introduction mentioned two ways to use it—one was to give it to a special character. Li Ge had no idea, but Han Xiao was not the same. DarkStar or Godora were most likely the ‘special character’. The bead could be exchanged for a reward and determine which side he was on, and if he went for identification of the bead, it should trigger a hidden mission.

Whichever option, he could choose freely.

Han Xiao smiled slightly and was in a good mood.

Initially, he had only been hired to rescue the Silvers, but after unexpected twists and turns, not only did he join Floating Dragon, he also ruined DarkStar’s plan.

Now the Secret Message Bead was in his hands, and DarkStar had been misinformed about the bead’s location. A good result.

…

In the Floating Dragon Island prison, the three large mercenary groups’ people were resting in their cells. Over the course of their confinement, they had already finished their conversation topics, and it was meaningless to dispute whether Black Star could complete mission. Anyway, they could only watch and wait. Everything depended on Han Xiao.

Although Goa said to trust him, everyone subconsciously thought that Han Xiao had no chance.

No one spoke, and their faces were all filled with boredom. The room was silent.

Footsteps approached. They thought that it was the patrol guard, but unexpectedly, the person stopped in front of the cell and said, “Everyone, I have completed the mission.”

This voice… Black Star‽

Goa, Cerleni, Porter, and the rest suddenly looked up and saw Han Xiao was standing outside the cell prison with a smile.

“You rescued the Silvers‽” Porter jumped up to the railing, staring at Han Xiao in disbelief.

“You’re not joking, right?” Cerleni interrupted, with a doubtful tone but also some anticipation.

Han Xiao directly took out the communicator. He had just contacted the employer. The employer had learned that his companions had been rescued again and was very surprised; Han Xiao had saved them a large sum of money, so the employer was not stingy with his praise, almost complimenting him up to the sky.

Han Xiao, of course, did not know that there had also been an argument among the employers. The captain who chose to trust him was the happiest, feeling that Han Hsiao did not disappoint him, and the person who had suspected it had nothing to say, especially the people who suspected that Han Xiao had worked together with Horlaide to scam them. They felt rather ashamed.

The employer personally confirmed that his companions had been rescued by Han Xiao, and the hundreds of mercenaries simple stood up with their mouths wide open.

The vast majority of mercenaries initially had no hope; everything had felt helpless when they got caught, and they had no choice but to give the mission to Han Xiao. Yet, Han Xiao really succeeded!

Goa clenched her fist and said with bright eyes, “You have lived up to our expectations.”

Han Xiao raised his brow and complained, “Is that so? The way you guys are acting now looks like you never had any expectations.”

The mercenaries scratched their heads, embarrassed. When Sky Ring, Blades, and Purple Gold, the three famous armies joined this mission, although the Black Star was a teammate, they had felt some sense of superiority despite not showing it on their faces.

In the eyes of most of the mercenaries, Han Xiao’s team was just an optional add on. However, it was the people that they had underestimated who had completed the missions alone when everyone else was powerless.

All the mercenaries were embarrassed.

After being happy for a while, they controlled their emotions. Cerleni asked about what happened, and Han Xiao described the relevant parts. Of course, he hid the things about DarkStar and such.

After he finished, Cerleni shook his head and said, “Horlaide wanted to use his companion to blackmail the Silvers. The thought was very good, but the result was him losing everything. This is what greed does…”

Han Xiao nodded. Horlaide had been blessed with a lot of choices, but his appetite was too big. If he had sold the Silvers earlier, he would not have been targeted.

The word greed was close to the word poverty 1 .

The mission was completed successfully, relying on Black Star Mercenary Group. Naturally, after this achievement, the mercenaries recognized Black Star’s capabilities and admired them.

In addition to informing his comrades, Han Xiao visited also to ask about when they would be released.

“Our superior in the army paid the compensation. They are rushing to Floating Dragon, and when they arrive, we will be free. So it’ll probably be just a few more days,” Goa said.

“A few days… That’s not too bad.”

Han Xiao nodded. The good stuff was in his hands, and the mission was completed. He wanted to leave together with the three large mercenary groups, return to get the two class advancement knowledges from the Silvers, and combine them into ‘Compression Technology’. Only then could he be considered to have stepped into the new level of a Mechanic. He had been looking forward to this day for a long time.

He did not want to stay in the Floating Dragon—trapped in one place was not conducive to the development of the mercenary group. His faction was the basis of the blueprint, and although there were many benefits in Floating Dragon, the opportunities were limited, far less than the vast universe. However, Han Xiao could not give up the Floating Dragon faction. He hoped to submit an application for field activities so that he could have the best of both worlds.

“There are still a few days left. I hope I can convince Ames…”

After Han Xiao left, the prison was no longer filled with boredom. It was filled with a happy and relaxed atmosphere.

The mercenaries main worry had been resolved, so they were very contented.

In the cell, Cerleni and Porter were thinking of the same thing.

I wonder if Black Star will continue to be a mercenary. His team is very capable, and he has Floating Dragon as a backer now. They’re not the small mercenary group without any backing anymore. By the time this thing ends, I will request that the superiors form a partnership with Black Star Mercenary Group. We can’t let Sky Ring have them exclusively.

…

In order to let the floating island travel freely in the universe, Ames had equipped it with top of the line devices. The shield generator was from the Revelation-Grade Main Ship of Federation of Light, and the plasma engine was from the Horn-Grade Assault Ship of the Crimson Empire. Its voyage performance was extremely good, and although Ames had bought all these devices using her own influence, she had still paid an outrageous price for it.

Floating Dragon Island passed through the meteoroid shower safely, and a lot of spaceships took off immediately after the shield was deactivated, leaving the floating island before it entered the boundary of the two civilizations.

A few days later, Peggy’s spaceship had long been away from Floating Dragon Island. It was slowly sailing in an unpopulated Star Zone. There were no Fixed Stars there, only dead gray planets filled with dead silence.

Suddenly, folds appeared in the dark space ahead, and a huge object hundreds of times larger than Peggy’s spaceship came out of the stealth mode, stopping in front of Peggy’s spaceship.

The size comparison was like a bean and a watermelon.

This object was tall and ferocious, completely black apart from some subtle golden patterns. It did not have a streamlined shape but consisted of two isosceles trapezoids fused together from their bases, like a prism. This was not a normal spaceship—it was DarkStar’s medium mother ship, similar to a mobile base, containing a large number of combat ships. One mother ship signified a fleet!

DarkStar had no fixed bases; all of their bases were mother shops, perennially in stealth and mobile states, moving everywhere. That was why the organization was mysterious and difficult to contact—no one could grasp DarkStar’s position. They hid in the dark and waited for an opportunity to make a move.

The scavengers of the ship were shocked and began speculating.

Peggy was overjoyed when he saw this.

“DarkStar did not break their word. They’ve come to take me in!”

Chapter 385 - Murder and Turn Point

At this moment, Peggy thought that the DarkStar mothership had specifically come just to take him in. For him, the DarkStar had made such a large display. He felt the attention from DarkStar and was moved to tears.

The spaceship approached the connecting channel, and the mother ship captain waited at the channel entrance with other troops. Just as they were about to tear open the door of the spacecraft with their power, Peggy opened the door and walked out. Seeing everyone was a hybrid Godoran, Peggy was filled with excitement.

He had finally found the organization!

With an excited tone, Peggy said, “I’ve been waiting for you for a very long time.”

DarkStar warriors initially had cold expressions, but now, they could not help but looked at each other in bewilderment.

It was the first time that they had seen a target who not only did not resist but also took the initiative to cooperate, looking like he had just returned home. Did this guy not fear death?

“Bold!” The captain nodded in approval before waving. “Seize them!”

DarkStar warriors swarmed in. Peggy was pressed on the ground, all the while thinking that this was DarkStar’s welcome ceremony. He confidently shouted, “Rest assured, don’t have to doubt my loyalty, I absolutely will not resist!”

“Boss, I think they are for real,” one of his men said with a sad face.

Peggy glared and yelled, “Shut up! What do you know? This is a method to test our loyalty!”

The DarkStar warriors cuffing Peggy heard this and sighed. “If everyone could be as cooperative as you, it would save us a lot of trouble.”

The scavengers were taken to prison and tied to a black metal execution column. The captain walked up to them and said coldly, “I need you to answer my questions honestly. Among the Silvers you captured, one of them was carrying what we want, a black bead. Where did that bead go?”

Although Ember had already gotten the ‘answer’, the style of the DarkStar was never to just trust easily. Letting go of the rest easily was not a terrorist organization’s code of conduct.

After Ember reported to the headquarters, this DarkStar spaceship had been on standby in the Fawn Galaxy and immediately jumped to intercept Peggy. Their first goal was Peggy’s spaceship route recorder so that they could search along the route where the Silvers were thrown out. The second was to interrogate Peggy. DarkStar believed that torture could get more information than normal inquiry—pain could make people honest.

Peggy was stunned.

“Didn’t you already ask me?”

“Indeed, I want you to tell us again…” the captain subconsciously replied. Suddenly, he paused, and his expression changed.

Wait a minute!

He thought that Peggy was referring to Ember, but with some thought, it did not make sense. Ember had pretended to be a mercenary, so how did Peggy recognize that Ember was a DarkStar member?

Ember, who was listening from the side, opened his eyes wide in disbelief. “How could I have been exposed? I’m did not reveal any flaws!”

“How did you know the person who asked you belonged to DarkStar!” The captain grabbed Peggy’s neck, slowly adding force. Peggy’s face turned purple, almost suffocating, and he opened his mouth with difficulty.

“Th—the interrogator… clai—claimed to be a Dark—DarkStar agent, cough cough cough!”

Ember frowned. “Captain Sarota, let go. You’re strangling him. Let him finish the whole story.”

Captain Sarota backed off, and Peggy coughed loudly, as if he was going to cough out his lungs.

Eventually, Peggy realized that something was wrong, and with a hoarse voice, he said while shivering, “A mysterious hooded man who claimed to be a DarkStar emissary found me. His target was that black bead as well, so I told him of its whereabouts. I have always admired you, so when he promised to let me join DarkStar as long as I lied to the next group of people that came to ask about the bead, I agreed readily. Not long after, a self-proclaimed mercenary came. I followed the orders that the DarkStar emissary gave me and got rid of him…”

Self-proclaimed mercenary? That’s me! Ember realized. His face became very unpleasant, and his tone turned cold immediately. “So, you lied to me!”

Peggy’s expression changed distinctly. “What? You’re the self-proclaimed mercenary? You guys are the real DarkStar, and that DarkStar emissary was a fake‽”

The expressions on Sarota and Ember’s faces turned very serious.

The situation suddenly complicated. There seemed to be another mysterious force that had their eyes on the Secret Message Bead, and they had even used DarkStar’s name to trick people. They must be tired of living! They were directly provoking DarkStar! Once they found the culprits, they would make them beg for death!

The problem was… what was the mysterious force’s identity? Why did they know about the Secret Message Bead? Was their target the products inside the bead or to destroy DarkStar’s plan? Were they money driven, or were they DarkStar’s enemies?

Ember was confident that he did not expose anything, so he was baffled. Which part went wrong and exposed him?

He had thought of himself as a hunter, but in the shadows, there was a pair of eyes staring at them, hiding deeper than DarkStar, making his hair stand on end.

More mysteries arose, and things were getting tricky and complicated.

The first thought was a traitor in the organization, or how else would they know so much confidential intel?

“What about the real whereabouts of the bead?”

“I—I don’t know. I did not throw it into the outer space but took it with me. However, it was lost during the battle on Floating Dragon Island…”

Ember had a freezing cold look. That imposter mysterious force wanted to mislead DarkStar. If they did not want to deliberately kill Peggy, they would have really fallen for it!

Thinking back carefully about that mysterious force’s methods, it was secretive yet bold. They knew clearly that they were competing with DarkStar, but still they dared to pose as DarkStar, which meant that they had guessed their thought of keeping things confidential, grasped the psychology of all parties, and finally mislead both Peggy and DarkStar, toying with them between their fingers. And they had almost succeeded. This careful and precise way of thinking made Ember uncontrollably afraid.

They came only a little bit late!

“Since it was not thrown into outer space, it will be a simple matter. Go and thoroughly investigate all the forces involved in the scrimmage,” Sarota ordered, “with any means necessary. Pry open their mouths. There is bound to be a party that picked up the Secret Message Bead. It’s impossible to not have any witnesses.”

“Some Wanted Criminals have left Floating Dragon, and they need to be intercepted by the mother ship.” Anger of having been toyed with was stacking up in Ember’s mind, and his tone was very cold. “Leave the people still on Floating Dragon to me.”

“During the search for the whereabouts of the Secret Message Bead, inquire about intel on that mysterious force at the same time,” Sarota added.

“I know.” Ember frowned. Although he agreed, he really did not have much clue about the mysterious force.

“Wha—what about me?”

Peggy did not have the same confidence that he had moments ago. He was panicking, but he felt that he had given them the intel and helped DarkStar to find out more about the hidden enemy, which should have been considered a contribution.

Sarota glanced at him then gestured. The surrounding DarkStar warriors all raised their light energy rifles and aiming at the column. All the scavengers were frightened—they struggled and hastily begged for mercy.

“Don’t kill me. It’s just a misunderstanding, I didn’t mean to deceive you! DarkStar is my idol. I have always wanted to fight for the cause of the hybrids. Please let me join you.” Peggy was trembling as he exclaimed.

“You really want to dedicate yourself to DarkStar?” Sarota’s eyes flashed.

“Yes, DarkStar is my faith! I would do anything for you.” Peggy hurriedly revealed his heart and expressed his loyalty.

“Well, for us, you being dead is more useful than being alive. DarkStar appreciates your contribution,” Sarota sneered.

The murder was the biggest purpose of the DarkStar for this trip. The fewer outsiders in the world that knew about the whereabouts of the Secret Message Bead, the better.

Hum!

Bright lights burst from the energy rifles, melting wounds in the scavengers one after another. The screams burst from the captives’ mouths before quickly weakening as they lost their breath.

The laser expanded in Peggy’s eyes, and his line of sight became all white. He opened his eyes wide and roared, “No!”

The dense wounds were all over his body. Peggy’s head fell limply to the side with his eyes wide open. He had died with so many regrets.

He had thought that his dreams of joining the DarkStar was going to come true, but never had he expected that he would eventually die at the hands of DarkStar.

Chapter 386 - Talent Upgrade, Raid

Two days later…

Whoosh!

The cooling storage case opened, and mist like liquid nitrogen spurted out.

Haier’s arachnid legs operated the metal clamp, clipping out ten test tubes filled with silver reagents. This was a gene agent extracted from the Void Dragon’s spinal fluid. Void Dragons had very strong vitality, and their carcasses and spinal cords would remain active even after death, only completely vanishing after hundreds of years. By extracting the active factors, it could be made into a strong agent that could enhance physical fitness that most life forms could consume, including humans.

“Ten refined Void Dragon Pith, these cute little things are yours.” The sharp teeth in Haier’s mouth moved, and the Insect Language was translated.

The substantial reward that Floating Dragon had given to Han Xiao was fifty kilograms of Void Dragon Bones and ten tubes of Dragon Pith. It was originally one hundred kilograms of Void Dragon Bones, but he had asked for half of the bones to be changed to Dragon Pith. The effect of the Void Dragon Pith was a permanent increase in attributes with no side effects—it was extremely precious to the players.

Han Xiao picked up a tube of Dragon Pith and observed it carefully. Its density was not as stagnant and thick as mercury—it was translucent and light silver colored. The agent was very pure and clear, with a faint glow. A notification popped up as soon as he picked it up. After confirmation, Han Xiao directly inserted one tube of Dragon Pith into the injection gun.

A tremor came from the depths of his body like an electric current flowing through his whole body. Han Xiao shivered, and a tint of silver flashed in his eyes.

_____________________

You used [Refined Void Dragon Pith (High Concentration 42.2%)].

+3 S trength, +4 Endurance, +1 Charisma

_____________________

Han Xiao’s action did not stop. He injected two more tubes, and the random increase in attributes for high concentration agents was in the higher numbers. After three consecutive injections, he received a total increase of eight Strength, eleven Endurance, and two Charisma.

Agents that could permanently increase attributes usually had usage limitations. The Void Dragon Pith could only increase attributes three times, and it would not increase again after that.

However, although attributes would not increase after three times, there was a hidden effect. If the dosage reached a certain level, the quantity accumulation would trigger a quality change, receiving the talent called [Void Genes]. Its effect on the surface included ordinary effects of increased speed and dodge rate, but the real benefit was that it would affect the choices during his race evolution.

In his previous life, he had discovered this coincidentally. Since Void Dragon Pith was very rare and did not have any effect after three uses, the vast majority of people would not waste it. Han Xiao had to thank that willful rich person, or no one would have known about this secret.

According to the cumulative effect, it would need about twenty low concentration tubes. In the case of high concentration ones… ten should be enough.

After some rough calculations, he injected the Dragon Pith into his body one after another. More silver agents mixed into his blood, and he suddenly felt something. Some subtle changes were happening in his body, and the silver in his eyes became darker.

Haier was surprised. “Hiss, hiss, hiss… Oh, I’m sorry, the translator dropped just now. You are injecting too much, are you not afraid of genetic mutation? Enough is enough.”

Han Xiao shook his head, indicating that he could do it. It was genetic mutation that he wanted.

At his seventh injection, Han Xiao body turned stiff. A cold and hot mixed feeling exploded in his body, and his legs became unsteady. He staggered, and his back hit the shelf as he wheezed heavily. His frown was so wrinkled that it could almost squeeze a fly.

He clenched his teeth very strongly. All the nerve endings in his body were transmitting a sharp pain to his brain, and every vessel was beating and bulging!

If there was a Super who was good at sensing present, they would discover that Han Xiao’s life rhythm was changing. Not only had it started surging and become stronger, there was also a mysterious trace of the void.

_____________________

You have gained the talent [Void Genes]!

[Void Genes]: Your senses can detect the changes in space, giving you a stronger reaction speed and more flexibility.

+28% Movement Speed, +15% Dodge Rate.

_____________________

After what felt like a century to Han Xiao, the pain slightly reduced. He heaved a sigh of relief, wiping the cold sweat on his forehead. Suddenly, he felt a bulge—its texture was a bit hard, like a scale.

When he looked in the mirror, he found that his pupils had become silvery, and his eyebrows did not appear to be abnormal, but he clearly felt a diamond-shaped piece of skin stiffening.

He controlled the energy in his body. When the cells in his body became active, this piece of diamond skin turned from a flesh color to bright silver. It was very obvious.

“Ooh! What’s up with you‽”

Han Xiao was surprised that this silver mark not only did not destroy his handsomeness but also increased his fashion.

This was the new organ from the gene mutation, used to increase the perception of space.

He opened the interface and took a look. There was another talent that had also changed. After he saw the notification clearly, Han Xiao opened his eyes wide, overjoyed.

_____________________

Your talent [Basic Strengthened Life] has upgraded. The original talent has changed into [Intermediate Strengthened Life].

_____________________

Han Xiao had gotten this Molding Talent long ago. It had accompanied him through many dangers, and the last time was through the injection of another gene agent. This Void Dragon Pith had made this talent evolve again. The conversion ratio of Endurance to HP increased from 1:15 to 1: 30—it doubled—and there was an extra effect of +25% Resistance.

This was a completely unexpected surprise. Players could not possess Molding Talents, so this was the first Han Xiao had heard about Molding Talents being able to be upgraded. His maximum health directly increased by more than 4,000 points, equivalent to one-third of the original amount.

I have walked too far on the path of a tank; I’m past the point of no return now.

Han Xiao’s eyes were shining as he secretly speculated. More precious genetic agents can increase the level of Strengthened Life. If I want to upgrade, I need to inject more genetic drugs into my body… However, the genetic agents cannot be used indiscriminately, or it might cause rejection and turn into gene distortion or even gene collapse. That would be a miserable end for me. The best choices have to be agents like this that have no side effects.

This discovery gave Han Xiao a new idea. His need for powerful Molding Talents would continue to become more urgent, but unfortunately, they were not easy to get. He held onto the remaining three tubes of Dragon Pith—this kind of precious item was just right to be used as a ‘Favorability bait’. He could set an extremely high price for it and let the players toil willingly from the bottom of their hearts.

After collecting the materials, the communicator rang. Jenny had sent a communication request.

“Black Star, Lord Ames wants to see you.”

A new panel of virtual holographic image popped out from the communicator, and Ames’ delicate face appeared. She was floating in the vacuum space directly with her body, surrounded by force field protection. Countless rays of light surged behind her, as if every inch of space was filled up. She seemed to be fighting a strong enemy. However, the lights were all deflected by the invisible force field barrier, falling like bombs onto the unpopulated planet under her feet.

Apparently, the battle had lasted quite some time—a tenth of the planet had disintegrated, like an apple that had been bitten once. Shattered meteors and dust rotated around the planet, mixed with the gas and forming a ‘cloud ring’. If they fought any longer, this planet might end its life billions of years in advance…

With just a glance Han Xiao was sure that Ames was fighting another beyond A grade Super of the Shattered Star Ring. In less than three days, the Galactic News would definitely broadcast the following content.

Shattered Star Ring News: Two super strong individuals fought willfully, innocent planet turned into tragedy!

Beyond grade A Supers destroyed the environment with evil intentions, Planet Protection Association expressed strong condemnation!

Today’s Planet Code Cancellation List.

…

Speaking of it, it seems like it was because of the news that Ames was not in a good mood and looked for someone to fight. How unfortunate for a young planet…

Han Xiao’s eyes twitched. He coughed and asked, “Your Excellency, Dragon Emperor, what mission do you have for me?”

Ames spoke, but no sound was heard. She realized something, then controlled the force field and grabbed a large pile of gas from the planet. Shrouded herself in an artificial atmosphere, and only then was there sound.

“I’ve listened to Jenny’s report. Your team has excellent combat capability, and it’s a waste for you to stay on Floating Dragon Island. Anyway, you were mercenaries originally, so I approve of your activities to be outside. Furthermore, I have a suitable mission for you. You’ve met my teacher, so help me find information on him,” Ames said.

He had made a request to Jenny a few days ago, with the excuse that there was enough manpower on Floating Dragon Island, and him staying here was a waste. He thus applied for the field activities. Floating Dragon Island only had the guards, butlers, and logistics, but they lacked field forces, and the immortal Black Star Mercenary Group was the best choice. At least there was no need to worry about loss. Jenny felt that it was justified and reported to Ames, and Ames never doubter her employees. She did not worry about Han Xiao leaving her after leaving Floating Dragon Island.

Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled.

He did not have to be trapped on Floating Dragon Island—this was great news. It would not delay the development time for his mercenary group faction. Although Floating Dragon was great, he had only joined because he had no choice. As long as he could move freely, the distress that this problem had caused him would be greatly reduced.

The result was finalized, and Han Xiao hung up the communication, feeling very good. The superiors of the three armies would soon arrive, and then he could follow them back to complete the mission.

“Things are going so well.” Han Xiao had a happy face. Was he finally getting lucky after all the unlucky events that he had been through?

Aroshia was waiting at the door until Han Xiao waved his hand and took her away from the warehouse. He was worried about leaving Aroshia to run around alone, so he always brought her along whenever he was free.

He entered a deserted street, and after walking for a while, the relaxed expression on Han Xiao’s face suddenly vanished. Han Xiao frowned, feeling that the atmosphere was strange. He took a step and shielded Aroshia behind her back, then looked around vigilantly.

“Good senses.”

The voice of a person seemed to come out of nowhere. With a cold tone of judgment, containing the confidence of his own superior strength, Han Xiao felt the voice was familiar.

At the same time, hard walls suddenly extended from the ground around them, covered the sky, and trapped the two of them like a cage.

The soldiers of the DarkStar Task Force appeared and surrounded the two people.

Ember stood at the forefront. He stared at Han Xiao with an expressionless face, as if everything was under his control.

“Black Star Mercenary Group captain, we need your help. Come with us. Not resisting will save you some pain.”

Han Xiao’s eyes became extremely serious.

Chapter 387 - Familiar, Witness!

Two days ago, DarkStar had coincidentally seen through Peggy’s lies. Because of that, they had changed the strategy. They did not have to look for a needle in a haystack anymore. Since the Secret Message Bead was on Floating Dragon Island, they only needed to lock onto the organizations involved in the scrimmage at the dock to find out who picked up the bead. The search range became countless times smaller.

The mercenaries had been the main cause of the scrimmage at the dock, so they were the main focus. Sky Ring, Blades, and Purple Gold had all been captured; only Han Xiao’s Black Star Mercenary Group was free to move around. Ember was not stupid enough to attack the prison; hence, Han Xiao became the most suitable target.

And so, they laid this ambush.

Seize Black star, take control of the captain of this small mercenary group, make him obey orders obediently, then use his identity to move in and out of prison to asked whether the Secret Message Bead had been picked up by any other mercenary.

After all, the first line of ‘DarkStar Task Force Action Manual’ was ‘In order to reduce the risk of exposure during field missions, avoid using violence as much as possible if the target can be bribed with money—most of the money spent can be snatched back.’

But from what DarkStar knew, the mysterious forces that plotted for the Secret Message Bead were hidden on Floating Dragon Island. That force had come to know the truth before them and was very likely to have contacted the mercenaries before them. After what happened with Peggy, Ember did not want to be toyed once again. So, he decided to do things the simple way, by using force.

As a member of a large, violent terrorist organization, they always felt a sense of superiority when facing mercenaries. They were like a god of death hiding in the dark, cool and stylish. Whereas mercenaries were like labor workers, without belief and would do anything for money, not even matching up to bounty hunters, who were dedicated to catching wanted criminals.

Saying ‘I am from DarkStar’ and ‘I am a mercenary’ felt completely different.

The name of DarkStar was feared by countless races. In contrast, although the mercenary industry was extremely large, it was scattered. It was like the difference between a stone and a sand castle. DarkStar would only pay attention if it were large armies like Sky Ring and Blades. In the case of a small mercenary group with around fifty members and their strongest member being only trade B, it was a piece of cake.

“Who are you people?” Han Xiao asked deliberately while narrowing his eyes.

“A word of advice for you, if you want to live a little longer, put away your curiosity and don’t ask about our identity. Don’t get caught up in trouble,” Ember said coldly.

He thought that Han Xiao would definitely be surprised by their identity.

What he did not know was that Han Xiao was the witness the night they took the slaves away. Thinking that this was their first encounter with Black Star, they maintained their mysterious identity to put pressure on Black Star, not knowing that Han Xiao knew exactly who they were.

Han Xiao looked around. The walls Ember built formed a colosseum-like cage. There was a total of eight DarkStar warriors surrounding him in the middle. In addition to Ember, the other seven were not some nobodies—they were all grade B Supers.

Seven opponents with the same grade, plus Ember who was grade B+. The increase in difficulty when facing multiple opponents was not as simple as addition. With a variety of abilities working collaboratively, Han Xiao was unsure of how long he could last against them. Furthermore, he had the burden of Aroshia, so it was a tricky situation.

Han Xiao tried to use the communication channel, only to hear the sound of electric currents.

“Don’t waste your time. Strong signal disruption devices have been planted nearby, so no messages can be sent out. You can’t call for help,” Ember said indifferently.

“It seems that you think you’ve got me in the palm of your hands.” Han Xiao kept calm and said, “Since I have no way to escape, tell me what is it that you want me to do, and maybe we can agree to some terms. I don’t want to fight a meaningless battle.”

“We want you to ask the mercenaries about the whereabouts of a black bead,” Ember said.

Hearing this, Han Xiao analyzed quickly in his mind without changing his expression.

It seemed that DarkStar was able to pry out the truth from the mouth of Peggy. They most likely also knew that there is an impostor using their name who is also competing for the Secret Message Bead. But they don’t know that the impostor is me. I’ve been attacked this time not because I’m exposed but because I happen to be one of the targets. This is very crucial. They don’t know I have the bead. If I pretend to cooperate, I might be able to get myself out of this.

He was more concerned about how much DarkStar knew. At this point, it seemed that he just happened to be a typical mercenary—him imposing as a DarkStar agent had not been exposed.

Compromising with DarkStar was not out of the question. If giving up the Secret Message Bead could be exchanged for an opportunity of joining DarkStar, thus infiltrating the enemy, it could be considered a chance as well. Yet, the risk of that was unknown and hard to measure.

Han Xiao squinted and behaved like he did not seem to know what the bead was. “This is just a small matter. I can help, so there’s no need to use force.”

Ember took out a small transparent box containing a large number of nanotechnology insects the size of sand that were used to control the brain and heart. They would be able to take one’s life anytime once injected into the body. “After you inject this, then we can talk about our cooperation.”

“Looks like I don’t have a choice.” Han Xiao shook his head. The mechanical suit covered his body in an instant.

Injecting the nanotechnology insects meant that his life would be in someone else’s hands, and he would never agree to that. Therefore, there was only one choice.

Fight!

Electromagnetic firearms bounced out of the mechanical suit one after another. Energy flew out like electric currents, covered in lightning in the size of filaments. Han Xiao was not only holding firearms in both his hands, but he also controlled the rest of the firearms with his energy, firing in all directions.

Tu tu tu tu!

In an instant, bullets covered in blue lightning blossomed outward from Han Xiao in the center like a dark blue rose!

A battle suddenly erupted!

[Moving Snipe], [Field Controlling Vision], [Magnetic Vision—Data Flow], [Surging Mechanical Force], and [Overload]—a variety of abilities were activated by Han Xiao instantly. The explosive power of these abilities shocked the DarkStar soldiers as they dodged and blocked the abilities in their own ways.

“A waste of time.”

Ember controlled the dust and turned it into a shield, blocking the bullets. His face was calm. To him, no matter what the enemy’s fighting method was, as long as their grade was lower than his, it would all be meaningless. He could defeat then in a blink of an eye unless they were immune to his power.

Hum!

Ember activated his power and extended his senses. His vision changed, and Ember could ‘see’ Han Xiao’s body’s atomic structure clearly. The carbon element was marked with light, covering his body like a river. Ember controlled these carbon elements with ease—he had done this countless times.

However, it was like Han Xiao’s body suddenly became a mountain. The Esper power that had worked countless times did not work this time. Ember could not control any carbon atoms in his body; its structure was unshakeable.

The calmness on the face of the Ember was suddenly broken and replaced by dismay.

“It’s you!”

Ember stared suspiciously at Han Xiao.

It turned out that the witness on that night who caused the mission to fail was this mercenary group captain, Black Star!

Chapter 388 - Amphiptere, Shattered!

“You’re the one that attacked the slave market!”

Han Xiao acted shocked as well like he had only just recognized Ember.

According to the intel that DarkStar had, he was just an unimportant passerby. As soon as they got into a battle, the fact that he was the witness who briefly battled Ember would definitely be discovered. From Ember’s perspective, they had only met once, when they attacked the slave market. Hence, he acted as if he recognized Ember as the attacker of that night from his Esper power. It was a normal reaction.

There was another reason he faked this—to hide the fact that he knew about the truth of DarkStar.

At the moment of being attacked, these thoughts were already brewing in Han Xiao’s head.

And as expected, seeing his surprise, Ember totally did not have any thought of him being the mysterious man who discovered DarkStar’s identity.

On the night of the attack, due to the area being in a blackout and them wearing a mask and mechanical suit, they did not know each other’s identity. And now, they met coincidentally again.

Han Xiao was the first person that was immune to Ember’s [Carbon Atom Deconstruction] despite being one grade lower. Although it was just a short battle, he had left such a strong impression on Ember that he would not be able to forget.

Ember was shocked. He swept away his careless attitude, and his eyes were filled with curiosity and battle desire. “Our last battle was too short to determine a winner. This time, I’m not in a rush.”

The witness was the reason that the attack had been exposed, and his real identity was their target this time—Black Star. With both old and new grudges, Ember was full of fighting spirit. He decided to go all out this time.

Ember’s hand grabbed the air, and black carbon dust formed a straight double-edged diamond sword, extremely hard yet flexible due to Ember’s powers.

Boom!

At the same time, endless black dust shot out from the ground everywhere, trying to aim for the gaps in the mechanical suit.

Han Xiao felt the pressure from the increased fighting spirit of the enemy.

Initially, Ember had thought that dealing with Han Xiao would be a simple mission, but he realized that he was wrong. This was a tough opponent. Thus, he became serious and faced Han Xiao with the attitude of facing a strong enemy.

Hu!

Seven Sonic Spheres flew out and hovered in the air, creating an amplification field. The space inside the cell created by Ember was limited, perfect for sonic attacks.

With the Scythe in his hands, the Hovering Shield Shuttle hovering around his body, and the light shining from the armor pieces on his hand, arms, and legs, Han Xiao was at his peak performance.

Due to the signal interference, Han Xiao could not activate the backup parts that were far away. He could only battle with the mechanical suit’s basic mode—there was no backup equipment. It was very disadvantageous for a Mechanic.

“Hide aside,” Han Xiao said as he pushed Aroshia away. He swung the scythe and slashed at the wall, but it did not even leave a scratch.

He frowned. The wall was too hard, and there was no way to break through.

The only choice left was to fight.

This time, the seven DarkStar warriors struck. Three Pugilists covered in flames surrounded Han Xiao in a triangle shape.

Bang!

With a swing of the scythe, they clashed!

The aftershock echoed in the prison cell!

Aroshia was forced to the edge and could only watch.

Ember was very curious about Han Xiao’s ability to resist his powers. Anyway, the signal disruption device was already set up, and Black Star could not call for backup, so there was plenty of time to find out.

As Han Xiao was attacked and having a tough fight, all the players far away on the other side of the floating island who were doing their duty in aircrafts triggered a new mission.

_____________________

[Urgent Mission – Backup]

Mission Introduction: Your captain has been ambushed and is engaged in a tough fight. As a member of the mercenary group, you are his backup.

Mission Requirements: Arrive at the scene quickly and provide backup for Black Star. The coordinates are…

Reward: Depends on the speed and number of the backup.

Rejection Consequence: -300 Black Star Mercenary Group Favorability

_____________________

All the players became spirited.

…

The Esper’s power was very strong. Not only was it strong in close-quarter combat, but it could also control countless dust particles and turn them into spears to strike or tentacles to constrain Han Xiao’s mobility. The most dangerous threat of that ability was the dust infiltrating into the gaps of the mechanical suit that changed their form inside the suit to destroy Amphiptere’s interior. At least one-third of the damage came from Ember.

The seven DarkStar warriors had very good cooperation—three Pugilist to limit Han Xiao’s mobility at close range through exchanging hits, one Esper that could secret acid, and another that could inject energy in the galaxy into specially made metals and turn them into bombs. These two Espers were hiding at the side while throwing acid and metal balls at Han Xiao.

There was one more Mechanic who was good at electromagnetic disruption and smart hacking, connecting to Amphiptere through his own combat suit and disrupting Amphiptere’s system through the hacking program that he wrote. He was even trying to take control of Amphiptere. Han Xiao’s smart technology was still within the bounds of basic knowledge, so he had no choice but to turn off most auto functions and leave only the nerves connection controls on, to stop detection and analysis as well as to prevent Amphiptere’s system from being taken over. This Mechanic was also controlling numerous shield generators to block attacks for his teammates.

The last one was an Electric Mage. His cooperation with Ember was the closest, unleashing his electric sorcery by using the carbon dust as a bridge. Ember turned them into graphene, which was more conductive, to increase the power, attacking Han Xiao from all directions and burning the internals of Amphiptere.

Boom boom boom!

Attacks rained down on Amphiptere, and the number of wounds gradually increased. Facing seven enemies of the same grade and one whose grade was even higher than his own, Han Xiao was like facing a terrifying tsunami—he could hardly fight back.

Even with [Snake—Devil] activated, he could just barely hold on.

The mechanical suit’s durability dropped very quickly. After only a few minutes into the fight, it was already at sixteen percent, close to being completely destroyed.

Han Xiao took a deep breath. He poured all the energy into the mobility device, and with a sharp arc, he escaped from the close-range battle and headed straight for the Esper who could secrete acid. He closed in extremely quickly while firing a shot at the Mechanic to make sure he could not control the shield to protect his teammate. Then, with a swing of the scythe, he was about to slash at the Esper.

“Burst!” Ember yelled as he clenched his fist. Before Han Xiao could land the attack, Ember could give the wounded Amphiptere one last attack to destroy it!

Countless spikes formed inside Amphiptere within a second!

The mechanical suit became covered in holes and was on the brink of shattering.

At this moment, a blurry white light bloomed. Amphiptere, which was about to shatter, came back together like a miracle, and its energy level recovered to its prime.

Machinery Continuation!

“What!” Ember was shocked and surprised. The attack that he had been so confident in could not break Han Xiao’s suit, and it was now too late to stop him.

The acid Esper initially believed that Ember could stop Han Xiao, but now he was horrified and could only watch the scythe growing in his vision.

Flaming Will!

Swoosh!

With a flash of light, blood spilled all over. A ferocious wound extended from the acid Esper’s head to his chin, spitting his face in half.

His health dropped a large chunk in an instant.

“Ahhh!”

The acid Esper fell to the ground and writhed in agony as blood gushed out from his face. Ember hastily moved him away before Han Xiao could land another hit.

The next moment, Amphiptere crumbled into pieces.

Machinery Continuation made Amphiptere last for five seconds longer, and in this time, Han Xiao landed this hit and heavily injured one of the enemies even while he was under siege.

Han Xiao was breathing heavily. He had wanted to get rid of that guy a long time ago—it was so disgusting to have him keep spitting acid at him.

Ember had a very gloomy expression. His subordinate was heavily injured, and his mistake was partly to blame. Anger arose from inside his heart.

This was a pure accident, and it was not going to happen again. Black Star had reached his limit after lasting for so long. From the moment his mechanical suit shattered, he was a sheep waiting to be butchered and would not have any chance to fight back anymore.

A Mechanic that lost his machines was at most half as strong!

“This is it for you. I’ve said before, you can save yourself a lot of pain if you don’t resist, and I am a man of my word…”

Ember then said with freezing cold eyes, “Are you ready to feel pain?”

Amphiptere shattered, and the backup mechanical suit could not be summoned. Han Xiao’s body had no more protection. He glanced at the broken parts all over the floor, but his expression did not change at all. He did not seem to be bothered about his current situation. He casually placed the black scythe on his shoulders and said, “Don’t celebrate too soon. The fight only ends when I can’t fight anymore.”

The Great Mechanic Han was never one to back away from a fight.

Chapter 389 - What Monster Are You‽

Broken parts were all over the floor, including the Sonic Spheres and the Hovering Shield Shuttle. The scythe was a melee weapon, so it was very hard. Its blade was quite wide and could be used as a shield. This was the only weapon that Han Xiao was left with.

Zoom!

The hovering carbon dust in the cell transformed into sharp cones pointing at the ground, which then fell down like rain. The area covered was very large, so every dodge direction was locked down.

If the target had a mechanical suit, this kind of large area attack would not be so much of a threat. However, Black Star’s mechanical suit had already been destroyed by him. A Mechanic without protection was fragile.

Ember did not want to kill Han Xiao—they had to capture him alive after all—but he was very willing to make Han Xiao suffer. He was only aiming at non-lethal spots.

Swoosh!

The scythe deflected the approaching sharp cones, but they were endless with Ember’s control. Han Xiao deflected and shielded himself from whatever he could, and he was left with no choice but to let the rest hit him.

Electric shaped energy covered his body and formed a layer of protection. The sharp cones shattered upon hitting his body, only causing scratches.

Ember controlled his power casually and said with a cold voice, “As a Mechanic, you never learned close range tactics. You don’t have as much energy as a Pugilist, and your attributes are totally different from a Pugilist’s. Yet, you want to fight like a Pugilist. If you were a Mechanical Pugilist maybe you’d stand a chance, but you’re just a Mechanic. How long do you think you can last? Your resistance is futile. Are you still not giving up?”

Attacks were coming from every angle in the battlefield. The other DarkStar warriors left the area and stopped fighting. They stood aside and waited for their captain to defeat Black Star. After all, Ember could easily defeat an enemy without his fangs, so there was no need to help.

The result was certain.

Boom!

Suddenly, with a stomp that cracked the ground, Han Xiao dashed toward the DarkStar Mechanic like a flash of lightning. He was not deflecting the attacks anymore, and he let the countless sharp cones hit his body. With a flick of the wrist, the blade of the scythe split open and turned into around eight pieces of electromagnetic blades covered in electrical sparks, spinning and forming a drill shape!

“Take my Electric Dragon Drill!” Han Xiao yelled. The drill penetrated the shield that the DarkStar Mechanic urgently generated and sent him flying. The DarkStar Mechanic’s combat suit turned burnt black from the electric, and the broken parts were flashing with electrical sparks. His suit was malfunctioning due to the damages.

“You maniac, you’re looking for death!” The face of the other DarkStar warriors changed in an instant. They were shocked that despite facing such concentrated attacks from Ember, Han Xiao still dared to give up on his defenses and chose to attack instead. Although Han Xiao was able to succeed due to them having their guard down, this attack did not cause much of a problem. They were all Supers of the same grade, so they would not be killed this easily. On the other hand, this act caused Han Xiao to get hit by a lot more attacks.

“Looks like you’re not going to compromise, quite the spirit you have,” Ember complimented sincerely, then shook his head expressionlessly. “But resistance is futile, and it shows you have nothing up your sleeves anymore. Yet, you’re dreaming of fighting a way out… My patience is limited. Since you can’t comprehend your situation, we’ll have to beat you to near death for you to figure it out.”

This time, Ember decided to not use his large area attacks anymore. The DarkStar warriors received Ember’s order and joined the fight, surrounding Han Xiao.

Without the aid of his suit, Han Xiao was instantly placed in a precarious position. Facing the storm like attacks, he could only passively defend himself. Any movement or dodge was stopped by the enemies’ tacit cooperation. He was forced to remain in one place and unable to fight back.

Boom!

Attacks blasted onto Han Xiao like a tsunami, the continuous explosions stirred up the dust and blocked their vision.

Aroshia, who was standing at the side, could only see the lightning, bombs, spears, and energy enter the thick dust countless times, but she could not see Han Xiao. Endless explosions and clanking sounds filled her ears, but there was no growl or scream of agony. Other than the sound of the battle, she could not hear Han Xiao making any sound at all.

Seeing this, Aroshia suddenly had the urge to stop everything. An unknown impulse drove her to take action. However, at this time, Ember suddenly raised his hand, and they stopped attacking.

“That’s enough, he should be heavily injured by now. Cuff him and let’s get out of here immediately…”

Bang!

Before Ember finished his sentence, the sound of the ground cracking came out of the dust!

Han Xiao shot out like a cannon, covered in wounds and dragging a tail of dust behind him. Even after taking so many attacks, his wounds were all light wounds, and none of them penetrated deeply.

With energy flickering around his body, his scythe slashed down in a flash!

Clank!

Ember’s diamond arm and Han Xiao’s scythe clashed, and the sparks lit up Ember’s stunned expression.

“How can you be okay‽”

They were shocked.

After receiving so much damage, even if he was a Pugilist of the same level instead of a Mechanic, he would have been heavily injured. Yet, Han Xiao was still so alive!

How are you more tanky than a Pugilist‽

“Hehe…” Han Xiao looked up. Half of his face was covered with blood, but his face was full of mockery. He laughed with a husky voice and said, “Is this all you have? Are you scratching an itch for me?”

Ember’s face was filled with rage. He activated his power, and carbon atoms turned into a snake, hitting Han Xiao’s chest heavily, pushing him back in the midst of dust, and pressing him on the floor.

“Continue!” Ember yelled furiously.

So what if you’re tanky? You’re nothing but a living target. We’re the ones that have the upper hand!

The DarkStar warriors took a deep breath and raised their focus level once again. Attacks submerged Han Xiao for the second time.

This time, the attacks were more violent. Dangerous attacks came from Ember continuously, and his eyes were vicious. He had no intention of holding back.

Seeing this, ripples formed in Aroshia’s eyes. She took a few steps forward, picked up an electromagnetic handgun that Han Xiao had dropped earlier, raised her hands, and fired at Ember.

Ding ding ding!

The needle bullets were deflected by Ember’s diamond skin.

Ember turned around and snorted. With a casual swing of his hand, he controlled the carbon element in Aroshia ‘s body and slapped her into the floor, immobilizing her.

When the ambush was launched, Ember had already felt Aroshia ‘s presence—she was just an ordinary person. So, Ember did not care about her and left her on the side. Now that she had fired at him, Ember was not bothered at all. He kept her under control casually and continued to focus on dealing with Han Xiao.

After a rather long period of continuous attacks, even the terrain had changed. The ground where Han Xiao was standing became a near-one-meter-deep hole, covered in a thick dust that blocked the vision.

“Stop.”

Ember’s breath was a little rapid, his power caused him a lot of energy. The DarkStar warriors backed off with a few beads of sweat rolling down their forehead, tired as well. It became quiet as they stopped.

“Is he still alive?” The DarkStar warriors looked at the hole.

“Not dead yet. I can feel his presence. It’s very weak—he’s really almost dead this time,” Ember said with confidence.

However, the next moment, Ember’s face suddenly changed dramatically. The weak presence that he felt became stronger in a very strange way and was recovering at an unbelievable speed.

In the midst of the dust, the outline of a person slowly stood up. Like there was an unknown magical force, everyone’s eyes were staring at that outline.

Ta, ta, ta!

Every sound of footsteps felt like they were stepping right on Ember’s heart.

A black scythe extended out of the mist first, filled with cracks. Just as it appeared in everyone’s sight, it shattered into pieces and turned into a pile of waste.

Right after, Han Xiao walked out, everyone’s eyes turned to look at him. The next moment, disbelief filled their eyes.

Han Xiao was covered in dust, but all his wounds were nowhere to be found. He cracked his neck, looking livelier than ever.

“Are you done?” His tone was laid back, sounding like he had just woken up.

Ember was dumbfounded.

How could Han Xiao’s wounds heal themselves? Did he have a regeneration power?

Even the alloy scythe shattered, yet the person was unharmed. Han Xiao was very much alive—he was harder than the alloy scythe!

The people doing the beating were tired, whereas the one taking the beating was still very alive. How the hell were they going to continue‽

Han Xiao stared at the people of DarkStar and stretched his body.

“If you’re not done, I will continue playing with you.”

He had given out the mission to the players long ago, so he was not panicking at all. Furthermore, he had Aurora’s Character Summon Card, with only one effect—Full recovery, simple and powerful, six usages. Just now, when his health was lower than fifteen percent, he used it.

Han Xiao was very tanky to start with, and with this ability, these DarkStar warriors would not be able to kill him even by exhausting themselves.

Ember’s expression changed from surprised to shocked, horrified, then stopped at fear!

His posture became lower and not casual anymore. It became very serious.

This was the sign of him facing a dangerous enemy!

When facing Han Xiao, Ember had taken it very lightly and casually in the beginning. Only when he realized that Han Xiao was immune to his power did he take him more seriously. He had thought that he was serious enough, but he realized that he had still underestimated Han Xiao.

In the short time since the start of the battle, Han Xiao had surprised him continuously. His impression of Han Xiao was completely overthrown!

Ember stared at Han Xiao and said word by word, “What monster are you‽”

Chapter 390 - Aroshia, Grade A Chain Mission (1)

The DarkStar warriors looked at Ember with the questioning gazes.

Ember stared at Han Xiao. He was in a dilemma. The time that they had spent there was beyond their expectations. They had thought that they could capture Han Xiao in no time, but they had never expected him to have such tough abilities to deal with. Furthermore, they were not sure how strong Han Xiao’s regeneration ability was and how many more times he could recover.

Ember was confident that Han Xiao definitely had a limit. The problem was, how long would it take for him to reach that limit? Han Xiao’s toughness drastically exceeded the average of a Mechanic. They had heavily wounded him once, but their energy and endurance were limited. Their breathing was faster than usual, and their hearts were pumping fast. The nonstop attacks made the DarkStar warriors tired and unable to reach their maximum performance.

Retreat or continue? Ember hesitated. This time, he suddenly saw Han Xiao look up at the sky that was blocked by the cell he had created, with mockery on his face.

Before they could react, violent explosions blasted outside the cell. The walls trembled, and cracks appeared.

Boom!

( NovelFull )    The wall above their head suddenly burst into pieces as a searchlight pierced in. Numerous aircrafts hovered above in the sky, aiming their laser cannons at DarkStar’s people.

“Drop your weapons and surrender immediately!” Herlous yelled through the speaker.

The faces of the DarkStar warriors changed.

“Sh*t, the guards are here. The ambush only lasted a few minutes, and we just checked there were no patrols nearby. Did a team of guards just happen to pass by? Lucky him!”

Less than ten minutes had passed since the start of the ambush to the end of the battle. As the speed and reaction of Supers grew stronger, the number of actions that they could complete in a second became higher as well. During the battle, time would feel much slower in their senses, and every second would feel ten or even a hundred times slower. Opponents of the same level could make use of every small detail during the battle and exchange hits at a very high speed. However, in the eyes of ordinary people, they could only see shadows and phantoms.

“It isn’t luck. The people on the aircraft are all Black Star’s subordinates. He must’ve called for backup!”

“How did he get through the signal disruption‽” someone exclaimed with disbelief.

Ember stared at Han Xiao and said in a deep voice, “I admit I underestimated you this time. Black Star, I’ll remember your name. Retreat!”

Just as he finished his sentence, the cell collapsed in an instant and turned into black dust all over the place, obstructing signal detectors and vision.

This moment, Ember took out a metal rod. He held onto both ends and twisted, activating the device. A blue dot of light appeared in the middle, its light covering three meters. The DarkStar warriors quickly walked into the area covered in blue light. Then, Ember twisted the metal rod once again right after. The blue dot contracted and turned into a string of flashes. The people and the dust inside the area disappeared without a trace.

When the dust dispersed, Han Xiao wiped off the dust on his face and walked over to the place where Ember and the others disappeared from. He squatted down and swept away the dust on the floor, uncovering a circle mark on the ground.

“Directional Short Distance Teleporter, leaves almost no trace behind… We can’t chase them.” Han Xiao shook his head, a little helpless. Compared to the others, DarkStar’s technology was rather ahead of its time, at least very ahead of him at this moment.

( NovelFull )    The aircrafts circled around and did not find anything. They landed, and Han Xiao gave them the mission completion reward.

The backup forced Ember to retreat and made DarkStar’s plan to kidnap him fail. However, Han Xiao could not be glad about it. Ember’s failure would definitely make DarkStar pay more attention to him. He had showcased quite a number of his abilities, so he could not keep a low profile anymore.

With the first attack, there was most likely going to be a second one. Han Xiao did not have enough power currently to face such a large organization, and his career as a mercenary group would be affected as well.

Looking back, it was all because the job that they had been hired to do that caused them to coincidentally meet with DarkStar’s conspiracy. As long as they were going to save the Silvers, whether he had the Secret Message Bead or not, he would definitely attract DarkStar’s attention in the end. He had no idea DarkStar was involved in this in the start. Anyway, there was no way to make time go backward. At least he now knew DarkStar’s target and had the key item—the Secret Message Bead—in his hands. Not only did he successfully make Ember retreat, he also successfully hid the truth of him knowing about the Secret Message Bead. He was still not exposed.

It’s better not to give the Secret Message Bead to DarkStar; it’s too risky. DarkStar’s way of doing things is very merciless, so exposing too much would put me in danger,Han Xiao thought.

Herlous walked behind him and asked with concern, “Are you okay?”

“Not hurt much, you guys arrived right on time.” Han Xiao waved his hand.

It was the players who had taken the initiative to request reinforcements this time. Herlous had been doubtful at first, and now he had confirmed that Han Xiao and these subordinates of his had some sort of telepathy.

“Who were these enemies? Why did they ambush you?”

“They’re the brutes that attacked the slave market. I recognized the power of one of them, they probably want revenge,” Han Xiao said casually. He turned and walked to Aroshia, then helped her up.

Aroshia shook her head, signally that she was not hurt.

Han Xiao contemplated and said, “There’s a very high energy reaction inside your body, but you don’t know how to use it.”

He had seen Aroshia firing earlier and saw that Ember kept her under control in an instant—she was of no help at all. If Aroshia could fight when they were ambushed, he would not have ended up fighting alone.

Han Xiao was not an irresponsible person; it was impossible for him to abandon her once the mission was complete. Since he had taken Aroshia away, she had to join the mercenary group. He did not need someone who was a burden, and Aroshia had a lot of potential—she was worth cultivating. If she became a Super, at least she would not be a burden, and she might even be helpful.

“There’s energy in my body?” Aroshia looked down and pressed on her heart. “Really?”

“You definitely have the talent to become a Super. I can teach you to realize your potential and become a Super so that your talent will not be wasted,” Han Xiao said.

( NovelFull )    “You want me to learn the Super knowledges?”

Han Xiao shrugged his shoulders and said, “I don’t know who you were before, but since you lost your memories, you need to learn again. Maybe you were a very strong Super before—you might improve at an unbelievable speed.”

“There’s one thing I never said,” Aroshia said slowly, “I apparently am some sort of Space Wonder. You can’t bring me away.”

Han Xiao was stunned in place.

“They said that I won’t really die. I will revive after I die and go back to the initial amnesia state, losing the memory of everything before I died. I remember I have been ‘alive’ for three years this time, and I was sold five times. Each time, after six days, I returned to that cell. No matter how far I am, it will only be an instant. No one can bring me away.”

Aroshia’s earliest memory was the moment she opened her eyes in the cell. Her origin and her existence were both a mystery. Everything before that moment was blank. However, this time, her ‘life’ had lasted three years, and she had the short memory of these three years. She had realized how special she was long ago, but her life form was very unique—she did not have any physical desire or spiritual need. She did not need to consume food and hardly had any curiosity; it was like nothing mattered to her.

Although her knowledge of the world was a piece of blank paper, she was unlike an innocent child. On the contrary, she had very strong thinking capabilities.

Horlaide had not been completely honest back then—Han Xiao did not know about Aroshia’s secret. Now he realized that Horlaide had been promoting her because he knew that she would be back in the end, and he was using that as a scam. Han Xiao was speechless.

“You can’t control this power?” Han Xiao said with surprise.

Aroshia shook her head. “No.”

Hearing this, Han Xiao was more interested. Aroshia had self-awareness but was trapped in the cell by a mysterious power, and this was not her choice. If this was a Space Wonder, then there was one question. Was Aroshia the Space Wonder?

Could it be possible that she was originally an independent life form and not part of the wonder, and it was a coincidence that she became the wonder? Which would mean that Aroshia’s amnesia, her unique life form, her mind of close to completely no desire… all of this could be given by the wonder. Then what was this wonder? Was it something without a physical form, some sort of formless energy?

Sadly, even if there was an answer to this, Aroshia did not know it. The truth might be in the memories that she had lost. What Han Xiao cared most about at this moment was that Aroshia could not be taken away.

“Is there no way to solve it?”

“I don’t know.” Aroshia shook her head and said, “Only three more hours to the sixth day.”

The mission requirement was to save her from the slave market and stay with her for six days. Only now did Han Xiao know the difficulty of it. However, since it was a mission, there must be a way to complete it.

There should be clues in that cell.

Han Xiao ordered the rest of the people to patrol around and look for the enemy. Although he did not have any hope of actually finding anything. He summoned the backup Amphiptere and wore it, then accompanied Aroshia to the slave market… ruins.

At the same time, the DarkStar people appeared on the other side of Floating Dragon, with frustration on their faces.

The ambush had been too rushed. They had engaged without knowing much about Black Star at all. They had thought that their power and technology would give them an unshakable advantage, which caused them to underestimate the opponent.

Their arrogance was the reason for their failure.

Ember was furious. This was the first time that he had failed when facing a target weaker than him. He was very concerned about this failure; it left a mark in his heart that he was very unhappy about it.

Ember opened the communicator to report the result. He held back his unhappiness and repeated the process of their failure. The Superiors of DarkStar were very surprised. Their surprise and disappointment stung Ember’s pride once again.

His record had always been perfect, and this had left a stain on it.

“Sarota has already intercepted all the criminals, and there were no clue of it at all. The mercenaries are the only ones left. There’s an eighty percent chance that the Secret Message Bead is in the hands of the mercenaries.”

“Shall I continue to find a chance to deal with Black Star?”

“You failed once, don’t take the risk, retreat.” The Superiors sighed.

Veins popped up on the back of Ember’s hands.

“Yes, Sir…”

Chapter 391 - Aroshia, Grade A Chain Mission (2)

The slave market was being rebuilt. Han Xiao showed his identity to the construction team and entered the underground corridor successfully. He came to the cell that Aroshia had once been in, looked around, knocked here and there, and did not find anything unusual.

Floating Dragon had searched the cell long before him, and they did not find anything either.

Aroshia stood outside the door and watched. She suddenly asked, “Why do you want to bring me away?”

Han Xiao paused for a moment. He definitely could not say that it was a mission requirement, so he said, “I’m very curious about you.”

“Curious…” Aroshia mumbled. “What is that?”

“Curiosity is the desire for knowledge. For example, when a normal person loses their memory, they want to know who they were before. This is a type of desire.”

“Desire… I don’t seem to have this sort of thing. Is that special?”

“Er, usually, those without desires are artificial intelligence, and not needing to consume or excrete is a characteristic of energy life forms.” Han Xiao sized Aroshia up and said, “But you’re neither of them. You just don’t have the basic physical needs, you might not have no desire at all. Don’t you have anything you want?”

Aroshia thought carefully and said, “I don’t think so.”

“Are you sure? Since you asked me a question, that’s the curiosity of wanting to know what ‘desire’ is,” Han Xiao said. “Desire is the sign of life, a feeling that makes people realize their existence. It can also be said that it’s the motive for every action a life form takes. Therefore, a life form like you seems very unique.”

Aroshia tilted her head, pondered, and said, “Is the reason for you teaching me how to use the energy inside my body also your own desire?”

“I want you to be stronger and become a help to me,” Han Xiao said honestly. He had figured out a few ways to communicate with Aroshia. There was no need to pretend—he just had to be straightforward and express his motive.

As always, Aroshia still had a carefree attitude. “I won’t die, so what’s the point of becoming stronger. Strong or weak, it’s all meaningless. Or I should say, existence itself is meaningless.”

Han Xiao thought about it and said, “But if you die, your memory will be reset. You’ll forget about this short-term memory. The ‘you’ after reviving might not be who ‘you’ are now. Once you revive, you’ll start from the beginning again, thinking the same things you have been thinking, wasting the same time you have already wasted, only to end up in the same place you are now. Becoming stronger will help you to avoid reviving, preventing yourself to be killed by others or disasters.”

Han Xiao paused and said, “And about meaning… You don’t need food and excretion to maintain your life, so you can’t feel existence. If your mind is blank, a day or even a year will feel like an instant. Hence, why not find something to do and give meaning to your life?”

“I see…” Aroshia mumbled a while, nodded, and said, “Thank you, talking with you is very pleasant. No one had ever said this much to me.”

In the past three years, the others only had two impression of her—A Space Wonder or a slave that did not run away. Never was there someone that communicated with her like she was a normal individual.

“Don’t mention it, it’s just chitchat.”

There was no clue in the prison cell. Han Xiao could only stop and casually chat with Aroshia, waiting for the time limit to arrive and see what would actually happen.

Seconds and minutes passed. As the last minute ended, the change happened.

Aroshia was still standing outside the door—she did not return to the cell. She took a few steps backward, then looked down on her body. Nothing unusual happened. Then she backed off further and further.

_____________________

[Visitor From Afar] Completed

You have received 1,800,000 Experience.

_____________________

Han Xiao was so surprised her eyebrows almost raised uncontrollably.

He hardly did anything at all, yet a Space Wonder that even the Floating Dragon could not resolve was gone just like that. There was definitely more to it! Han Xiao recalled that this mission had an unknown reward. He looked at the interface and realized that this reward turned out to be a new mission.

_____________________

You Have Triggered Grade A Hidden Chain Mission, [Reboot]

Mission Introduction: Aroshia is a unique life form. An enormous secret lies within her. Bring her alongside you, and one day, this secret will find you.

Reminder: This is a Chain Mission. The next mission will only be unlocked once the previous one is completed.

First Round: Teach Aroshia. Help her to awaken her power, control the energy inside her body, and reach Grade B

Reward: 5,200,000 Experience, 1 x Random Reward, +5 Risda Favorability

Failure Condition: Aroshia dead

_____________________

Chain Mission type grade A hidden mission! Han Xiao was shocked. This was usually something that only happened in large Main Storyline events.

He had no information about this storyline in his previous life, which meant that no one had triggered it. This was an unknown event. He was more assured that Aroshia was not ordinary. The mission name was [Reboot]—what did that mean? Also, who was this person called Risda?

“Apparently, I’m able to leave.” Aroshia was confused. “What did you do to me?”

“I have no idea…” Han Xiao said. “Anyways, this is a good thing.”

…

Two days later, the superiors of the three large mercenary group arrived late at Floating Dragon. Jenny had a meeting with them. After she accepted their apologies, she finally released Goa, Porter, and Cerleni’s teams who had been locked up for many days.

Right after these people got out, they surrounded Han Xiao and expressed their gratitude and praise.

The superiors of the three armies came to contact Han Xiao with very friendly attitudes. Every mercenary could feel how their superiors took Han Xiao seriously. Han Xiao had showcased his abilities in this mission, and now that he had the backing of Floating Dragon, even the three large armies could not take him lightly.

After they were free, they immediately prepared to leave Floating Dragon and go back to complete the mission, returning the Silvers to the long-awaited employer. The reason Han Xiao had waited till now was to travel together with them.

On the day of their departure, Jenny, Wilsander, and Haier all came to send him off.

The entire dock was stunned. People from everywhere sized Han Xiao up with shock as he chatted with the three of them. Black Star Mercenary Group’s position there was definitely high, given the fact that three of them were sending him off.

The people who knew what had happened were even more surprised. It had only been a short half a month since Han Xiao joined Floating Dragon, and he had been able to work his way up so high in such a short period. The three of them had come to send him off, which meant that they gave him a lot of face. Even the superiors of the three armies were only able to see Jenny.

“Her Excellency Dragon Emperor has allowed you to be a Field Team. You’re now a field commander. Your power is Floating Dragon’s external military power, so we hope you can grow stronger quickly,” Jenny said in a very formal tone. She took out a specially made communicator and passed to Han Xiao. “This communicator can be used to contact Ames directly. However, as a reminder, if there’s no absolute need, it’s best not to disturb her.”

Able to contact Ames directly? This small thing is equal to a nuclear launcher! Han Xiao stowed it carefully.

Haier crawled over and said regretfully, “You’re quite a good Mechanic. After you’re gone, my workload will go up again. This gift is for you.”

Looking down, Haier’s pedipalp passed an alloy box over. Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled as he opened to look at it.

Inside was a mini portable nuclear reactor. Stable nuclear reactors were something that could only be built with advanced energy knowledge. Energy knowledge was more difficult to obtain than compression technology, so he could not build it currently. Now that he had the reactor, he could add materials and use it to generate power, then use it at the power core of a mechanical suit. The output of the mechanical suit would reach new heights.

“Thank you.” Han Xiao nodded with joy on his face.

After Haier walked away, Wilsander came closer and said, “Haier is a little ugly. I felt he was hard to look at initially but got used to it after some time. His personality is quite good.”

Han Xiao glanced at him and said, “Ames probably feel this way about you.”

Wilsander’s expression collapsed immediately.

“Don’t change the topic, did you bring a gift?”

“No.”

“Bye.” Han Xiao turned around and entered the ship.

“Come on, why is the treatment difference this huge!” Wilsander said resentfully on the dock.

Hu!

The ship took off.

Floating Dragon Island gradually became smaller in his eyes. He left with four more people than he entered with—three Volga brothers sleeping on the side and Aroshia, who was gazing out of the porthole.

There were both pros and cons to joining the Dragon Emperor’s faction. At the moment, the pros largely outweighed the cons. Not only did he receive new blueprints and materials, his talent evolved as well. The most priceless thing that he got during this mission should be the Secret Message Bead. The higher the risk it brought, the higher the value it would bring.

…

As Floating Dragon Island had already drifted to the Fawn Galaxy, less than one day after they left, they had already returned to the desolate planet that the employer was waiting for them on.

As soon as they landed, the Silvers could not wait to return, filled with the joy of escaping death.

After the employer calmed down, he paid the reward as promised.

Finally, I have the last two knowledges of Compression Technology. Han Xiao breathed a sigh of relief. For these two knowledges, he had taken on an unfamiliar mission, and it had been exhausting. But at long last, it was time to reap the rewards.

Chapter 392 - The Sudden Arrival of a Fleet

What Sky Ring, Blades, and Purple Gold wanted was money, whereas the reward that Han Xiao requested was the two advanced knowledges of the compression technology. After the employer wired the money to the three armies, he personally approached Han Xiao and thanked him sincerely.

The employer had initially paid more attention to the more renowned three large armies. The biggest reason that he hired Black Star was because the other mercenary groups changed their mind and none of them dared go to Floating Dragon Island. He did not expect this small mercenary group to be the key to the success of the mission.

“My friends wouldn’t have returned safely if it wasn’t for you.”

As he was speaking, he and all the rescued Silvers put down their sense of superiority as royalties and greeted Han Xiao with the sincerest way to express gratitude in the Silver culture.

Goa and the others received the same treatment as well. They were a little ashamed, knowing that they had been imprisoned the entire time and it was Han Xiao who had turned the tables and completed the mission.

“Sadly, two of your friends died,” Han Xiao said.

“Sigh, they’re unlucky, but you’re not to blame. The Shattered Star Ring is too dangerous, so we’ll be leaving in just a while. I hope to hire you guys as guards and protect us on our way home.”

The three armies kindly rejected the offer—they were not willing to travel that far. The Sea of Star Spirits and Shattered Star Ring were two Star Fields away, so it would take too long to travel there and return even with the star gate that could transport them across Star Fields.

“What about you?” The employer looked at Han Xiao.

Han Xiao shook his head and said, “Sorry, it’s too far, not inside my business scope.”

Although the Sea of Star Spirits’ resources was richer than Shattered Star Ring, it would waste a lot of time if they traveled there. It was all doing missions and earning money anyway, so he preferred not to travel for it. The Shattered Star Ring was rural and dangerous, but it had a lot of opportunities.

“That’s a pity. If there is a chance in the future, I hope to invite you to travel to our home for a trip…”

The employer shook his head and gave him the reward.

The mission complete notification appeared on the interface. He received more than 4,000,000 experience at once plus the 5,000 Enas. Including the amount that he had obtained through blackmailing, he had obtained more than 40,000 Enas.

The other players’ rewards were not as rich as their captain’s, but it was quite good nonetheless, so they were all smiling with satisfaction.

The communicator vibrated as it received the two knowledges. This was a special reward that only Han Xiao received. He checked and made sure that they were correct, then immediately chose to learn them.

_____________________

Learning… Successfully Learned! You have learned [High Density Material Compression Technology]!

Learning… Successfully Learned! You have learned [Basic Spatial Technology]!

You have acquired ability [Super Compression Technology]!

You have acquired ability [Basic Machinery Construction]!

You have acquired ability [Weight Reduction Structure]!

_____________________

As always, he felt the familiar headache, which only went away after quite some time. Without hesitation, he spent twenty Potential Points and leveled up these two knowledges to the max level.

Mechanics used different knowledge combinations depending on what style they were using, but these knowledges were a must-learn for all Mechanics, and their level had to be maxed.

The knowledges of the compression technology had a hidden connection. Only by possessing all of them would one learn the ability of Compression Technology, and this was the sign of the rise of Mechanics in Version 3.0.

[Super Compression Technology] folded the machineries. As the ability became stronger, it could fold larger machineries into the size of a finger, and its effect was enhanced by Machinery Affinity, level, and Intelligence. Currently, Han Xiao’s limit was folding medium-sized machines, which was most of the machines that he could build at the moment, such as firearms, Rangers, Amphiptere, and others.

As the size of his machines decreases after compression, their density increased. The mass of an object never changed, so its weight remained the same. However, [Weight Reduction Structure] would solve this problem. It used many technologies to achieve an internal repulsive force, creating an independent hovering field, maintaining a very low weight in various gravitational environments. It was suitable for many materials. This was a basic technology to achieve large scale compressions.

To achieve compression, folding structures needed to be added into the machines, increasing its complexity by multiple times. For convenience, many machines would be split up during compression, then reconnected back to their original form when they were expanded, using [Basic Machinery Construction]. This was an active ability that required energy to use, enabling extremely high-speed weapon assembly during combat. As long as there were parts, Mechanics would never run out of ammo.

When killing other players in his previous life, the usable parts of weapons and robots of Mechanics that were shattered seconds ago would be immediately reconstructed into other weapons, largely increasing the continuous combat capability and annoyance of the Mechanic Class.

If not for this ability that acted as a ‘recycle’ mechanism, the cost of using the Mechanical Army Style would have been many times higher.

From Han Xiao’s perspective, his Mechanic class could only be counted as shaped now that he had gotten these three abilities.

With Super Compression Technology and Basic Machinery Construction, my combat style will receive revolutionary upgrades. All my equipment needs to be modified into a compressed form. The number of weapons that I can equip will increase dozens of times. I won’t need to fight head-on wearing my mechanical suit anymore. Finally, I can bully others with my ‘Machinery Sea’ tactic.

Finally, the bitter days came to an end!

This time, the superiors of Blades and Purple Gold approached.

“Black Star, we want to sign a partnership with you, inviting you to be our ally.”

These two superiors were the ones in charge of this area; them sending an invitation personally showed their sincerity.

The structure of large armies was similar. With Sky Ring Army as an example, the Army Commander was the leader and the only one that had the five rings level. Followed by two grade A Deputy Army Commanders. There were two types of four rings members—one was grade B+ High-Class Combat Personnel, and another was High-Class Managers, in charge of one business area. The superior from Sky Ring was one of them, someone in charge of numerous galaxies.

Going further down the corporate table, one would find three rings officers like Goa, who usually brought a large team along but also could choose to work alone. They also had the authority to assemble a team temporarily.

Han Xiao had become an ally of Sky Ring earliest, and now, Blades and Purple Gold also saw Black Star’s potential, so they took the initiative to invite him. Large armies like these would only be the one initiating a partnership when they valued someone heavily.

One more large army partner meant more opportunities for missions. Han Xiao agreed and signed the contract.

The Blades and Purple Gold mercenaries immediately looked at him in a friendlier way—a partner was half as good as one of their own.

Sky Ring, Blades, and Purple Gold were the most renowned armies in their Star Cluster. Becoming their partner was a very rare opportunity. Many normal mercenary groups would not even have the chance to request a partnership with just one of them, yet Han Xiao was a partner to all three of them.

After the rewards were given out, the Silvers boarded the spaceship and slowly took off.

The mercenaries were getting ready to leave as well. Goa found Han Xiao and asked, “Where are you planning to go?”

Han Xiao pondered and said, “Colton Star Cluster Star Zone One, Godora Colonized Planet. ‘Golden Palace’.”

The players were surprised when they heard.

“Black Phantom, are we not going back to Juberly Hub?” a player asked.

“Not yet, we have other things to do… Also, call me Black Star.” Many players were used to calling him by his previous moniker and found it hard to adjust. Han Xiao made an effort to make sure they called him by the correct name. Since they were already in space, his nickname would, of course, have to keep up with the times.

“What are you going to Golden Palace for?” Herlous asked curiously.

“To find someone.” Han Xiao did not explain it clearly. The others did not ask too much—they just had to follow their captain.

He was not planning to return to Juberly Hub for the time being. The Secret Message Bead was a hot potato, and he wanted to identify it first. Fortunately, it just so happened that he knew that a top-notch Godoran Mage was secluded in Golden Palace, who was good at analyzing magic patterns and charged a fee to identify unknown magic items for customers. That person was like a functional item identifying NPC in the eyes of the players.

“Let us send you there then,” Goa said.

If it was someone else, Sky Ring would have sent them to a public planet at most and not sent them straight to the destination like Han Xiao.

Han Xiao boarded Sky Ring’s spaceship. He felt the spaceship vibrate and slowly take off. The ground shrunk in his eyes.

He moved to the bow of the spaceship and looked out the window. The two spaceships of Blades and Purple Gold were taking off at the same time beside them.

Very soon, they rose thousands of meters above and were about to leave the atmosphere of this planet, entering the dark space.

The Silvers had taken off earlier than them, so they were already in space and were very far away. They could barely be seen.

At this moment, an enormous and thick laser beam suddenly penetrated the Silver spaceship. The next moment, the Silver spaceship turned into a firework in space.

Everyone saw the explosion, but no sound reached them through the vacuum. The Silvers who were just inviting them to their home not long ago were now all turned into ash, dying silently.

There was no sound in outer space—death seemed like a small matter.

It was deadly silent outside, but it was loud inside the spaceship.

“What’s going on? Who attacked the Silvers?”

The Sky Ring mercenaries were stunned.

This time, space ripples appeared. A large and black DarkStar mothership deactivated its stealth mode, many small battleships detached from the mothership and approached quickly like black locusts. Their targets were the three mercenary spaceships.

All the people who might have seen the Secret Message Bead were captured, and DarkStar had yet to find the bead. The mercenaries were the last target—the possibility of it being with them was the highest. However, DarkStar did not know whose hands it was in, so they decided to target all the mercenaries.

After Ember’s failure, DarkStar ordered Sarota’s fleet to come to the planet where the Silver employer was and capture all the mercenaries ruthlessly.

Inside the Secret Message Bead was something that DarkStar had spent a hundred million Enas to buy, a key item for them to deal with Godora’s plans. There was no way they were going to give it up.

“DarkStar‽”

Everyone was shocked when they recognized the renowned DarkStar Mothership.

We were never involved with DarkStar, why are they attacking us? Furthermore, they are sending an entire fleet for just three spaceships, what sort of vendetta is this‽

“Stop dazing about, turn back!” Han Xiao yelled, reminding the dumbfounded pilot. The spaceship made a sharp turn and dived toward the ground, and the other two spaceships followed.

Ohmm!

The sharp turn made the spaceship tremble, and many people could not maintain balance and almost fell.

An entire DarkStar fleet surrounded this planet. The difference in the number of spaceships and combat power was too huge, so the mercenaries had no chance to break through the siege. Once they entered space, without any obstructions, they would be destroyed by focus fire in no time. They could not escape the siege, as they would be stopped before they could enter the jumping state, which meant they had nowhere to run.

The only way out was to call for backup and stall for time inside the atmosphere. The chance of survival was low, but it was better than certain death.

Han Xiao was frowning. DarkStar’s persistence and decisiveness were beyond his expectations—they were not going to give up on even the slightest possibility, which proved what he thought earlier. The more value the Secret Message Bead had, the higher the risk was.

What a coincidence, the Secret Message Bead is really in my hands. They don’t even know it.

This was not even a battle; it was like a hunter chasing after prey. The small spaceships of the mercenaries were absolutely no match for the DarkStar fleet. The only good news was that DarkStar did not fire immediately—it seemed like they wanted to capture them alive. This made the mercenaries feel a little more at ease, with there at least being a chance to negotiate.

“This is the most dangerous situation I have ever met!” Han Xiao felt his heart was beating very fast. Not only was he not panicking, but he was excited.

“Chance of getting out unharmed is less than ten percent. Now, this is interesting…”

He licked his lips, and excitement flashed in his eyes.

Those that were faced with imminent death either became terrified of death or fearless. He happened to be the latter. After experiencing countless dangers and even dying once, he had surpassed fear long ago.

Chapter 393 - Power of the Experienced

During the process of the spaceship diving down, the pilot sent out a distress signal to the area channel, and invisible waves spread out in space. The area channel was like the public channel for players—all the spaceships passing by the area were able to receive it.

“This is Fawn Galaxy, the territory of Holy Stone Civilization and Black Raven Civilization. Friction occurs very often due to territory boundaries. These two large civilizations always have people stationed nearby, and they have set up very strong signal receivers that are sensitive to all sorts of waves. The Fawn Galaxy radiation is always operating at high output, which means that this area is like a bright spot in both of their detectors. If DarkStar activated a signal disruptor, there would be an obvious area with shade out of nowhere. Holy Stone Civilization and Black Raven Civilization would think its each other’s forces, they would definitely send people over,” Goa explained. “Therefore, I’m fifty percent sure that DarkStar is not disrupting the signal.”

Buzz!

Communication requests from Porter and Cerleni appeared on the screen, discussing their strategies anxiously. They had sent out a distress signal as well, but Cerleni was very pessimistic. “Even if someone receives our signal, the problem is, who dares to come? DarkStar is the one attacking us after all. Holy Stone and Black Raven might come to just watch and guard against DarkStar in case they have other motives, or they might not be willing to waste their military power to help us, a group of irrelevant mercenaries. Unlike Godora, who have so much hatred toward DarkStar, Holy Stone and Black Raven might not want to mess with DarkStar.

The three of them looked at their superiors, and the superiors nodded firmly.

“We have already contacted the commander; he will come to save us. He’s sending emergency dispatch orders to the nearby teams. We fear DarkStar, but we definitely will not let them do whatever they want, and we will certainly not give up on our own people. The commander is currently assembling a fleet and sending out messages to all partners. We have to protect ourselves. Stall for time—there will definitely be someone here to save us.”

All the mercenaries were instantly motivated, and a sense of honor rose in their hearts as firmness and hope appeared on their faces.

“Large armies really are different—they’re very united.” Han Xiao was envious. There were definitely some things that large armies did right after being created for so many years. Although they were all mercenaries that valued rewards, given that they could unite strong forces from everywhere showed that they knew how to build a sense of belonging. Although many members knew about this, they could not deny that they enjoyed it. After all, being in an organization that did not give up on its members was one thing that bonded them together in this cold universe.

DarkStar was known to be fearsome, but Sky Ring, Blades, and Purple Gold were not some organizations that they could easily mess with. Other than their own forces, they also had a very complicated network in the mercenary industry. They had many partners, and they were all very strong individuals or organizations. It was not simply three large armies that DarkStar messed with—it was half of the entire mercenary industry throughout the three nearest Star Clusters!

In other words, DarkStar was used to being unbridled, but this time, they stabbed the hornet’s nest.

However, a distant water source could not put out a nearby fire immediately.

Han Xiao took out the unidirectional communicator that Jenny had given him. He calmed his mind and sent the request.

The mercenaries called for backup, and he also requested help from his cheap boss. He was not putting all his hope on the three armies.

“Didn’t expect to use it this soon…”

Ding.

Ames appeared on the screen. Han Xiao saw the environment Ames was in—a palace filled with a sense of magic, built with obsidian, white crystal, Mithril, fine gold, jade, and precious stones, like a piece of jewelry enlarged thousands of times. Mysterious magic patterns hovered in the air, colorful and bright. Many translucent magic dragons swam happily in the air. Ames was sitting in front of a small hovering table, and on it were all sorts of unique and rare foods. Sitting opposite her was… a kid in a red and white magic cape. He looked about six to seven years old, with sharp ears, white and tender skin, and a cute round face. The cape on him was like a blanket—it did not fit at all. The cape was long, but the kid was short, so it was almost burying him.

Han Xiao’s mouth twitched. This little kid was another beyond grade A being of the Shattered Star Ring, a Mage whose race was a long-lived species that looked like humans on the outside, but his real age was hundreds or maybe even a thousand years old. Also, he was a fighting opponent of Ames’. More accurately, Ames was there as a guest. The four beyond grade A beings in the Shattered Star Ring knew each other. Fighting was just to kill time, and once they were tired from fighting, they would sit down to rest and have a meal together in a very peaceful manner… Han Xiao just pitied that small planet.

Ames’ eyebrow raised a little. “It’s you, my new subordinate.”

“… Did you forget my name?”

Ames swiped the communicator like she was looking for something. One second later, she said with a very natural tone, “Black Star, what is the reason for you contacting me? Have you found the whereabouts of my teacher?”

She emphasized Han Xiao’s name like she was trying to say that she did not forget.

Han Xiao shook his head and said, “The aircraft I’m currently in is attacked by DarkStar. The situation is dire, so I’m here to ask you for help.”

“Why did DarkStar attack you?” Ames asked curiously.

Han Xiao coughed.

“A few days ago, DarkStar caused trouble on Floating Dragon while you were not there. It seems like they were up to something. Coincidentally, I happened to disrupt their plan. This attack should be an act of revenge.”

Ames tilted her head. She recalled Jenny’s report. Now that DarkStar was mentioned, she seemed to have some kind of beef with DarkStar, and she had even been planning to find trouble with them earlier.

“Alright, wait there, I’ll go when I’m free,” Ames said with a casual tone, then hung up the communication.

Han Xiao was speechless. Ames’ attitude was carefree, so he had no way to force her to come immediately. He was not strong enough, so he could only seek help from someone stronger.

_____________________

You have triggered an urgent mission [Escape]!

Mission Introduction: Start running.

Mission requirement: Escape DarkStar’s pursuit and stall till backup arrives.

Reward: Basic reward 800,000 experience. The final reward depends on mission rating. The basic reward is given when achieving the lowest rating, D. After lasting for 2 days, the mission rating will reach D. The rating will increase by one level every 12 hours thereafter.

Failure Condition: Captured by DarkStar.

_____________________

Han Xiao looked around at the players and realized that their faces changed a little—they had probably triggered the mission as well.

This time, the reward for the players was exactly the same as Han Xiao, so all the players were shocked!

800,000 experience!

Han Xiao was long used to it; it was not much for him. However, to the players, this was the highest reward that they had ever seen in a mission!

Shock, joy, surprise—various expressions appeared on the players’ faces.

Han Xiao analyzed the information that he read between the lines of the mission. The lowest rating requires me to last for two days. This should mean the earliest backup will only arrive after two days. Which means that we need to fight alone for two days…

He was instantly troubled. They might not even last two hours, let alone two days.

This time, the aircraft finally returned to the ground and flew at a low altitude. This desolated planet was almost completely empty. It had no forests and no signs of life, and it was filled with stones and mountains. The only good thing about it was that its terrain was vicious enough. The three aircrafts took the same approach—stall for as much time as possible by using the obstacles in the terrain.

Boom boom boom!

Hundreds of mini DarkStar hovering ships were in pursuit, firing green colored low-energy laser cannons from above, chasing after three spaceships, and creating clusters of dust on the ground. The sound of explosions was nonstop, and the spaceships’ shields were flashing from the impact.

DarkStar wanted to capture them alive. They did not want to destroy the spaceships as it would destroy the Secret Message Bead that might be in the hands of one of them. So, they sent out mini hovering ships that were less than ten meters long. The mini laser cannons had very low power too, good for damaging yet not destroying. Using speed and mobility, they would force the mercenaries to give up their spaceships.

“Split up!”

The three spaceships dashed past a black and gray colored menacing mountain, then suddenly split up and escaped in three different directions. Green lasers hit the mountain. With a loud bang, its peak broke and rolled down its hill, stirring up a cloud of thick dust. The hovering ships split into three groups as well, chasing after the spaceships.

The Sky Ring spaceship that Han Xiao was on was being chased by about a hundred hovering ships. However, unluckily, the direction that they turned toward was a plain land without any obstacles.

“This is bad!” Their faces changed.

The pilot was covered in sweat, trying his best to control the spaceship and dodge the attacks. The dust created by the green lights was like a fountain. The spaceship was able to dodge some lasers, but it was getting hit more often than when the three spaceships were together. The shield was flashing rapidly.

“Warning! Warning! Sixty-seven percent energy left in shield! Energy level entered the yellow warning zone! Please refill in time!”

“Energy core close to overload! Please cool down in time!”

A string of warnings was announced, like a hammer hitting their hearts.

The pilot’s face was pale.

Suddenly, they saw Han Xiao walk out of the crowd. He walked to the pilot’s side, pressed on his shoulder, and said in a confident tone, “Stand up, give me the seat.”

The face of all the mercenaries in the spaceship changed. Changing pilot during the fight, are you sure‽

Goa stared at Han Xiao and said, “This concerns the life or death of everyone here, do you know what you’re doing‽”

Han Xiao nodded and said, “If he continues piloting, the chance of crashing is ninety-nine percent. If I do, it’s only thirty-percent.”

“You!” The pilot was outraged.

Goa stared at Han Xiao for a full two seconds, then nodded and said, “Okay, you do it.”

The Sky Ring mercenaries were shocked. Even though they knew Han Xiao’s capabilities, piloting a spaceship was completely different from fighting. In such urgent situations, no one would be willing to entrust their fate to someone whose pilot skill was unknown.

“If we carry on this way, in less than an hour, our ship would crash. Let him try,” Goa explained.

Although the pilot knew that this was a fact, he was unwilling to let someone else control his fate. After the expression on his face changed several times, he finally gave the position to Han Xiao.

Han Xiao took over the pilot position immediately. This time, Goa walked to him and said in a very serious tone, “Black Star, our lives are in your hands… You must—must—be careful about this.”

At this moment, the mercenaries could only place their hopes on Han Xiao. Quite a number of mercenaries actually knew how to pilot a spaceship, but no one was confident that they could do it better than the previous pilot, nor did they have the guts to take on this responsibility, worrying that their mistake might kill everyone. This was a very large amount of pressure, and no one dared do it. Now that Han Xiao had stepped forward at this crucial moment, they could only hope that he was dependable.

“Black Star, you know how to pilot spaceships‽” Herlous said with surprise.

“I know many things. Do you know me very well?”

Han Xiao adjusted the control panels casually and easily.

Piloting a spaceship is nothing; I used to pilot mechanical suits!

Like the difference between a passenger aircraft pilot and a fighter plane pilot, one requires safety and stability, and the other requires complexity. The difficulty of piloting a mechanical suit was much higher than a fighter plane.

Han Xiao was someone who had horned his pilot skills killing other players in the galactic battlefields! Even in the entire universe, he was a top-notch ace pilot!

They suddenly heard an announcement from the system.

“Adjustment complete. Shield output decreased to 20%…”

“Have you lost your mind‽” the pilot yelled uncontrollably.

Everyone was shocked. Han Xiao weakened the shield as soon as he took over. The spaceship’s defensive capability was largely decreased. If they got hit by attacks like earlier, the body of the spaceship would be damaged.

Was that reminder all for nothing‽

Goa was filled with regret. Just as he was about to yell, another announcement sounded from the system.

“All energy is being directed into the engine… complete.”

Han Xiao turned his head back a little and gave the people behind him a reminder.

“Hold tight.”

The next moment, the sudden explosive recoil tore straight through the internal gravitational stabilization of the spaceship—everyone staggered and fell down in unison.

The yelling that was just about to come out of Goa’s mouth fell right back down his throat!

Chapter 394 - Speed and Motion Sickness

On a desolate, unpopulated planet, a chase was underway on its gray plains.

Almost a hundred hovering ships were chasing after the Sky Ring spaceship. The Sky Ring spaceship’s exhaust flames expanded violently in an instant. The sudden increase of speed was like a tornado that stirred up countless dust from the floor.

Hum!

Dashing at a low altitude, the head of the boat was covered in dust, like a high-speed triangular speedboat dashing across the ocean.

Boom!

The hovering ships hastily increased their speed as well, but they could barely keep up with the Sky Ring spaceship. Many hovering ships’ accuracy decreased noticeably because of the angles, and their attacks missed much more often.

The spaceship was trembling like it would crash at any moment, but everyone felt the visible change. Although it felt more dangerous, the number of times that the spaceship got hit decreased drastically. The high mobility largely enhanced the ship’s ability to dodge. The weakened shield was just strong enough to endure these attacks. Han Xiao’s piloting skills were horrifying.

By increasing the power of the engine, the difficulty in piloting would increase as well. Yet, As compared to the previous pilot, everyone could directly feel the difference when Han Xiao took over. It was like the spaceship became ‘alive’! It felt like the spaceship became an extension of Han Xiao’s body.

The gravity in the spaceship was finally calibrated. The people stood up one after another, and their doubts all disappeared.

They were overjoyed by Black Star, who took on such crucial responsibility in the current dire situation. Anything that could better the situation was a pleasant surprise. They never expected Black Star to have this up his sleeves.

“Fantastic!” Goa’s tone changed instantly. A glimpse of a smile appeared on her expressionless face. “At this pace, the damage dealt by the hovering ships will be minimal. You did very well!”

“What?” Han Xiao was confused. “This is just basic controlling. I have not done anything yet.”

The higher the speed, the better his controls. He was far from his limit at the current speed.

Sadly, if he increases the speed further, the shield would be too thin. He was worried that he might be rusty after not piloting a battleship for so long. Maintaining the current shield thickness was a safer choice for him.

However, in the mercenaries’ eyes, the shield’s thickness was already horrifyingly thin, yet Black Star said that this was just his basic controls?

What was he going to do then‽

A bad feeling arose in everyone’s heart.

Han Xiao stretched his wrist and said, “Hold on tight.”

With the lesson of falling right on the floor earlier, no one ignored his reminder this time. They held onto anything that they could as soon as possible. Their faces were filled with nervousness.

Hum!

In an instant, the Sky Ring spaceship started to drift, like a raging horse trying to get rid of the rider on its back!

All kinds of tricks were interjoined smoothly—lateral rollover, roller coaster, Z-maneuver, and so on. The spaceship had still been flying in a straight line just one second ago, and now it was completely random!

The hovering ship fleet was already having a hard time following, and now that Han Xiao was moving this way, their formation became broken immediately. Many hovering ships blocked the shooting range of the fleet behind them. Their laser fire became sparser, and the threat level of the attack decreased largely again.

Everyone felt like they were in a can that was being shaken violently. For the first time, they felt inertia that pulled them in all directions. Their stomach acid was rushing up, their brain juice was vibrating, and their faces were pale white. Their vision started to blur, and the surrounding environment and people started to have mirror images.

After piloting spaceships for so many years, the pilot felt like he was back to when he first started learning. The dizziness was like an old friend that he had not met for a long time. He could almost see his pilot teacher waving at him with a smile on his face.

Han Xiao could still divert his attention and said, “That pilot, come and control the weapon. If we keep running and don’t fire back at all, it will be the end of us sooner or later. Fire when you see a chance.”

The pilot hastily followed the order and sat in the weapon operating seat. Compared to Black Star, his piloting skills became completely ordinary. The resentfulness before completely disappeared—he was now only scared that he might burden Han Xiao.

“On my count—five, four, three…”

Han Xiao stared at the screen, then did one more drift that messed up the formation of the hovering ships, creating a split-second opportunity to fly straight up.

Hu!

The trembling came once again!

Even if the people expected it, their legs still softened, and they almost fell.

The spaceship flew in a ‘U’ shape, flying from close to the ground right to above the hovering ship fleet, dashing back in the opposite direction.

“Fire!”

The pilot fired immediately. The cannon shot out from the Sky Ring spaceship. There was no need to aim—it was an attack fired at the dense part of the formation.

Boom boom boom!

Shield lit up on a few leading hovering ships as they were forced to stop for a moment. The fleet behind bumped into them straight away, causing chain reactions like dominos. The entire fleet in front became a mess, rolling across the sky.

The hovering ships were not that fragile, so they did not crash.

Han Xiao only stayed in this position for less than three seconds. Before the fleet could adjust, he made a sharp turn and escaped to the side. Its movement was as smooth as silk.

On the other hand, the chasing fleet took a few seconds to adjust before catching up. Although no battleship crashed, Han Xiao largely increased the distance between them.

“Not bad.” Han Xiao smiled and gave the pilot a thumbs up.

The pilot smiled brightly back at him, as vomit flew down right between his teeth.

The difficulty of these few movements was very high. Yet, no one in the ship showed any sign of being shocked. They did not even have the strength to be surprised—their legs were shaking, and their heads were spinning.

These movements had successfully given all of his teammates a debuff.

Goa opened her mouth, forcing herself to try to give a few words of compliment, but instead covered her mouth in an instant. The muscles in her neck could be seen clearly to have moved up and down, only then did she dare put her hand down.

Aroshia shook left and right, then sat down on the floor, unable to stand up. She said with confusion, “What’s happening to me?”

Herlous was breathing heavily, and he almost suffocated like a fish out of water. The mercenaries around were all trembling. Luckily, Herlous’ body was strong enough, so he could still hang on. He turned around and was shocked to see that the players were very calm. “Are you people feeling fine‽”

The players smiled cheekily. As short as three seconds after Han Xiao took over the spaceship, they realized the danger and immediately decreased their physical senses to five percent. Therefore, although they had the [Heavily Dizzy] status on their character, so they were still feeling very refreshed!

“I thought we just entered a time and space tunnel.”

“This piloting skill is absolutely horrifying!”

“I have seen Fast and Furious; this is fast and dizzy.”

The players still had the strength to discuss what was happening.

With no time to be bothered about everyone’s reactions, Han Xiao started to think of the plan.

“Just piloting the spaceship will not last us two days. The DarkStar fleet will not make no changes. When they realize that the hovering ship fleet cannot deal with us, they will definitely use more aggressive methods. I can only play with the hovering ship fleet for two hours at most. After that, the danger level is going to rise step by step.”

He planned ahead. After all, stalling for two days was not an easy task at all.

The others did not know DarkStar’s motive, only Han Xiao did. DarkStar had come for the Secret Message Bead. Therefore, DarkStar would not be willing to miss out on even one person.

A few plans flashed in his head before Han Xiao said, “It’s not going to work out like this. We can’t stay on the surface. I have a plan…”

As soon as he said this, the expression on everyone’s face became as tragic as a prisoner on their way to the execution ground.

“Anyt… Anything you say. We trust you,” Goa said.

Despite it clearly being an encouragement, there was no sound of joy in it at all. Instead, her voice was trembling a little.

…

In the command hall of the DarkStar mothership, the image feedback from the hovering ships was shown on the screen. The captain, Sarota, was watching it with hands behind his back.

Ten minutes passed after the battle started. The spaceships of Blades and Purple Gold were clearly struggling—only Han Xiao was doing slightly better. This attracted Sarota’s attention right away. He pointed at the screen and asked, “Which mercenary group does this spaceship belong to?”

“The Sky Ring Army.”

Sarota nodded and said, “They have quite a good pilot. Looks like we need to spend more time. By the way, that Black Star is apparently on the Sky Ring ship as well, isn’t he?”

The last question was directed toward the corner of the hall.

In the corner, Ember was standing against the wall with a cold and indifferent face. When he heard Han Xiao’s name, his eyes swayed slightly. He had a very strong impression of Han Xiao since his last defeat.

Oom!

At this time, the alarm suddenly sounded.

“Captain, space ripple detected. There are fleets jumping toward this direction.”

Sarota was not surprised at all. He brought up the detection image, showing that a large battleship fleet was jumping toward this direction from far away at both sides of the mothership. Both of them were in a guard formation. DarkStar was in the middle.

The two fleets were the Border Guards Army of Holy Stone Civilization and Black Raven Civilization. Their style of the battleships was very different—one side was semi-circle shaped and thick, and the other was streamlined and thin. The metal fortresses were very intimidating.

As soon as the DarkStar mothership showed up, it was noticed by the Border Guards Army. Holy Stone and Black Star immediately sent out a fleet to make a field investigation. They did not act immediately once they saw DarkStar. Instead, they stayed still and watched from afar.

“Is there a need to do anything?” an assistant asked.

“Send out a message. Tell them we are just passing by to settle our business, and we will be leaving very soon. They will not attack us,” Sarota said calmly. He was not concerned at all like everything was under his control.

Chapter 395 - The Battle of Pursuit (1)

The ownership of this area has always been blurry. If DarkStar showed up in the official territory of these two civilizations, they would definitely be warned and evicted. However, due to the sensitivity of this area, the two fleets did not make a move.

In the Holy Stone Border Guards Army, command ship of the third formation, Stream Light.

The atmosphere was filled with nervousness. DarkStar’s fearsome name was well known, and they had quite the tension with Black Raven. The captain of the Third Formation, Shivate, said with a very serious face, “All units on level one alert, hold the position.”

At this time, Stream Light received a message from the DarkStar mothership. Sarota expressed their motive, emphasizing the fact that they meant no offense to Holy Stone and Black Raven. They were just carrying out a pursuit, of which the targets were some mercenaries. Once the mission was completed, they would leave immediately.

Shivate’s tightened face relaxed a little, and without thinking, he said, “Tell them that it’s possible for Holy Stone to not interfere with DarkStar’s operation, but during this period, no suspicious action will be allowed. We will be monitoring from here, and we hope they leave as soon as possible.”

Shivate did not want a war to break out. There were many reasons. The first would of course be, they did not want to mess with DarkStar. The entire Shattered Star Ring knew the ugly history between DarkStar and Godora, no one wanted to be part of it. The most horrifying characteristic of DarkStar was that they were very stealthy. If they lost the battle, they would still be able to run away, and the revenge afterward would make you suffer a large loss. Secondly, if they fire, it might very likely cause Black Raven to misunderstand, which would then turn into a scrimmage, leading to a territory conflict. If he was determined guilty of deliberately starting a war in the court martial, the punishment for that was very heavy.

Due to the territorial conflicts, there had always been some tension between these two civilizations. The Holy Stone Civilization was an aristocracy civilization, ruled by a royal family. Its political construction was very complicated, and its efficiency in making decisions was mediocre. They did not like wars, and they were good at using diplomatic measures. Be it resources, connections, or power, Holy Stone Civilization was a little higher than Black Raven Civilization. However, as Black Raven Civilization had limited resources in their early days, their developing process was very tough, which made them have very strong minds and become collectivists. Their efficiency in executing matters was very high. Even though their nation was not as strong as Holy Stone, Holy Stone could not find a way to get rid of them. If they started a large-scale war, both sides would definitely suffer a huge loss. Therefore, both sides controlled the scale of their conflicts.

Hence, DarkStar was not the only thing Shivate feared—he was more afraid to cause a misunderstanding.

The most important reason that made Shivate decide to sit on the sidelines was that DarkStar’s target was just a bunch of mercenaries; they were just passersby that did not matter at all. Unless it was the people from their own civilization, these two armies would not make a huge move for it. Seeing that Black Raven’s army also held their position, Shivate knew that the captain of Black Raven had made the same decision—sit on the sidelines and monitor.

After all, to two civilizations, the life and death of these mercenaries were not their concern. Like a droplet of water in the sea, it did not matter.

Therefore, the fleets that rushed there were watching silently. Shivate waved his hands and told his subordinate to check the escaping target on the planet.

“I see, they’re members of the three large mercenary armies. Their background is rather impressive. Sadly, they met DarkStar.”

After reading the report, Shivate was a little bit surprised. He then shook his head and said, “The sooner they’re caught, the better. Then DarkStar can leave earlier…”

From the perspective of his own benefits, he would prefer the mercenaries stop resisting.

The same scene also played out in Black Raven Civilization’s command ship.

On the other side, the DarkStar mothership received the replies. Sarota’s face remained the same as if it was exactly as he expected. He knew both sides would not attack.

…

On another area of the planet, the Blades spaceship was being chased by many hovering ships. They were struggling—its shield already had countless holes, and its recovery speed could not match up to the speed of it being destroyed. The rapid system alarms had the Blades mercenaries on edge.

“Faster, even faster,” Porter mumbled with sweat all over his face. When the situation was not looking good, he pushed away the original pilot to control the spaceship himself. Yet, the situation did not become better.

Suddenly, a laser exploded on the shield.

Bang!

The shield blinked twice and disappeared. It had reached its limit.

Everyone in the ship was stunned. Porter’s face changed drastically.

Without a shield, the spaceship itself would not have any protection anymore. If they were fired on once again, the spaceship would definitely crash.

Boom!

Just as the hovering ship fleet was going to fire the next downpour of ‘laser rain’, a chain of cannons hit the formation and caused a series of explosions.

This hovering ship did not have the time to react to it fully, and they hastily dodged. The accuracy of the attacks all missed the Blades spaceship by centimeters.

Faraway, the Sky Ring spaceship drove there at a high speed. Behind him was the pursuing fleet. It was Han Xiao, who had returned after a detour and saved his teammates hastily. The pursuing fleet did not give him any pressure at all, and they were going around and around chasing after him. Therefore, Han Xiao tried to help his teammates as much as he could.

The existence of teammates could divert the enemy’s firepower. The longer the teammates lasted, the less pressure he would face.

Han Xiao stopped the enemy for one moment before turning around and escaping immediately. The shield of the Blades spaceship took the opportunity to recover. Porter almost collapsed, and his face was filled with happiness. “That was close.”

This time, Han Xiao sent a message to the other two ships. “Don’t run around randomly; you guys can’t deal with them yourselves. I’ve sent you the route. Even if you split up, don’t stay too far from me. I’ll provide support from time to time.”

“Why did you become the pilot?” Porter asked with surprise.

“We all feel safer with him being the pilot.” Goa’s voice came from the side. Porter looked over, only to see all the mercenaries in the Sky Ring spaceship were encased in hard ice from the waist down and firmly fixed onto the ground like ice sculptures. It was Goa that used her spell to help everyone to balance. Porter was shocked.

You don’t look like you feel safe at all!

Porter’s eyelids twitched.

Anyway, Han Xiao’s suggestion was approved. Blades and Purple Gold’s teams agreed to follow Han Xiao’s plan. They quickly changed their route and maintained communication between them. As soon as they got into a dire situation, Han Xiao would provide backup.

After helping them out in dire situations time after time, the members of the other ships also realized how good Han Xiao’s piloting skills were. They were immediately convinced.

Han Xiao stabilized the situation temporarily. Three ships brought hundreds of hovering ships and ran around the planets. Half an hour passed, and the hovering ship fleet had yet to capture them. They were in a stalemate.

On the DarkStar mothership, Sarota was getting impatient.

“More than three hundred hovering ships against just three ships. Why have we yet to capture them?”

The initial plan was to be done with the battle within ten minutes then retreat quickly after. Sarota was very unsatisfied with the current situation. He stared at the Sky Ring spaceship on his screen with unhappiness in his eyes.

“It’s all because the pilot of this ship is too good, that’s why they’re able to stall this much time… Send out medium fighter ships. Surround this area and cut off their escape route.”

As he gave the order, more fighter ships launched from the DarkStar mothership and flew toward the planet.

Inside the far away Stream Light, Shivate saw this and was a little surprised.

“Facing DarkStar’s pursuit and being trapped on the planet, not only were these three small spaceships stall for half an hour, they even forced DarkStar to send in more support…

“But if this continues, it will drag on even longer…”

…

Through the porthole, the people in the Sky Ring spaceship saw more fighter ships coming toward the surface from the DarkStar mothership.

“Sh*t, DarkStar sent reinforcements!” the ex-pilot shouted.

“We knew they would sooner or later; don’t sound so surprised.”

Han Xiao glanced outside. He had expected this since long ago.

It’s only half an hour, and they have already sent reinforcements. DarkStar changed their tactic quicker than I expected. In gaming terms, this means that the pace of this mission’s difficulty change is very fast. How am I going to stall for two days like this?Han Xiao thought.

Although it looked like they were safe at the moment, they were still dancing on blades. When DarkStar lost their patience completely, they would not care about the resource expenses. They might surround them, and by then, there would be nowhere to escape. After all, piloting skills had a limit. He was only flying a small spaceship, not a galactic level mechanical suit.

After some contemplation, Han Xiao decided to carry out the next part of the plan. At this time, all three ships received the same message.

“This is Holy Stone Border Guards Army Third Formation. We have received your rescue signal and have arrived near the planet. Please gather at the coordinates we gave you; we will be there to receive you and provide protection.”

Together with this message were the coordinates, which were not far from where they were. This message was like cardiotonic, instantly giving everyone energy.

“Holy Stone is willing to help. We’re saved.”

All the mercenaries in the three ships were overjoyed.

Han Xiao frowned and pondered, then said something that immediately cooled everyone down, “I think this is quite strange…”

Chapter 396 - The Battle of Pursuit (2)

“If the Holy Stone Border Guards Army wants to receive us, they would definitely be in conflict with DarkStar, but take a look up there. The DarkStar mothership is still floating there and not sending out any other ships. Furthermore, this is a very sensitive border area, so it’s impossible for Holy Stone and Black Raven to take very long to come. This means that they’ve made a certain deal with DarkStar. This is the edge of their border, so the official authority here is blurry to begin with. They did not provide any help even when the Silvers were kidnapped. Now they suddenly want to help us? It doesn’t feel trustworthy.”

Han Xiao paused and said, “But of course, there’s a chance that Holy Stone did not compromise with DarkStar and really wants to protect us. However… this is very unlikely.”

He did not mention the most important reason—the mission requirement stated that they had to last two days for just the lowest rating, but only half an hour had passed. The reinforcements could not have arrived so soon. His intuition told him that there was a problem with Holy Stone’s message.

Many people started to rethink, but they still hoped that they had gotten lucky.

This time, there was a disagreement. Cerleni said in a low voice, “I choose to believe this message. Holy Stone has no need to lie to us, and this might be our only chance. I’ve decided to go to the pickup location. What about you?”

“I’m not going.” Han Xiao shook his head without hesitation and then looked over to Goa. Goa hesitated for a while, then nodded and agreed with Han Xiao’s decision. Although there were some mercenaries in the ship that had other thoughts, seeing that Goa and Han Xiao had both decided, they could only hold their thoughts in.

Porter hesitated for a moment, then rejected it as well, choosing to listen to Han Xiao’s advice.

Cerleni frowned and said, “Best of luck to you guys then.”

The Purple Gold spaceship deviated from the route and headed toward the pickup location, disappearing from sight shortly.

Han Xiao exhaled and said with a deep voice, “DarkStar’s reinforcements will arrive very soon, and our activity area will become smaller and smaller. If we continue to stay on the surface, the situation will only become worse. We have to go underground. The scanner has already recorded all the terrain we have passed by, and there’s quite a number of canyons and gaps in the terrain. The space below the ground on this planet is very huge. Plus, it has a complicated environment and many obstacles. Limited moving space will give us some trouble, but it will give those chasing us trouble too. Furthermore, the ground and block the direct detection from their mothership, providing us another layer of protection…”

He had a rough plan of what to do next. The situation was not pleasant. The reinforcement was just DarkStar’s first step, they would soon be limiting their movement areas, surrounding them, bombarding the area, and so on, forcing them to change the route. Han Xiao pondered and pondered, and eventually, he realized that in order for them to last two days, there was only one workable way—spread out.

DarkStar’s target was all the mercenaries, and two spaceships were only two targets. However, if they spread out in an undetectable environment, every mercenary would be a target. Although there would definitely be unlucky ones that might be sacrificed, it would also make DarkStar spend more time searching. After all, wishing to save everyone was not realistic.

“Let’s do as you say.” Goa trusted Han Xiao a lot.

Han Xiao changed the direction of the spaceship and looked forward. Very soon, a very long gap in earth appeared on the horizon, like the gray colored earth opening its mouth, black as an abyss. From far away, it looked like just a small gap, and only when they got closer did they realize that it was tens of meters wide.

Hu!

The Sky Ring spaceship dived straight into the gap, and darkness filled their vision.

The detector sketched out the terrain in the darkness. About two to three hundred meters down, numerous caves appeared on both sides. Han Xiao chose a cave and flew in. Inside was an underground space, leading to somewhere far away.

There was a very large space under the ground of this planet. It had complex tunnels and was filled with storage stones. It had been undisturbed for countless years, and now, its first guest had arrived.

The Blades spaceship did the same, and the hovering ship fleet followed behind. Unavoidably, their speed decreased. Flying in this kind of environment required a very high reaction speed, plus space was limited, so the formation of the hovering ships had to turn into a long snake shape. Due to space restraints, ninety percent of the fighter ships were blocked by their teammates in front and unable to fire. The attack faced by the Blades and Sky Ring spaceships significantly lessened.

The two ships flew underground just in time, escaping from DarkStar’s plan to surround them on the surface.

The Purple Gold spaceship was still on the surface, and it arrived at the pickup location.

Cerleni sent a communication request to the channel that they had received the message from.

“Holy Stone Third Formation please come in. I have arrived at the pickup location. Where are the receiving units?”

He repeated that again and again, but Holy Stone did not reply and kept silent. His expression gradually changed, and he started to sweat all over.

The Purple Gold spaceship did not dare stop. It circled around the pickup location like a headless fly. When the DarkStar reinforcements came from all directions, Cerleni ‘s face turned pale. Only then did he realize that there was no one there to pick them up. Black Star was right. He had lost the gamble.

Boom boom boom!

Bullets rained down!

Not long after, the Purple Gold spaceship crashed onto the ground covered in smoke. The gate opened, and the mercenaries inside sprinted out in all directions. However, the DarkStar warriors landed from the fighter ships hovering in the sky and surrounded them. There was nowhere to run.

The struggle of Cerleni and the others did not make any impact, so they were captured easily and escorted onto the spaceship to be sent to the mothership.

Everyone in the two ships that were descending underground saw what happened to Purple Gold. Seeing that their friends that had once fought alongside them were in such a dire situation, everyone was grieving.

If not for Han Xiao standing his ground, they would have ended up the same way.

The mercenaries looked at Han Xiao with even more trust in their eyes.

“I did tell them…” Han Xiao sighed.

Cerleni had been willing to take the gamble, and there was nothing Han Xiao could do about it; he could not have taken over the control of Purple Gold spaceship.

However, from a purely pros and cons perspective, this would give them more time. With at least some result, DarkStar would be a little less in a hurry.

…

Inside Stream Light, the scene of Purple Gold’s spaceship crashing was being played on the screen. Shivate shook his head and said, “Too bad only one ship was captured.”

He was indeed the one that gave the order to send that message. It was to mislead the mercenaries and make it easier for DarkStar to capture them, but it was not because he wanted to help DarkStar. In his eyes, these mercenaries would definitely not be able to escape, and them getting captured was just a matter of time. He only sped up this process. The earlier the mercenaries got captured, the sooner DarkStar would leave.

The armies of Holy Stone and Black Raven were holding their position, and these mercenaries’ meaningless struggle was wasting their time, leaving these two civilizations with no choice but to stay there and monitor the situation. This increased their workload and brought along risks. Shivate just wanted DarkStar to go away as soon as possible. Giving out that order was purely for his own benefit.

Furthermore, this could not be considered as interfering, so it was not really counted as helping DarkStar. He had just sent a message—it was not a big deal.

Regarding what plan DarkStar had, he simply did not care. DarkStar had no business with them. No matter what they were up to, Godora would be the only one suffering from it. Holy Stone had no obligation to help Godora get rid of their enemies, and Shivate did not want to stir up a mess.

Sadly, not all the mercenaries were tricked.

“Commander, the target has gone underground. We’re unable to see a direct image.”

“Continue to hold your position.” Shivate shook his head.

They would not be able to see what was going on once these mercenaries enter underground. All they could do was wait.

…

Inside the dark underground, beams of light flashed past. These were all spaceships flying at a high speed.

Boom!

Lasers hit the stone walls and caused a partial rockfall. Quite a number of stones landed on Sky Ring spaceship’s shield before being shattered by the spaceships dashing through.

The pursuit underground lasted for a few hours. As space was limited, larger sized fighter ships could not enter. DarkStar could only use the hovering ships to hunt.

The underground space was filled with twists and turns, and it was pitch black. The blurry images from the detector were the only thing that they could depend on to dodge the obstacles. Han Xiao was highly focused and did not bump into anything, but the hovering ships behind him were gradually making more and more mistakes. From time to time, fighter ships crashed into the wall, the pillars, and other things. The contrast was very obvious. The pursuing spaceships gradually lost sight of Han Xiao’s backlight.

The Blades spaceship, on the other hand, was not as lucky. They were still being chased tightly. Porter’s skill was hard to look at, and the Blades mercenaries almost wished to change ship.

Coincidentally, the Sky Ring people had the same thought.

“Can’t see the hovering ships, there are only sounds. They’re still chasing.” Han Xiao looked behind and said, “After chasing for a few hours, DarkStar’s patience should be reaching its limit.”

“We’re… reaching… our… limits too…”

Herlous was almost prostrated, unable to finish a full sentence without pauses.

He could be considered as being in a good state since at least he could talk. Beside him, the Sky Ring mercenaries lay flat down on the ground like dead pigs. Their eyes were out of focus, streams of white bubbles flew out of their mouths, and their hands and legs were shaking. The ice used to fix their legs had already shattered.

Just as Han Xiao was about to say something, the underground space started to tremble violently!

Boom!

Sounds of explosions came from all directions!

“This is… a bombardment?” Goa said.

“Most likely, DarkStar has started to bombard the surface, hoping to trigger a chain reaction and cause the underground space to collapse, forcing us back to the surface. Like chasing mice out of their cave. Then, they’ll surround us on the surface, and we’ll have nowhere to run,” Han Xiao said calmly. He had expected this to happen, so he could stay calm when it happened.

“Is there nothing we can do‽” Goa did not want to give up.

“We’ve stalled for many hours with the spaceship. It’s already the limit.”

Han Xiao inhaled deeply and said slowly, “We have to abandon ship.”

The people were shocked. The spaceship was the only thing that they could depend on. If they abandoned the spaceship, it would mean they have lost the mobility, and they would really become fish in a barrel.

Chapter 397 - Arrival of the Fleet

The people immediately disagreed. How were they going to escape without a spaceship?

“It was never possible to break through DarkStar’s army in a spaceship,” Han Xiao explained. “The chance to escape has always been close to zero. We only had one choice from the start—stall for time and wait for backup. Abandoning ship and losing ability is obviously disadvantageous, but it will also decrease DarkStar’s efficiency.

“Without spaceships, we will be fish in a barrel to DarkStar, and their alertness will further be decreased. Once we spread out underground, DarkStar will stop bombarding the surface. Because without protection from the spaceship, we will be buried alive if the underground space collapses. What they want is the… ahem, what they want is to capture us alive. Therefore, they’ll most probably use the hovering ships and send out troops to search slowly.”

This was a risky plan, and the mercenaries exchanged nervous looks.

Although the plan did make sense, the risk of abandoning the spaceship made them hesitant.

“Are you absolutely confident about this?” Goa could not help but voice her doubt.

“What do you think?” Han Xiao shook his head. How could he be one hundred percent confident in this kind of situation? If he was, it would not be called a risky plan.

Staying in the spaceships looked safe, but their chances would be almost negligible. Abandoning the spaceships looked desperate, but it could squeeze out more time and stall them longer.

The bombardment continued, and time waited for no man. Goa and Porter discussed a little, then finally clenched their teeth and agreed with carrying out the plan to abandon the spaceships.

“So,” Goa asked, “what is the plan?”

“The plan is…” Han Xiao explained in detail.

…

Boom!

In the sky, dozens of DarkStar bombardment fleets were in a neat formation, dropping bombs down on the surface. Mushroom clouds rose up one after another. Heated wind from the explosions stirred up dust and sand all over the sky, creating countless craters filled with cracks like spider nets.

In the command room of the DarkStar mothership, Sarota was staring at the image of the surface, and his fingers were tapping the table continuously. His impatience was clearly expressed through these small movements.

Since the spaceships escaped underground, a few hours had passed, and they still had yet to make any progress. His patience had run out, so he decided to send out bombardment ships to destroy the planet surface, causing the underground space to collapse and forcing the targets to get out of the twisted narrow underground and come back to the open surface.

He also sent out many medium intercepting ships to form encirclements. As soon as the mercenaries’ spaceships appeared on the surface, there would be no more chasing and running—they would be able to capture the spaceships immediately.

“Commander, the interrogation is completed. These captured mercenaries have never seen the Secret Message Bead before. We searched their clothes and inside their bodies as well, and they don’t have it,” an officer said. These captives were Cerleni and the others.

“At least the range is smaller.” Sarota nodded.

Therefore, the last two ships were the most suspicious.

At this time, the Sky Ring spaceship appeared on the image from the hovering ship fleet. The hovering ships had almost lost them, but now, they were catching up. The Sky Ring spaceship’s speed had become much slower, and it even bumped into walls from time to time.

Bang!

Lasers hit the spaceship’s shield. It was as if the Sky Ring spaceship had changed its pilot. There were no more dazzling dodges, and it looked very clumsy.

Almost all attacks landed on the target.

The shield shattered in no time.

Boom!

Lasers fired at the tail of the spaceship, unleashing a trail of flames and smoke!

Sky Ring spaceship’s accelerator broke and lost its power. It glided forward and shattered about a dozen stone pillars before crashing into the stone wall, stirring up thick smoke.

The hovering ships surrounded the spaceship, but the Sky Ring spaceship was silent. A few units of DarkStar warriors jumped out of the hovering ships and blasted the gate open with their guns, only to see that there was only darkness inside the spaceship. The DarkStar warriors rushed in, but there was no one inside. A warrior headed to the pilot seat and checked system, then quickly reported the situation to their superior.

“Report. There’s no one in the spaceship. It was the spaceship system’s autopilot.”

Sarota slammed his hands heavily on the table, and with rage in his eyes, he said, “They’ve abandoned ship!”

On the other side, the Blades spaceship did the same and jumped out of the spaceship in different batches. As they did not get out of sight of the enemies like Han Xiao, the image of them jumping out was directly seen by the chasing ships. However, the mercenaries did not care about that. They landed and spread out on their own.

“Abandon ship… Seems like it’s to stall for more time. Tsk, they still have hope for reinforcements.” Sarota sneered. “They have some guts to gamble like this…”

Then, he loudly ordered, “Stop the bombardment. Hovering ships, split up and search for vital signs. Send out ground troops to continue to pursue.”

Sarota looked to the side and said, “Ember, you’ll lead the ground troops.”

Ember nodded and left the command room.

Hundreds of egg-shaped airdrop cabins were ejected from the mothership, falling toward the ground. Inside were all DarkStar Supers, including Ember.

Sarota could see through Han Xiao’s plan, but he still did as Han Xiao expected because DarkStar’s target was indeed to capture everyone alive. From how he saw it, this was what the mercenaries were gambling on—there was nothing that he could do about it.

The target did not have a spaceship anymore, so Sarota was not worried. If they were hunters chasing after prey earlier, now they were just catching them in a ring—there was no need to worry about anyone escaping.

…

This time, in a hard-to-find corner underground, a silver-white metal sphere was parked quietly. Inside the metal sphere was a sophisticated cockpit, where Han Xiao and a few others were.

This was a transporting tool that Han Xiao had been building—[Portable Sphere Fortress].

On the outside, it was just a metal sphere, but its structure inside was complicated. It could travel in both sea and land as well as air. The sphere was made up of many layers. The most outside silver layer were both the armor and the mobility device to move on land, as the sphere was suitable for rolling movements and was able to change direction and speed easily. When it rolled, only the outside layer would move. The inside pilot cabin had an individual structure and was separated from the outside layer, so it would not spin as well. The real-time image of the outside was played on the large curve inside the pilot cabin.

When traveling through complex terrain, four mechanical pedipalps could be extended out of its body for crawling purposes. Furthermore, the sphere was also equipped with thrusters, balance wings, and turbines. It could fly at relatively low heights and move in the oceans. It was a multifunctional transport tool.

In his previous life, the players had called this the ‘Car Ball’. Han Xiao had built it while he was on Floating Dragon Island. He had placed it in the spaceship, and now that they abandoned the spaceship, it was time to use it.

The plan was to spread out, so the ones in the Car Ball at this time was only Herlous, Aroshia, the three brothers of Volga, Frenzied Sword, and Maple Moon.

“The bombardment has stopped.” Han Xiao was sitting at the controlling seat, his eyes sparkled.

The underground terrain did not tremble anymore, which meant that DarkStar had stopped the bombardment as expected, which made him feel relieved. From now on, DarkStar will send out ground troops to carry out the search and start a game of cat and mouse. The mercenaries have all spread out, so there’ll definitely be some people that’ll get caught. Hope we can stall for longer…

The Car Ball rolled backward and disappeared in the dark and twisted underground tunnel.

Darkness was mercenaries’ cover, which made the search more difficult.

There were two to three hundred people in the two spaceships. Now that they had all spread out, the number of targets that DarkStar had to capture changed from two to hundreds. The hovering ships split up as well, slowly searching every corner with their cone-shaped blue searchlights.

Not long after, the ground troops led by Ember arrived underground and started their thorough search. The sound of footsteps echoed in the underground space.

The situation went from spaceship pursuit to time-consuming search. It seemed to be less heated, but the nervousness in the hearts of mercenaries kept growing as they were in the constant alert of not knowing when they would meet enemies in the endless darkness.

In the beginning, DarkStar captured some mercenaries very quickly. However, as time went on, the mercenaries became more spread out, and their capture efficiency rapidly decreased.

Often, DarkStar had to take a very long time only to find one or two mercenaries. The mercenaries had all sorts of abilities, and some were very good at hiding.

…

Time trickled by.

In Stream Light, Shivate was rather annoyed. DarkStar had stayed for one day now, and they had yet to leave. He had sent several warnings, but DarkStar had told him that because the mercenaries had abandoned their spaceships, it would not take too long to capture everyone. Shivate had no choice but to continue waiting despite his impatience.

Oom!

The alarm suddenly rang. The radar showed that, not far away, a new fleet was jumping toward this direction, and its numbers were growing rapidly.

“Whose forces are these?” Shivate’s face changed.

Through the porthole, he saw that in the space behind the DarkStar mothership, streams of light dashed across and stopped, showing their true identity.

It was an enormous fleet with mixed styles like it was made up of battleships from many different races. It looked like a motley army, but when they saw the symbols on these battleships, the faces of the Holy Stone and Black Raven commanders immediately turned grave.

This was a fleet temporarily gathered by Sky Ring, Blades, and Purple Gold. Other than the three large mercenary groups, there were also dozens of mercenary group partners. Hundreds of all kinds of battleships faced the DarkStar mothership.

“Do these large armies really have to make such a huge scene?” Shivate was surprised.

If these mercenaries and DarkStar could not come to an agreement, they would definitely start fighting. By then, it would be very difficult for Holy Stone and Black Raven to not be affected.

Shivate’s expression became terrible. If these mercenaries had been captured earlier, such a troublesome situation would never have happened.

Chapter 398 - Conflict and Attention

The DarkStar mothership turned around slowly. Hundreds of frigates flew out and formed a combat formation around the mothership, confronting the mercenary alliance fleet.

The alliance fleet sent out a message, demanding DarkStar to stop capturing the mercenaries immediately, or they would use force to settle the problem. The three large armies were very tough in their stance. As they did not have any territory to protect like civilizations, they were not afraid of revenge.

If you mess with our people, we will mess you up, no matter who.

Sarota was a little moved. He had thought that mercenaries were extremely divided, and he had never thought that capturing a small group of mercenaries would attract an entire mercenary fleet.

Sarota has to admit he had underestimated the mercenary industry.

The alliance fleet gave them only ten minutes, demanding DarkStar withdraw all their forces immediately, or they would start attacking.

Sarota’s relaxed mindset was nowhere to be found, and his face was grave. Of course, he was not afraid of the alliance fleet since the DarkStar mothership was a moving space station base and was very well equipped. However, if a direct conflict broke out, the damage would exceed the forecast of this operation.

DarkStar was not dragged down by honor or name, so even if they retreated and were deemed as being afraid of the mercenaries, it would not affect them at all. What Sarota was considering at this time was another question—was it worth fighting a fleet head-on for the Secret Message Bead? Or could they give up this opportunity and strike again in the future? Would there ever be an opportunity as good as this?

After some contemplation, Sarota’s came to the conclusion that there would never be such a good opportunity again.

Letting these mercenaries return to their organizations would mean that their search range will expand. If these mercenaries split up, it would be very troublesome to find them again.

And these were just the smaller problems.

Letting these people back to their organizations might very well lead to accidents like the bead being given to someone else without DarkStar’s knowledge or the bead being lost on some godforsaken rock due to the person dying during a mission. There were too many possibilities. But now, all the mercenaries that might have come into contact with the bead were right there.

Certainly, there would never be a better opportunity than this.

This time, Shivate gave a serious announcement to the alliance fleet and the DarkStar mothership.

“On behalf of the Holy Stone Border Guards Army, I warn you, if you start a battle here, we will see it as a provocation. We will very likely see you as enemies and interfere with the conflict.”

The announcement was clearly very effective as soon as it was sent out. The alliance fleet opened fire at the DarkStar mothership straight away without saying anything.

Colorful lights exploded in the dark space. The battleship formations carried out all kinds of tactics, and lasers were fired at each other nonstop. The mercenary fleet and the DarkStar fleet started to battle.

Shivate’s face turned black, and he was furious. They had completely ignored what he said!

“Commander, what do we do now? Which side do we help?”

“Help your ass, we watch!” Shivate clenched his teeth.

One side was a chaotic, evil, and very vengeful terrorist organization—another was a chaotic, neutral, and lawless mercenaries. Helping either side was a waste of military power. Furthermore, he did not dare move his fleet. If they moved, who knew how Black Raven would react?

They might as well watch the mercenaries and DarkStar bite each other. And about the warning earlier… just let it be ignored.

Outside the chaotic battlefield, Holy Stone and Black Raven did not interfere. However, they did not do nothing at all. Their fleet spread out sideways and formed a line to surround the battlefield, preventing it from expanding further.

Allowing them to fight outside their border was already their bottom line. If DarkStar or the mercenaries went over it, the fleets of the two large civilizations would fire without hesitation.

…

The battle started in an instant!

In terms of raw power, the DarkStar mothership was stronger than this temporarily gathered fleet. The alliance fleet was not planning to fight head-on either, so they sent out small spaceships wanting to go around the battlefield and fly to the planet to pick up Han Xiao and the other mercenaries. However, Sarota noticed this and ordered a fleet to intercept them. Thus, they were in a stalemate.

The mercenaries on the planet were the key to determining the result of the battle. Whether they were saved or captured, as soon as either happened, the battle would end immediately.

In Sarota’s eyes, Han Xiao’s plan to abandon ship was initially digging their own graves and a meaningless struggle. However, the situation had changed, and the meaningless stalling had become the key. Abandoning ship had given them more time, and every second that they earned with that, DarkStar was suffering from more damage.

Battle damage reports came one after another, and the coldness in Sarota’s eyes became ever deeper.

Initially, it had been a simple mission that could be completed easily, but now, it had become so troublesome and tough. The performance of that Sky Ring spaceship was the start of all the changes. If not for that pilot who could stall for so long, he would have captured them and left long ago. They would never have met the mercenary alliance fleet. Sarota was deeply regretful for missing that opportunity.

The fleets fired at each other, and the energy reaction from the attacks was as conspicuous as a Fixed Star as seen from the detectors. From afar, the light of the explosions was as bright as the stars.

The spaceships passing by noticed the abnormality there even from afar. The battle attracted many spaceships as spectators, and the scene was quickly recorded.

In the galactical generation, the increase in communication level also made the news more real-time. The distance was not a problem. Not long after, the battle between DarkStar and the mercenaries spread out across numerous Star Clusters.

After watching for more than half a day, Shivate received an unexpected communication request.

Buzz!

A pureblood Godoran’s face appeared on the screen and said with a serious face, “I’m the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Godoran Civilization, Plenipotentiary Representative of Godoran Civilization. I hope the Holy Stone Civilization can interfere with the battle immediately and attack DarkStar.”

Shivate’s face turned formal and said, ‘This is our local affair. You have no right to interfere.”

“DarkStar is an evil force that has spilled innocent blood in many places. They’re the common enemy of civilizations. Watching them carry out their crimes is a very irresponsible act!” The Godoran sounded very justified.

“Sorry, I only listen to the marshal’s orders.” Shivate held his ground firmly. “I’ll only interfere with the battle if the marshal gives me a direct order. If you have questions, you can send a request to the Foreign Affairs Department.”

Actually, as the commander of Formation Three, Shivate could take care of matters of this scale himself, but he still chose to use the marshal’s name. It was obviously an excuse.

He knew very well what Godora was thinking—DarkStar was Godora’s mortal enemy, and they had made a rare appearance, so Godora wanted Holy Stone to help them to fight DarkStar. However, Holy Stone and Godora were not strategic allies, so they had no obligation to help. Furthermore, it was a sensitive political issue. As one of the commanders of the Border Guards Army, Shivate was definitely not going to follow the requests of another civilization.

The Godorans had no choice but to contact the higher-ups of the Holy Stone Civilization. However, royalty ruled civilizations such as Holy Stone were best at pushing around responsibilities. They were firm on the grounds of not giving out any orders. Even when the Godorans expressed that if they let DarkStar get away, they would publicly condemn Holy Stone during the Shattered Star Ring Diplomatic Council, Holy Stone was still beating about the bush. Their position was very clear—they did not want to mess with DarkStar.

The Godoran Civilization was just one of the forces that had their attention on this matter. As DarkStar rarely appeared, more and more forces and organizations had their eyes on it, watching the center of the storm from far away.

…

Whoosh!

In the dark underground, Thermo-Electrical Incisor Gloves sliced through a DarkStar warrior’s chest like slicing through a piece of tofu, easily taking that person’s life.

Han Xiao pulled his hand away, and the DarkStar warrior fell down. On the ground were the corpses of a DarkStar search team.

“Let’s go quickly. Their reinforcements will arrive very soon.” Herlous kept his voice down.

The Car Ball was parked at the side. Han Xiao jumped back in, controlled the Car Ball, and rolled away. He opened the interface, and the mission information had already changed.

_____________________

– [Escape] Mission Rating: C

_____________________

Lasting two days would grant a rating of D. Every twelve hours onward, the rating would go up by one grade. They had already lasted two and a half days. The mission was already completed. At this time, more than half of the mercenaries had already been captured, and very few were still running. This meant that the mercenary alliance fleet and DarkStar had been firing at each other for more than one day.

If either Holy Stone or Black Raven interfered, DarkStar would have retreated, and the mercenaries would have been saved. However, the two civilizations were only watching, not helping either side, which led to the stalemate. The alliance fleet could not pick up the mercenaries.

“Putting our hopes on these mercenaries was not a good idea indeed…” Han Xiao shook his head. Luckily, he had already contacted Ames and requested help as another layer of insurance. The thing was, she was not very dependable either, so he did not know when she would be free to come.

If the players were caught, their mission would fail. Some of them were very cheeky and wanted to go offline to avoid being caught, but when they came online again, they realized that the mission had failed straight away.

However, if the players were captured by DarkStar, it would add on quite an amount of trouble. Han Xiao gave out a new mission through the faction interface. As long as they were not captured, they would receive a bonus reward. This way, even if they went offline and failed [Escape], they could still go offline if they are almost caught, and at least they would still have some reward.

Luckily, no players had been caught yet. This had made the DarkStar search team very frustrated, as the prey disappeared without a trace just as they were almost captured. The DarkStar search teams were at a loss and very confused.

Boom!

At this time, the tunnel ahead suddenly collapsed. The Car Ball made a sudden stop. A new group of pursuers walked out of the hole from the wall, and the leader was Ember.

“Found you. I won’t be as careless as the last time.”

Ember was expressionless. He raised his Esper power to the maximum, and his battle intent soared. His eyes had been fixed on Han Xiao for a very long time, and now, he had finally caught up.

Han Xiao faced changed a little.

“Him again, this is not good…”

The Great Mechanic Han himself was not afraid of Ember—they would not be able to kill each other if they started a fight. However, Ember’s power was too destructive to his friends around him. Herlous was already considered to be quite strong, but if he faced Ember, he would be turned into dust in an instant.

That Esper power was too powerful, and it could even be called a ‘Walking Human Dust Maker’.

“That guy is very dangerous, retreat!”

Han Xiao did not have any desire to stay. He pulled the joystick, and the Car Ball crashed through the wall on the side as they retreated.

Chapter 399 - Broken Arm and Awakening

The last time that they met, Ember got a taste of defeat from Han Xiao. He had met quite a number of Mechanics, but Black Star was the first Mechanic that could use his own body to drag the battle without using machinery. Plus, Han Xiao was like a fated enemy of his power. Ember had thought about how to deal with Han Xiao, and he had come up with some plans. Thus, he had been waiting to meet Han Xiao again.

Now they had finally intercepted Han Xiao. Seeing the Car Ball turn to run away, Ember immediately activated his power.

Hum!

The walls in all directions started to move as if they were alive. A large amount of black and gray particles gushed out like a black cloud, winding around the Car Ball, turning into all sorts of shapes such as spears and blades, creating sparkles on the moving armor of the Car Ball.

The underground space was narrow and twisted. The Car Ball crashed through the walls like a mole digging a tunnel. Ember and the others chased behind. The Car Ball was very fast, so even though grade B Supers were not slow, the distance between them was still getting longer.

“Call the search team and follow my position. There’s an important target here driving some kind of sphere-shaped transport tool. It’s very fast, but I will slow it down as much as I can.”

Although Ember really wanted to fight with Han Xiao, the training that he had gone through made him always put the mission first. The hovering ship fleet nearby received the message and came from all directions.

The range of Ember’s power was limited. The Car Ball was going to leave his sights. Ember’s energy turned into fuel for his power—the ground in front of the Car Ball bulged and turned into rocks, forming obstacles.

Bang bang bang!

The Car Ball crushed everything in its way, breaking through fang-shaped pillars one after another. Its thick, heavy armor was not damaged, but its speed unavoidably decreased. The curved surface inside the sphere was all made of screens, displaying the image outside. Han Xiao could see in all directions from sitting in the driver’s seat, so he quickly pressed on the control panel and activated the Car Ball’s other functions.

With the sound of mechanical parts moving, the front, back, left, and right side of the armor suddenly opened. A mechanic pedipalp slid out from each of the openings and pressed onto the ground, the Car Ball jumped up like a flea and skipped over the dangerous obstacles. Then, four anti-gravitational thrusters appeared at the bottom of the Car Ball, pushing the Car Ball forward almost a hundred meters before it landed on the ground. This process was repeated again and again—the Car Ball was not affected by the terrain at all. Ember was getting further and further away.

“Tsk. The search team will definitely surround us. We have to think of a way to get rid of the enemies. Luckily, there’s a gap between earth near here. We can…”

As he was saying, Han Xiao suddenly realized that something was wrong. He turned around and looked at everyone else. All of their faces were filled with veins like they were struggling with all their lives, and they were unable to move.

“Stop, or they die.”

In the distance, Ember was reaching out his hand with a cold face. Han Xiao was the only one who he could not do anything about, but in the case of the other people inside the Car Ball, he could use his power on them through the armor.

Han Xiao frowned a little. This was what he was most worried about. The two players were not a concern. Even if they died one hundred times, he would not even blink. But Herlous, Aroshia, and the others were different; they were his weakness when facing Ember. Han Xiao was definitely not going to stop, and he would not hesitate on this matter. He was just worried about these two characters that he had spent so much effort to recruit.

“Don’t… Don’t care about us, he won’t kill anyone. We can’t… can’t be the reason to cause our entire team’s… destruction!”

The energy on Herlous’ body was flickering. He was resisting the Esper power from Ember, and even with all his might, he could only speak while stuttering. His face was ferocious, and every word sounded like he was spending all his energy on it. Through the time that they spent together, Herlous had gained some knowledge of Han Xiao. He knew very clearly that Han Xiao would not hesitate on something like this and would be able to make choices despite the enemy’s threatening, so he did not have to worry. He only spoke so that Han Xiao would not have any psychological burden.

“Hold on, there’s a gap in front. We can get rid of the enemies once we fly down.” Han Xiao nodded and increased the Car Ball’s speed. He did not waste any words.

Seeing that the Car Ball was about to leave his power range, Ember’s eyes turned colder, and he clenched his fists.

The higher ups did not allow killing, but as long as the target was alive, it would not matter how badly hurt they were.

“Argh!”

Herlous inhaled deeply with the scream stuck in his throat. His left hand changed shape noticeably, then slowly turned into dust and splashed on the floor. There was no blood and no metallic smell. The decomposition was spreading from his hand toward his shoulder!

“Ember…” A flash of rage appeared in Han Xiao’s eyes, but he had no time to look at Herlous’ injury. The most important thing at the time was to get out of Ember’s power range, and only then would the damage not continue to grow.

Sand fog flew out of Aroshia’s body, and she was being decomposed as well. She looked down at her body as confusion flashed through her eyes.

Most normal life forms would be curious about what came after death, but they would only have one life, and when they discovered the answer to that question, it would also mean that they had left the world of the living. Aroshia, on the other hand, had countless opportunities to try it, so death was not unknown or mysterious to her. She could see her own ‘ending’—a new life. She had been through it countless times, and she knew that she would not die. However, a new life meant that her memories would be reset again. She did not have any memory of what happened after death, and she could not remember anything about what happened before she died. She could not help but think of Han Xiao’s words.

If she did not have the memories of her past life, even if she received a new life, would she still be who she was now? Would that be just another form of death?

“So, I can die after all…” Aroshia mumbled. Suddenly, a sense of trepidation was born in her heart.

When this thought appeared, a change happened within her body.

Hum!

The feeling of her body being controlled suddenly disappeared. Aroshia realized that she could move now. The world in her eyes was different—it seemed brighter, and many small dots of light were swimming in the air like fish. Her senses became completely different from just a moment earlier. Then, she realized that she was floating, and she saw the shocked expression on the people beside her.

“What happened to me…”

Aroshia looked down at her body. It was not a physical body anymore but a half transparent luminous body with a dim glow of bluish gold. Light particles floated around her. Her senses were not her body and head anymore—it was like she was no longer limited by a physical form. With a thought, she suddenly turned into a sphere-shaped ball of light.

“This… This is…” Maple Moon was shocked.

“Energy life.” Han Xiao glanced over. He was shocked as well. The characteristics that Aroshia was showing now were the characteristics of energy lifeforms. Her physical structure changed, so of course, she was not controlled by Ember anymore. He did not have the time to think of the reason for this to happen, but a thought appeared in his mind.

“Try to touch the energy core.”

Aroshia did as Han Xiao said. A thin tentacle extended out of the ball of light, passed through the cockpit wall, and came into contact with the energy core. The light particles in her body flew into the core through the tentacle.

Buzz!

With the sound of electric currents, sparks appeared on the engine, and the output of the Car Ball increased tremendously and went into overload mode immediately!

The Car Ball’s speed increased instantly, it jumped right into the gap in front and finally got out of Ember’s power range. Herlous’ decomposition progress stopped at his left shoulder. He was covered in sweat, holding on to his hollow left shoulder, and his face was filled with agony. Other than him, the Volga brothers suffered some damage too. However, Ember’s main target was Herlous, who had the strongest resistance, so they were still in a relatively good state—none of them were maimed.

Ember and the others stopped at the edge of the gap and watched as the Car Ball extended its balance wings and flew away at a high speed.

Ember failed twice on the same target. He yelled at the communicator, “Is the search team here yet? Target has disappeared, track it immediately.”

However, the reply was very unexpected.

“One minute ago, the mothership sent out a new order. Give up this mission. Everyone, return to the mothership and retreat immediately!” The other side of the communicator sounded very anxious.

Ember’s pupils constricted in disbelief.

How could it be an order to retreat‽

The Secret Message Bead was very important to DarkStar. Now that they were not far from succeeding, unless there was an accident, it was impossible for them to give up halfway. And this accident was definitely something that the mothership could not deal with!

The order was not to be disobeyed. Even though Ember was very unhappy, he could only watch Han Xiao and the others get away while he turned around and retreated.

What had happened above‽

…

Fifteen minutes earlier…

“This is Shattered Star Ring Express News. I’m the frontline reporter, Brimner, reporting live on the battle near Planet 122 of Star Zone 4, Fawn Galaxy.”

A news spaceship stopped not far from the battlefield, reporting the situation live at the scene after hearing about it.

Brimner was the reporter hosting this live news. The news was playing on the Shattered Star Ring Current Affairs Channel, reporting live on things happening around the area to all the audiences in the Star Field. People and organizations of countless Galaxies and Star Zones were paying attention to this news broadcast.

“It is known that Fawn-122 planet is located at the border crossing of Holy Stone Civilization and Black Raven Civilization. A special battle has happened in this sensitive area. As everyone can see, the battle is between DarkStar and mercenaries. As reflected by witnesses, the battle has lasted for almost two days now. The cause of this is that DarkStar wanted to capture some mercenaries, and these mercenaries happened to belong to Sky Ring, Blades, and Purple Gold, the three very well-known mercenary armies. Hence, a conflict broke out. The situation now is, Holy Stone and Black Raven’s armies are monitoring on the sidelines, while DarkStar and the mercenaries are in a stalemate. On the planet, the mercenaries who are being chased are unbelievably still running.

“According to our knowledge, the Godoran Civilization far away in the Garton Galaxy is already forming an army. DarkStar is a violence group acting against Godora, so they are naturally enemies. As DarkStar rarely appears and is very stealthy, it is very hard for Godora to trace them. Now that DarkStar has appeared publicly, Godora wants to hold onto this opportunity…”

As Brimner was reporting, a large object appeared on the edge of the image, flying toward the battlefield.

“Wait, there seems to be a change to the situation. A new force has appeared. That’s… Er, Floating Dragon Island?”

Her eyes widened in shock.

The interest of countless spectators in Shattered Star Ring who were watching the news rose immediately. Floating Dragon was ‘Dragon Emperor’ Ames’ territory—almost everyone in Shattered Star Ring knew that.

They were very curious. Why was Floating Dragon there?

Brimner paused and thought of a logical explanation.

“Our crew has just checked Floating Dragon’s route—it just so happens that it came to Fawn Galaxy Star Zone 4. Apparently, it’s just passing by out of coincidence. Holy Stone and Black Raven’s fleets are surrounding the battlefield. I believe after some communication, Floating Dragon will take a detour. This should not have any impact on the situation…”

Before she finished her sentence, Floating Dragon bumped straight into the Holy Stone fleet at the edge of the battlefield, without any intention to change course at all.